info(at)solarinput.de
Press Release
Architects and the solar industry are working on specific and realistic climate protection.
Erfurt, 11 November 2010: Three weeks before the climate summit in Cancún the Bauhaus.SOLAR conference that ended today in Erfurt proved that the challenges surrounding climate protection can be solved at an international level. More than 350 experts from 10 countries discussed the different aspects of sustainable building and presented specific solutions and comprehensive concepts.
Urban planners, landscape architects, building architects, civil engineers, technicians, developers, designers, users and architectural theoreticians from different scientific and economic institutions can learn from this multidisciplinary forum.
Efficient technologies, products and concepts for climate-adapted and cost-effective building are available. The only thing missing is their wide-ranging use. One particular concern of the Bauhaus.SOLAR conference is therefore supporting new designers to develop and implement solar architecture in a way which is innovative. This is because only if an energy-related architectural aesthetic is developed over the long term will it be possible for the technologies to find the necessary acceptance at planners, designers and users.
The fact that constructive and innovative solutions exist for almost all questions concerning sustainable building was also highlighted by the speakers at the 3rd international Bauhaus.SOLAR conference in Erfurt: both for the planning, structural engineering, urban development, landscape design as well as for the design of the electrical power supply and/or grids. In addition to financial investment, sustainable building also requires a willingness to leave behind conventional ideas and approaches.
Dr. Hubert Aulich, Chairman of the organiser SolarInput e. V., called for more action from both architects and the solar energy industry:
"The levels of acceptance for solar technology in buildings will increase if new approaches to design are found and implemented. All of those involved must now work hard to put architecture and energy into a state of harmony."
According to the Vice-Chancellor of the Bauhaus-University Weimar, Prof. Gerd Zimmermann, the ambitious goals of the energy concept being developed at the political level "...can be achieved with the concepts that have been presented at the conference. This also means, however, that the piecemeal nature of the current applications should come to an end. New buildings and urban concepts are now required."
The subject-related range of the presentations stretched from kindergartens with a reduced primary energy requirement to aesthetic, environmentally-friendly, cost-effective designs of modern solar plants, floating multi-MW-hybrid power stations, through to the energy-efficient urban development model in Leipzig. The aim of solar building is for both buildings and residential developments to move from being consumers to producers of energy; construction is firmly set on the path towards the development of the plus energy building.
Bauhaus.SOLAR with maximum 'level of effectiveness':
The conference was also able to significantly improve its impact in 2010. In the region of 350 specialist visitors attended in excess of 40 presentations - meaning an increase of almost 35 percent compared with 2009. The increased relevance of the conference at a content and media level is also reflected in the participation of the business sector: this year, sponsors and exhibitors presented innovative construction materials and technologies. This corresponds with a doubling in comparison with 2009. The cooperation and media partnerships also became greater in number and more international in nature.
About SolarInput:
Since 2003, SolarInput has been managing the network of solar companies, service providers, research and educational facilities and local authorities in Thuringia, Germany, where it works hard to achieve strategic sector-spanning networking and regional anchoring of the solar sector as well as the use of solar technology on location. SolarInput is part of the Solar Valley Central Germany excellence cluster, the leading international photovoltaics cluster, sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the organiser of the international series of Bauhaus.SOLAR research conferences.
Media contact:
Jana Liebe, SolarInput e.V., Konrad-Zuse-Str. 14, 99099 Erfurt
Email: j.liebe(at)solarinput.de, Tel.: (+49) 0361 - 427 68 50
The Bauhaus.SOLAR AWARD goes to Münster:
the winner of the Bauhaus.SOLAR AWARD, which was conferred for the first time, is the 'POWER.plant' project, submitted by Pascal Maas from MSA, the Münster School of Architecture. The design was awarded EUR 8,000.00 in prize money. It is an exemplary presentation of the use of innovative technologies in building facades and the use of micro-algae cultures in the area of (solar) architecture.
It shows an exemplary interpretation of innovative technology on the facade and the use of microalgae cultures in the (solar) architecture. "It is a new architectural form of expression in which the algae produce oxygen in the facade, therefore absorbing carbon dioxide", according to Michael Frielinghaus.
"At the same time, biodiesel is produced in this innovative way which then drives a cogeneration unit."
This results in a circuit which leads to the building emitting minimum pollutants. Hubert Aulich adds: "This concept approach is a model example for the long-term deployment and use of solar energy by biological means."
Over 90 submissions from Europe and Japan competed for the prize, which supports the new generation of planners and designers, and which also introduces them to energy-efficient solar building and renovations.
www.bauhaus-solar-award.de
SOLAR AWARD 2010 sponsored for the first time by SolarInput, Solarvalley Mitteldeutschland, the German Solar Industry Association and European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA).
"The Bauhaus.SOLAR AWARD sends an important signal to Europe", emphasises Michael Frielinghaus, Chair of the jury and President of the Association of German Architects (BDA). "Renewable energies are the starting point for forward-looking ideas in design, architecture and urban development."
"The promotion of young talent in architecture and design is an important commitment for the award sponsors",
says Dr. Hubert Aulich, Chair of SolarInput.
"Young designers and architects develop buildings that generate more energy than they use thanks to the integration of renewable energies and receive a new form and function. With this they are making a crucial contribution to effective climate protection."
As well as the Bauhaus.SOLAR Award, two other projects received awards, which were each endowed with 1.500 EUR:
firstly Matt Townsend from Oxford Brookes University with his H2SOLAR project. He starts from the vision that in 2040 sea levels will have risen so much as a result of climate change that major cities like London are under threat. The threatening lack of drinking water caused by this is remedied by innovatively collecting and preparing rainwater using power produced by photovoltaics.
Secondly, the "Sun Place, a solar petrol station for India"
project by Bianka Brandl from the Bauhaus University Weimar,
which is an exciting interpretation in an urban planning context.
She tackles gridlocks in an Indian megacity with an e-mobility district which not only supplies drive power for rickshaws but also meets driver's requirements.
The other nine nominated projects receive a recognition reward from the sponsors of 500 EUR each.
The international jury includes the elected Chair, Michael Frielinghaus, President of the Association of German Architects and the following:
Dr. Hubert Aulich, PV Crystalox Solar, SolarInput e.V.
Prof. Heiko Bartels, Bauhaus University Weimar
Dipl.-Ing. Martin Haas, Behnisch Architects
Dr. Winfried Hoffmann, Vice President of the European Photovoltaic Industry Association (EPIA)
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jürgen Ruth, Bauhaus University Weimar
Dr. Ing. M. A. Heide Schuster, WSGreenTechnologies GmbH
Prof. Daniel Hausig, Saar Academy of the Visual Arts
Dipl.-Ing. Michael Frielinghaus, President of the BDA (Association of German Architects), BLFP-Frielinghaus Architects
Prof. Alessandra Scognamiglio, Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA)
