INTRODUCTION
Learning from
post carbon
architecture
The production and maintenance of our built environment are responsible for a considerable portion of global carbon emissions, energy requirements and resource consumption. In order to secure the future of life on earth, we need to return to the resources available to us within limited planetary boundaries. With this aim in mind, we are looking for strategies to support a holistic building sector transformation.
The Atlas of Post Carbon Architecture sees itself as a European information platform making visible and accessible a broad spectrum of examples of climate-friendly architecture. The projects identified do not claim completeness but they rather contribute provide impulses from the social, ecological, economic, local and global perspectives to the discourse.
The Atlas of Post Carbon Architecture is a project of the Passive House Centre Czech Republic and the Natural Building Lab of the TU Berlin. The project was funded by Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt and the Passive House Centre Brno.
Projects
Projects
The selected case studies serve as sources of inspiration and demonstrators of practical application following diverse approaches in planning and construction.
Different filters help to outline the different thematic fields and corridors of action.
CATEGORIES
Administration Building Tierpark
The Tierpark administration building was refurbished in 2019 with a new prefabricated timber panel facade connected to the existing structure and the renovation of the building services. The project demonstrates resource-conserving refurbishment as a sustainable and economical alternative to demolition and new construction.
Natural Construction Material
Preservation and Maintenance
Resource Protection
Kleehäuser Quartier Vauban
The multigenerational and barrier-free residential buildings Kleehäuser, located in the context of the climate-friendly model district Vauban in Freiburg im Breisgau are pioneering projects in ecological construction regarding their integrated waste, sanitation, heating and energy systems and the democratic organisation of living together.
Integrative District Planning
Energy Management
IWL Workshop Building
A new workshop for people with disabilities was built in Landsberg am Lech using a hybrid timber construction system. The building utilizes natural light and waste heat to generate energy, and its design allows for easy conversions and accessibility for maintenance.
Energy Management
Natural Construction Material
Local Production Cycles
Kleiner Prinz
The Prinz-Eugen-Quartier in Munich-Bogenhausen is Europe's largest coherent timber construction model district. It includes a mix of different residential building typologies with collectively used outdoor areas and communal workspaces. The buildings are designed as "empty shells" for residents to customize and are part of a holistic sustainable building concept.
Integrative District Planning
Natural Construction Material
Resource Protection
Spreefeld
Spreefeld is a passive house standard construction project comprising three wood-concrete hybrid buildings with individually adapted living spaces. The project's diverse community is due to a solidarity-based financing concept and participatory planning process.
Energy Management
Integrative District Planning
Casa Rossa
The "Casa Rossa" building in Chemnitz was renovated using natural materials and a minimalist design concept. The building's energy consumption is low due to highly insulated envelopes and a solar thermal system on the roof. The building's prominent brickwork was completed, repaired, and glazed for a uniform surface, revealing traces of construction and repairs in the past.
Preservation and Maintenance
Local Production Cycles
Natural Construction Material
Walden48
The Walden48 residential building is constructed entirely of wood, with a flexible layout and untreated larch planks on the facade facing the cemetery. Geothermal piles provide summer cooling and winter heating. It combines sustainable construction approaches such as a participatory planning process and renewable resource use.
Resource Protection
Natural Construction Material
Energy Management
Eiermannbau
Careful interventions are being made to the existing structure of the listed Eiermannbau to make it usable again, with new technical services installed visibly to enable easy removal in the future. Innovative concepts are being developed and tested within the existing industrial monument as part of the IBA Thüringen.
Preservation and Maintenance
Natural Construction Material
Local Production Cycles
Administration Centre Stühlinger
The administration center in Freiburg is a net-plus-energy public building that combines various administrative locations into one building. The building uses various energy sources and geothermal energy for heating and cooling. The city hall is open to the public and features a partial air conditioning system, heating-cooling sails, and heat recovery.
Energy Management
KINDERGARTEN And Residental Building Ellener Hof
Ellener Hof is a neighborhood in Bremen featuring up to 500 units for residents with a hight amount of wood construction. The neighborhood prioritizes low-car infrastructure and social mixing, with publicly accessible common areas. Stair and elevator cores are built in solid wood, and the buildings have minimal need for building service technology.