Starting from the belief that even passive building isn’t enough because passive homes still emit CO2 into the atmosphere, Disch created a first Heliotrope building in 1995. Rotating with the sun to maximize sunlight and natural heat use, the Heliotrope was the first building worldwide to generate more energy than it consumes. Several different energy generation modules are used in the building including a 56 sqm2 dual-axis solar photovoltaic tracking panel, a geothermal heat exchanger, a combined heat and power unit (CHP) and solar-thermal balcony railing to provide heat and warm water.
Combined with the superior insulation of the residence these innovations allow the Heliotrope to produce anywhere between four and six times its energy usage depending on the time of year. Built in the Vauban Quarter in Germany's most sunny city, Freiburg, and also fitted with devices such as a grey -water cleansing system and built-in natural waste composting, the original Heliotrope, was the first of three such experimental structures to be built. After the success of Freiburg’s Heliotrope, Hansgrohe contracted Rolf Disch Solar Architecture to design another Heliotrope as a visitor’s center and showroom in Offenburg A third Heliotrope was built in Bavaria, to be used as a technical dental laboratory.
But a more important goal for Disch architects was the mass application of their Plus-Energy concept to residential, commercial and retail spaces, such as homes with roofs made entirely of photovoltaic panels. A next major step was a Solarsiedlung or Solar Settlement in the same Vauban quarter in Freiburg, built between 2002 and 2006, and combining 50 of these homes with a Sonnenschiff or Sun Ship, a retail, commercial/office and residential building pf with 5,600sqm, and again the first building of its kind worldwide, Built to Passivhaus standards, the combination with a series of large rooftop solar arrays that double as sun shades.allows the housing community to produce four times the amount of energy it consumes, emissions-free and CO2 neutral. As a result each house brings in more than 4,000 Euros each year, by selling the energy it produces.
Made from Black Forest timber, the wood interior and natural lighting provide for happily lit spaces and a natural flow in the houses, while the Sun Ship houses a supermarket, convenience store and bakery-café on the first floor, offices and work spaces on the 2-4 floors and 9 penthouses on its roof. As the first positive energy office building worldwide, some aspects that make the building particularly unique are its vacuum insulated walls, ventilation with 95% heat recovery, triple paned windows and its energy façade. The office spaces are flanked on both the North and South ends entirely with windows, which maximizes natural sunlight, and minimizes the energy wasted by artificial light. In addition to the office and retail space, two conference rooms, one large and one small, provide space for lectures, meetings and as a showroom.
The settlement is the studio's largest project to date, but Disch is currently also experimenting wth applying his PlusEnergy to various building typologies, in Berlin, Stuttgart, and Freiburg, whereas SolarArchitektur is also active in Poland and France.
Disch also cofounded three organizations promoting the use of renewable energy: Energie in Bürgerhand (Energy in citizens’ hands), 100% GmbH and FESA – Förderverein Energie- und Solaragentur Regio Freiburg (Development association for energy and solar businesses in the Freiburg region), and
100% GmbH organization, launched in 2009, with the aim to make Freiburg and its surrounding district the first 100% sustainable renewable energy region in the world. (mb)
The lecture by Bert Wasmer will be in English, and starts at 8.15pm, at De Nieuwe Zaal, Maastrichterstraat 96, Hasselt
Reservations via: info@architectuurwijzer.be
For more information: http://architectuurwijzer.be/rolf-disch-solararchitektur/
