Solar building for living and working
(North-Rhine Westphalia)
Photography: Isabel Fuhrmann
As part of the NRW model project "Ökologische Stadt der Zukunft" (Ecological City of the Future) the City of Aachen (pop. 250,000) reserved a 2.5 hectare area near the inner city for solar building for living and working. The existing buildings in the surroundings predominantly consist of single family houses. Trade and service businesses are based north of the development street. A large regional green belt lies in the immediate vicinity.
Source: Hahn Helten Architekten
In the “Solar Settlement Teichstraße", 43 single family houses (27 tenement houses and 16 semi-detached houses) and two office buildings were built. The land-use concept laid down an environmentally acceptable design of the residential surroundings, a space saving development and also a design of public areas which promoted neighbourhood and communication. The average residential house plot area is 300m². In the land-use plan, specifications and design principles (e.g. colour concept) were decided, in order to achieve a uniform settlement appearance despite individual conceptions.
The 2 to 3-floor residential buildings were built by a housing company, three construction groups and several families. All houses have a high level of construction heat insulation. 19 buildings were erected in passive house standard (15 kWh/m²a), the others record a heating energy requirement of max. 35 kWh/m²a auf ("3 litre house"). The hot water preparation takes place to at least 60% via solar-thermal collectors. The conformance to the energy requirements and standard were fixed as part of the land plot purchase contracts. The accompanying quality assurance concept comprised various building blocks: seminars on the topic of low energy house / passive house, monitoring by external experts, thermographies, blower door tests etc. solid and ready-made houses and also wooden frame buildings were created.
Both 4-floor office buildings at the entrance to the settlement also have a low heating energy requirement (25 and 48 kWh/m²a) and use renewable energy and also rain water. Here, sophisticated architectural concepts were implemented, which react to the special requirements of the office usage. The west building has a so-called “integral energy concept” which can be used for heating and cooling. Via earth probes and heat pumps, geothermal energy is used. Furthermore, concrete core wall heating, daylight steering and a ventilation and heat recovery system reduce the running costs.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| Mai 2000 | Inclusion in the state programme "50 Solar Settlements in NRW" and award of the status "Solar Settlement in Planning " |
| 2001 | Opening of the new building area and beginning of building |
| Aug. 2002 | Opening of the administration and office building |
| Beginning of 2003 | Completion of the first residential buildings |
| End of 2003 | Finishing of the entire settlement |
Source: Hahn Helten Architekten
Source: Hahn Helten Architekten
Funding by the state programme "50 Solar Settlements in Nordrhein-Westphalia"
Photography: Isabel Fuhrmann
The settlement features a combination of a variety of advanced solar and environmental measures. The mixed usage is successful in an urban development sense thanks to the supplement of the residential settlement with two office buildings and the appearance thanks to the uniform design characteristics. The accompanying quality assurance concept contributed significantly to the successful development of the settlement project.
The projekt site ist to be found at postal code: 52074 - town: Aachen - street: Schurzelter Winkel 10.
Record inserted on 01.05.2004 by Lehrstuhl für Planungstheorie und Stadtplanung, RWTH Aachen and updated by theFederal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) within the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning (BBR).
Last update: 12.08.2008
