Institute of Physics inBerlin-Adlershof

Urban Ecological Model Projects

Bauen

The Building

The Institute of Physics of the HumboldtUniversity Berlin is an exceptional project ofecological urban development featuringvarious innovations of sustainable construc-tion. The focus of the project is on a conceptof decentralised rainwater management,building greening and elements for coolingand ventilation.

Rainwater is stored in cisterns and used toirrigate a façade greening system and togenerate evaporative cooling in air condi-tioners. Extra water is collected in a pond inthe building’s courtyard allowing the waterto either evaporate or drain into the ground.

Model from the archi-tectural competitionheld in 1997

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Address Berlin Adlershof, Newtonstraße 15, 12489 BerlinHistory The building resulted from an architectural

competition held in 1997Start of the construction 1999Architects Georg Augustin, Ute Frank, BerlinLandscape Architects Stefan Tischer and Joerg Th. Coqui, BerlinBuilder/Owner Land Berlin, represented by the Senate for Urban

Development, Department V. The project receivedfinancial support from the Federal Republic of Germanyas a joint initiative for the construction of universities.

Construction completed 2003User Humboldt University BerlinUsable floor area 9,700 m2

Total ground surface area 19,000 m2

Total interior volume 74,000 m3

Received the Berlin Architectural Award in the year 2003

The Project

Within the framework of the Berlin Programmefor Urban Ecological Model Projects commis-sioned by the Berlin Senate for Urban Devel-opment, a working team consisting of expertsand scientists from the TU Berlin, the Hum-boldt University, and the University of AppliedSciences Neubrandenburg has scientificallymonitored and evaluated the project.

This research is designed to draw up recom-mendations for an optimal and economicalmanagement of the building’s mechanicalsystems with an emphasis on an innovativeand sustainable use of the resources waterand energy as well as on the reduction ofoperating costs.

The project includes among other things anongoing monitoring of the water consump-tion of different plant species of the façadegreening system and of resultant evaporativecooling along with its effects on the overallenergy consumption of the building. In thisproject, irrigation is controlled and monitoredby an internet-assisted computer system.Temperature and radiation measurementsassist in analysing economic and ecologicaleffects of these systems. In addition to themonitoring, this model project is integratedinto research projects designed to evaluateenergy concepts for office buildings in thecontext of studies being done by the Institutefor Building and Solar Technologies at theTechnical University of Braunschweig.

The monitoring, evaluation, optimisation anddocumentation of project-related experienceshould provide basic conditions for the long-term implementation and further develop-ment of innovative and economic technolo-gies. Practical results and user-oriented fin-dings are worked out and documented forfuture projects to support their design,construction, operation and maintenance.

Devices for measuringpotential evaporation

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Decentralised RainwaterManagement

The building of the Institute of Physics is notconnected to wastewater or rainwater sewers.One of the main goals of the decentralisedrainwater management is the retention ofrainwater. Rainwater is stored in 5 cisterns intwo courtyards of the building, and primarilyused for the irrigation of the façade greeningsystem and the adiabatic cooling. Storm waterevents with heavy rainfall are managed withan overflow to the pond in one of the court-yards, from which the water can evaporate ordrain into the ground. To protect the groundwater from pollution, this drainage is onlyallowed through surface areas with vegeta-tion. Some of the roof surfaces are extensivelygreened.

Transfer of rainwaterfrom the cisterns

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Landscape modelling to determine remaining storagecapacity with respect to water level

Roof and façadegreening

Passive Building Air Conditioning

Impermeable surfaces such as roofs andstreets influence the urban microclimate byimpacting on the radiation or energy respec-tively. As a result, ambient temperaturessurrounding buildings also rise and lead to aroom climate of discomfort or increasedenergy use for air conditioning. One solutionto this problem is to green their façades androofs, thereby consuming heat energy throughevapotranspiration. Measurements taken attwo roofs in Berlin-Tempelhof show that 58%of the radiation balance can be converted intoevapotranspiration during summer months.

In comparison, non-greened roofs can con-vert 95 % of the radiation balance into heat.Façade greening can even more significantlyimpact on a building’s energy balance. Theaverage evapotranspiration rate betweenJuly and August was between 5.4 and 11.3millimetres of water per day depending onthe respective floor, i. e. an average coolingvalue of 157 kWh per day.

Infrared image withmidday summer tem-peratures (red = warm,blue = colder façade areas)

Façade greening

Daily Energy Balances on AverageComparison of greened and non-greened roofs

Extensive roof greening

Primary factors:· Water storage capacity of substrate· Exposition· Coverage of vegetation

Global radiation

Radiation balance

Reflection Evaporation cooling Perceived heat

Increased long-waveradiation

Primary factors:· Surface colour (Albedo)· Surface heat capacity· Exposition

Bitumen roof

Global radiation

Radiation balance

Reflection Evaporation cooling Perceived heat

Increased long-waveradiation

Green Façades

Green façades are expected to provide anactive solar shading system. As a “side effect”they illustrate the changing seasons. Ten typesof climbing plants have been planted in 150planters on nine different building façades.Façade greening is closely related to the effortof optimising energy efficiency of the build-ing. Plants provide shade during summer,while in the winter the sun’s radiation is ableto pass through the glass front. The greeningalso harnesses evapotranspiration to improvethe microclimate inside and around thebuilding.

In selecting the climbing plants an emphasiswas placed on types that can grow in planterboxes under extreme conditions. Of the var-ious plants tested the Wisteria sinensis hasproven to do the best. In addition, a specialsystem of irrigation and different substrateshave also been applied and studied. A factorin the selection was an adequate capillaryclimbing capacity. A layer of insulation wasprovided to some of the planter boxes tocompensate for large shifts in temperatureand to help protect against very low wintertemperatures. A comparison with boxes with-out insulation revealed significant differ-ences in the growth of plants according totheir location.

Planters with substrateon the façade

Adiabatic Cooling Systems

During summer months, rainwater is usedfor air conditioners in the building of the Insti-tute of Physics. For the process of adiabaticcooling, rainwater is sprayed on the build-ing’s exhaust air whereby fresh air enteringthe building is cooled through a heat ex-changer. The use of rainwater means to saveboth drinking water and waste water.

This process of air conditioning of a buildingis effective in cooling incoming air to a tem-perature of 21–22 °C with outside tempera-tures of even up to 30 °C, without having torevert to technical cooling systems.

Interior View

Air conditioning systemwith adiabatic cooling

Energy Consumption in Interior Courtyard

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Outside TemperatureSystem 4Energy Consumption reduced > 67 %

Initial Results

Evaporation of water is an economic andeffective means for the air conditioning of abuilding. The evapotranspiration of one cubicmeter of water produces an evaporativecooling with a value of 680 kWh. Adiabaticcooling systems can practically be seen assubstitutes for conventional air conditioningtechnologies. Synergies can also be achievedby using rainwater in decentralised systems,for example rainwater can be used for bothirrigation and adiabatic cooling.

Greening a building’s roof and façades, oneof the passive cooling systems, results insignificant additional evapotranspiration.It has a high potential of reducing thebuilding’s surface temperatures therebyimproving the microclimate inside andaround the building.

Façade greening

Rainwater pond ininterior courtyard

The Field of Ecological Buildingin the Berlin Senate for UrbanDevelopment

Building requirements are becoming increas-ingly complex. Current building design callsnot only for accepted technical standards,but also for an optimisation of a variety ofobjectives, some of which conflict with eachother.

The main objective is to organize the plan-ning, building and management of projectsto ensure that

· environmental and natural resources areconserved,

· the highest standards possible are reachedwith regard to environmental and socialimpacts, and

· sustainable living and working conditionsare achieved and maintained.

The drawing up of standard guidelines forthe design, construction and managementof public as well as publicly funded buildingprojects is also aimed at

· reducing costs of design and building, and· minimizing operating costs such as those for

water and energy as well as building lifecycle costs.

Over the last few years, the Programme forUrban Ecological Model Projects has entaileda further development in the field of residen-tial and urban construction, led to new tech-nologies as well as to the establishment ofguidelines for public and publicly fundedconstruction projects.

Location at theAdlershof ResearchCentre

Links:www.stadtentwicklung.berlin.de/bauen/oekologisches_bauenwww.gebaeudekuehlung.de

Project Management:Berlin Senate for Urban Development, Department VI,Ministerial Affairs of Building, section ecologicalconstructionDipl.-Ing. Brigitte ReichmannWürttembergische Straße 6, 10707 BerlinPhone: +49. 30. 9012-8620Fax: +49. 30. 9012-8560Email: brigitte.reichmann@senstadt.verwalt-berlin.de

Partners/Scientific Monitoring:Technical University Berlin; Institute of Architecture,Department of Building, Technology and DesignProf. Dipl.-Ing. Claus Steffan, Dipl.-Ing. Marco SchmidtStraße des 17. Juni 152, Sekr. A 59, 10623 BerlinPhone: +49. 30. 314-23301, +49. 30. 314-71307Fax: +49. 30. 314-26079Email: claus.steffan@tu-berlin.de

marco.schmidt@tu-Berlin.de

Humboldt University Berlin; Institute of PhysicsDipl.-Ing. habil. PD Günther Wernicke,Newtonstraße 15, 12489 BerlinPhone: +49. 30. 2093-7897Fax: +49. 30. 2093-7666,Email: wernicke@physik.hu-berlin.de

University of Applied Sciences NeubrandenburgDepartment of Landscape Ecology/Plant SciencesProf. Dr. Manfred KöhlerBrodaer Straße 2, 17033 NeubrandenburgPhone: +49. 395. 5693-210, Sekretariat: -203Fax: +49. 395. 5693-299Email: manfred.koehler@hs-nb.de

Project Partners:Humboldt University Berlin; Technical DivisionDipl.-Ing. Frank FiedlerZiegelstraße 10/11, 10117 BerlinPhone: +49. 30. 2093-1131Fax: +49. 30. 2093-1136Email: frank.fiedler@cms.hu-berlin.de

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With friendly support from:

Publisher:Berlin Senate for Urban Development– Communication –Württembergische Str. 610707 Berlin