advanced building skins 14 | 15 June 2012 - lamp.tugraz.at - Graz ...

Advanced Building Skins
Figure 9: Integration of the Energy-Plus-House in an urban settlement by horizontal or vertical stacking
7 Summary and Outlook
Energy-Plus-houses generate more energy than their residents need from external sources. But the
building should not be understood as a simple technical power station, but its integral design should
also focus on living space quality and on resource efficiency.
Thus, the proposed building concept is divided clearly into an energetically passive and an active part.
Half of the building, the passive part, is built from elements of concrete which are fully recyclable.
The monolithic design consists of a triple layer wall fabricated which combines ultra high performance
concrete with mineralized protein foam.
It is complemented by a volume which is defined by a transparent skin covered by solar panelling. Allglass
folding walls offer generous opening opportunities and allow controlled ventilation. The concept
assumes that solar radiation can be used to provide the required amounts of electricity and thermal
energy. The so called solar garden transforms the monofunctional areas which surround conventional
family dwellings into a multifunctional space that serves energy collecting purposes and supplements
the actual living rooms.
In the evaluation of Energy-Plus-Houses and innovative constructions investment costs only consist of
a part of the whole life cycle costs. Additionally, the sum of present values of all future costs has to be
identified. This includes costs of the utilization phase, as well as costs emerging in the End-of-Life-
Stage. Finally, the environmental and social consequences of the Energy-Plus-House should be
expressed by monetary values in the holistic evaluation of Energy-Plus-Houses.
Especially when dealing with complex constructions like the introduced energy-positive facades,
practical experience is essential. The interdisciplinary planning team of the Technische Universität
Darmstadt is in the process of realizing the concept on a typical dwelling house. Only the use of the
building will turn out whether innovative concepts that influence the usage habits of the residents are
successful in practice.
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