Communal initiative for marketable passive houses
(Baden-Württemberg)
Source: Stadt Ulm
The city of Ulm (pop. approx. 116,000) takes part in the model project “Ecological urban and community development” of the Federal state of Baden-Wuerttemberg. This includes, among other things, the implementation of the “Communal Energy Concept” of Ulm from 1995/96, which focuses on energy saving, economic energy generation and the increased use of renewable energy sources. The most important building block of this concept is a large passive house settlement on an urban area approx. 2 km north-west of the inner city on the borders of the urban district “Eselsberg” which already came into existence in the 1950s.
Source: Stadt Ulm
In an awarding competition in July 1998, 21 planning teams of architects, expert planners and builders had the opportunity of applying for a plot of building land in the “Sonnenfeld” area with project sketches. Here the investors committed themselves to comply with the quality assurance procedures (see below) and to really carry out the project in the given time period if they were selected. No upper limit for costs was given in order to leave the market assessment to the builders. Also, the costs for the plots of land and development were not subsidised so that is was possible to create realistic market conditions and a transferability of the project ideas. Eight teams were selected whose concepts seemed suitable to implement the passive house standard regarding construction and technology.
For the quality assurance, a total of five tests, so-called “milestones”, were carried out during the planning and building phase by a project group appointed by the city of Ulm. The investors and their specialist engineers and construction supervisors compiled the necessary documents and verification for these tests. 110 housing units in different 2 to 3-storey house types were built on the eight plots of building land in total. All buildings have in common that they are “certified” passive houses. This means that the independent Passive House Institute in Darmstadt examined compliance with all specifications. An engineering office was available for the investors for free advice and consulting services on questions concerning passive houses or on the certifying procedure.
The urban development structure is characterised by compacted row house building and broken up semi-detached house types made of stone, prefabricated components, wood skeletons or solid wood. Different heat insulation, window, building services, energy supply and air-conditioning systems are used. The roofs are usually greened. The primary energy ratings of the buildings are between approx. 60 and 110 kWh (per m² and year). The passive house settlement was presented as one of the decentralised projects during the world exhibition “EXPO 2000”.
Apart from the passive house settlement, further projects were supported by the City of Ulm. The community organised events on knowledge transfer for experts and amateurs and has also set up a solar foundation.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1993 | Setting up a legally binding land-use plan |
| May 1998 | Decision of the City Council on the goals of the project "Sonnenfeld" |
| 1998 | Competition, selection procedure and passing of a decision on the allocation |
| April 1999 | Start of construction |
| until April 2000 | Completion of the last buildings and of the outdoor and development facilities |
| May 2000 | Certifying the individual projects |
| 2000 | Presentation as a world-wide project of the EXPO |
| 2002 | City of Ulm awarded the German Solar Prize |
Photography: Tina Hörmann
Photography: Tina Hörmann
Photography: Tina Hörmann
Through the targeted selection of planning teams who designed different passive house groups, the City of Ulm promotes the further development of passive house technology and beyond this shows commitment by conducting informative events for citizens and experts. Current market conditions were observed in order to guarantee transferability.
The projekt site ist to be found at postal code: 89075 - town: Ulm - street: Cartesiusstraße.
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: 22.08.2008
