Information

The Atlas of Post Carbon Architecture is a cooperation between the Czech Passive House Centre and the Natural Building Lab at TU Berlin, supported by the German Federal Environmental Foundation (DBU).
The European information platform aims to make visible and accessible a wide range of examples of climate-friendly architecture.

Western Europe is in possession of an increasingly ageing building stock and population. Finding ways to better transform and preserve existing buildings through the application of cutting-edge research is key to bringing the environmental footprint of the built environment under control.
      To facilitate this transformation, outstanding and innovative model projects and processes are needed that inspire and demonstrate new possibilities with a view to setting future-oriented standards. As catalysts, they demonstrate innovative new concepts and tools within the framework of small scaled projects and accelerate the political and economic discourse towards a restructuring of the building sector. The Atlas of Post Carbon Architecture invites readers to learn from an initial collection of building projects in Germany and to dive into their backgrounds and concepts.
      Decisive for the selection of the projects were the energy use during operation, the consumption of resources and the generation of carbon dioxide emissions during the entire life cycle of the building and its components, the composition and durability of the materials, social dimensions such as the flexibility of space configurations or changing space requirements and the integration with the neighbourhood and the surrounding infrastructure.

Natural Building Lab

The Natural Building Lab, department of constructive design and climate-friendly architecture, has been part of the Institute of Architecture at the Technische Universität Berlin since 2018 and sees itself as a practice, teaching and research network for a post-fossil built environment within the planetary boundaries. To push the urgently needed radical transformation of building culture, the Natural Building Lab focuses on climate- and resource-adapted, circular building systems using renewable or reused building materials and healthy low-tech building with climate-active natural building materials. Within the framework of its research activities, the Natural Building Lab develops application-oriented approaches to solutions that emerge through transdisciplinary processes in architectural education and production in cooperation with academic and non-academic experts, craft and society and pursue a common good-oriented and holistic approach.

www.nbl.berlin

Passive House Centre

The Passive House Centre is a non-profit organization specialized in spreading the information about passive houses and energy saving construction in the Czech Republic. The Passive House Centre incorporates both natural and legal entities whose aim is to support and popularize the passive house standard and its quality in the Czech Republic. Our members are architects, construction firms, contruction material producers and all other specialists interested in the passive houses. Supporting members share the realization of the activities of our association, in particular using their specific skills and experience they actively cooperate with other members. Supporting member of the association can become anyone who shows practical experience in passive housing and is conform to membership conditions.

www.pasivnidomy.cz

Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt

The DBU funds innovative, exemplary and solution-oriented projects for the protection of the environment, with special consideration of small and medium-sized enterprises. The funding activities focus on environmental technology and research, nature conservation, environmental communication and protection of cultural assets. The foundation was established in 1990 and began its work in 1991. As of June 2022, it has supported more than 10,600 projects with a funding volume of around 1.96 billion euros. The foundation's current capital is 2.39 billion euros. Funded projects should achieve sustainable effects in practice, give impulses and lead to a “multiplier effect”. It is the objective of the DBU to contribute to the solution of current environmental problems, in particular, which result from unsustainable business practices and lifestyles. The DBU sees the crucial challenges primarily in the areas of climate change, biodiversity loss, unsustainable use of natural resources, and harmful emissions. The funding topics are linked both to current scientific findings on the Planetary Boundaries and to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

www.dbu.de

Glossary

Glossary

This is a growing collection of important terms and their specifications and characteristics for a common understanding of the application in this project.

Efficiency house

An efficiency house is an energy standard for residential buildings. It is made up of two criteria: How high is the total energy demand of the property? And how good is the thermal insulation of the building envelope? This is indicated by the values of primary energy demand and transmission heat loss.

Wikipedia (german)

KfW Standard

The KfW standard describes the level of energy efficiency according to the quality label "Efficiency House", which was developed jointly by the German Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Affairs, the German Energy Agency and the KfW development bank for better comparability. The KfW value of a building describes the maximum annual primary energy demand in percent that a house may have in relation to a reference house, which is 100%. The smaller the number, the lower the energy demand. A KfW-40-Plus house must also have an electricity generation system based on renewable energies, an electricity storage system and a ventilation system with heat recovery.

Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau

Primary Energetic Demand

The primary energy demand indicates how much energy you use on average for heating, ventilation and hot water preparation. It takes into account not only what is needed in the house, but also the total energy required for upstream processes, e.g. to deliver electricity, gas or district heating to the building.

Transmission Heat Loss

The transmission heat loss describes how much heat energy is lost to the outside through the building envelope of a heated property. Good thermal insulation and modern thermal insulation windows enable the lowest values and low heat losses.

see the projects

project map

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.

see full project

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.

see full project

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.

see full project

IWL Werkstatt

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.

see full project

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.

see full project

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.

see full project

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.

see full project

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.

see full project

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.

see full project

Rathaus im 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.

see full project

DAYCARE CENTER 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.

see full project

Network

Network

The Atlas of Postcarbon Architecture is a collaborative project that has been developed thanks to the support and contribution of various partners.

PlannING AND DESIGN

Gies Architekten
Architecture Office
IBA THÜRINGEN
Internation Building Exhibition
Scharabi Architekten
Architecture Office
Studio Patric Dreier
Visual Identities, typography and digital Design
ZRS Architekten Ingenieure
Architecture and Civil Engineering Office
fatkoehl architekten
Architecture Office
hämmerle.tschikov Architektur und Baumanagement
Architecture and Construction Management Office
ingenhoven associates GmbH
Architecture Office

Institutions and ORGANISATIONS

Association of Energy Managers
Non-profit Organisation
Czech Chamber of Architects
Public Organisation
Czech Green Building Council
Non-profit Organisation
Šance pro budovy
Alliance by industrial associations

Information Platforms

Holzbauatlas Berlin Brandenburg
Innovative timber construction projects in Berlin-Brandenburg