From obsolete industrial park to futuristic dream

Solar shading wins gold in German sustainability. A sustainable profile will attract new companies, developers hope (see version in Danish below).


SUSTAINABLE The 16-storey office tower, WTZ-building in the German city of Heilbronn-called ‘Future Park’ was designed to meet silver certification for sustainability. However, upon DGNB, the German Council for Sustainable Building, having assessed the newly built tower it returned with a gold certificate instead.

"Microshades shading is a contributing factor to the good result," says project manager Uwe Trumpp from the developer, Stadtsiedlung Heilbronn. "We achieve a better effect on the indoor environment including thermal comfort and visual comfort, as well as reduced energy requirements and thus lower operating costs. In addition the solution lasts as long as the glazing which results in lower life cycle costs, " he says.

WTZ-tower facade is in large part covered by glass. Here as everywhere else, one must expect to have passive heating of the premises. With a low so-called ‘g-value’, the energy consumption needed for cooling is reduced, the indoor climate is improved along with the flexibility of the available space, and it this a crucial factor in DGNBs calculations of a building's sustainability profile.

When designing the building, the goal was that the sun's passive heating should be reduced to 0.18 g. The architect's calculations for MicroShade gave a result of 0.12 g, while the reality is that only 0.09 to 0.10 of the solar heat penetrates. This is only half compared to the requirement.

The certification recognizes both the building's ecological, economic and functional qualities and technical execution.


Green profile attracts growth

Heilbronn is an old industrial town, which has lost ground compared to cities where IT and biotech create growth. The city of Heilbronn is deter city decided to convert an old industrial area into Zukunftspark, a 'future park'.

"The tower block is a landmark for the new center for development and technology," says project manager Uwe Trumpp, who has been in charge of construction.

"A green and sustainable profile of the building will attract new businesses and therefore we wanted to get DGNBs certification of the building – as a sign of the efforts made. The need for solar shading could have been solved in many ways, but several of the alternatives would cause problems. The client and the architect deselected exterior panels because of the wind factor and the fact that the building is 64 meters high. Other solutions were rejected due to high operating costs and/or short life-cycles and still others because they would make the rooms dark and thus have a negative impact on the DGNB-rating, " Uwe Trumpp adds.

Peter Kargaard,
Licitationen, April 15, 2016

 

VERSION PÅ DANSK:

BÆREDYGTIGT Det 16-etagers kontortårn, WTZ-bygningen, i den tyske by Heilbronns såkaldte Fremtidspark blev projekteret til at opfylde sølvcertificering for bæredygtighed. Men da DGNB, det tyske råd for bæredygtigt byggeri, havde vurderet det nyopførte tårn, blev det imidlertid til et guldcertifikat.

”Microshades solafskærmning er en medvirkende faktor til det gode resultat”, siger projektleder Uwe Trumpp hos bygherren, Stadtsiedlung Heilbronn. ”Vi opnår en bedre effekt på indeklima herunder den termiske komfort og visuelle komfort, samt lavere energibehov og dermed lavere driftsomkostninger. Dertil kommer lang levetid med lavere livscyklusomkostninger”, siger han.

WTZ-tårnets facade er for en stor del dækket af glas. Her som alle andre steder må man regne med en passiv opvarmning af lokalerne. Med en lav såkaldt g-værdi er energiforbruget til køling lavere, indeklimaet og rumudnyttelsen bedre, og det spiller en afgørende faktor i DGNBs beregning af en bygnings bæredygtighed.

I projekteringen var målet, at solens passive opvarmning skulle ned på 0,18 g. Arkitektens beregninger for MicroShade lød på 0,12. Realiteten er, at kun 0,09-0,10 af solvarmen trænger igennem. En halvering i forhold til kravet.

Certificeringen indregner både bygningens økologiske, økonomiske og funktionelle kvaliteter samt den tekniske udførelse.

 

Grøn profil tiltrækker vækst

Heilbronn er en gammel sværindustriby, som har tabt terræn i forhold til byer, hvor IT og biotek skaber vækst. Det satser Heilbronn på at ændre, og byen besluttede at omdanne et gammelt industriområde til Zukunftspark, en Fremtidspark.

”Højhuset er et vartegn for det nye center for udvikling og teknologi”, siger projektleder Uwe Trumpp, der har været i spidsen for byggeriet.

”En grøn og bæredygtig profil på bygningen vil tiltrække de nye virksomheder, og derfor ønskede vi at få DGNBs certificering af bygningen. Som et godt signal. Behovet for solafskærmning kunne løses på mange måder, men flere af alternativerne ville give problemer. Bygherre og arkitekt fravalgte udvendige paneler på grund af vindfaktoren og bygningens højde på 64 meter. Andre faldt på grund af for store driftsomkostninger og kort levetid og andre igen, fordi de ville gøre rummene mørke og dermed trække fra i DGNB”, tilføjer han.

 

Peter Kargaard,
Licitationen 15. april 2016

15 April 2015