ChristophorusHouse(CHH)

Status

finished

Summary

Especially innovative areas:

1. Building automation, innovative cooling and ventilating concept, newly developed resp. adapted technology. For this purpose, the Arbeitsgemeinschaft erneuerbare Energie GmbH, Gleisdorf, was instructed to do a dynamic building and site simulation and to draw up from this an optimized energy concept.
2. Sustainable water-saving resource management through the optimization of the water and nutrient cycles - according to a concept of EcoSan Club.
3. Optimized daylight supply and energy saving measures
4. Innovative wood construction, first three-story wood constructed rotunda in passive house standard in Austria.
5. Completely newly developed ecological solid wood passive house window
6. After the implementation of the project, the AEE Gleisdorf will be put in charge of monitoring. Furthermore, the house will receive the certification as "quality-proofed passive house" by the Passivhaus Dienstleistung GmbH Darmstadt.

Building automation

With this pilot project, BBM is aiming to achieve an optimization of energy efficiency. This project is a special challenge because of the multi-functional terms of reference which are not existing so far in this specific form. This also includes the varying frequency of the building, e.g., at times of public events it will come to peak loads of the building automation.

To be able to cope with all demands, a new type of cooling and ventilating concept is required that is developped as part of an accompanying study.

A preceding special simulation process was the basis for the building automation. To be able to meet the objectives of the multifunctional pilot project, newly developed respectively newly adapted technologies come into use. Special importance is attached to its demonstration character.

Cornerstones of the energy concept:

• ventilation system with highly efficient heat recovery (80%)
• follow-up ventilation in summer through the atrium
• thermal exchange system through a combination of ventilation and panel heating, respectively cooling
• heat pump for the supply of heating power through earth probes
• (8 earth probes à 100 m)
• utilization of the earth probes for "direct cooling"
• 90 m² sized photo-voltaic system
• thermal solar system for the service water heating (5 m²)

Resource-protective water concept

Through a special water concept it is aimed at achieving a sustainable water saving resource management through the optimization of the water and nutrient cycles.

1. Waterless urinals and low-flush-toilets
2. Separate gray-water treatment:
   The waste water from kitchen, bar, washbasins is pumped into two plant patches inside the house (atrium) where it is purified and subsequently conducted outside to the service water storage tank. The purified water is then led to recycling use (toilet cisterns, plants, etc.) By putting up the plant patches in the atrium, the air humidity in the event hall is increased.
3. Rainwater treatment:
   The rainwater from the roof is led on one side into the water channel which is layed out in front of the house for purification. After flowing through the channel, the rainwater is filtered at the end through a vertical cross-flow sand bed filter and fed to the car wash as service water.
4. Biorecycling system:
   For the intended car wash, a maintenance-free biorecycling system will be used. With this novelty the water demand can be reduced by approximately 80%. Through the innovative development of a no-pressure cyclone sand filter, the quality of the treated water will be improved substantially.

Optimized daylight supply and energy saving measures

Through the natural lighting which is supplied from both sides, on the one hand through the continuous window band arranged on the outside as upper surbase of each floor and on the other hand through the glass cupola over the atrium which supplies additional light for the offices by their being glass enclosed towards the atrium. These conditions call for an intelligent regulation that functions in a power saving manner and brings in line both, the natural as well as the artificial lighting. Each light can be triggered and controlled separately through DALI (digital...). That way it is possible to optimize the utilization of energy since each light can be regulated individually depending on the daylight condition and is producing only the amount of light that is required for the actual visual task.

Innovative wood contruction

The multifunctional centre of BBM is only the second three-story office building in wood construction in Upper Austria, but the first one in passive house standard and in addition, the first rotunda construction.

Apart from the energy savings in the operation of the object, it is also payed attention to the utmost protection of ressources and best possible energy saving in the constructional work itself.

1. Curved round outer walls in passive house standard in element construction method:
   The conventional manufacturing plants for wood constructions only allow for plane but no spatial (three-dimensional) element fabrication. It is necessary to design devices for a mm-precise fabrication. In office constructions it is common to arrange continuous window bands which in wood constructions with plane walls imply that supports have to be arranged directly at the walls in order to stabilize them.
   The curving of the elements combined with the possibility of a spatial
   force derivation without fixing in the ceiling area (thermal bridge) is supposed to enable the detachment of the supports from the walls without any further connection. It is necessary to find static models for this and to make adaptions in the entire element construction for its implementation.
2. Supporting passive house wall elements for the load from three full stories of an office building:
   The higher load on an office building compared with a residential building, linked with the multistory construction and the exemption from thermal bridges, call for a new support system for these walls. In addition, a suitable ceiling support for the increased loads and the absence of thermal bridges have to be designed.
3. Round supports from strength-tested round wood:
   The aim is to avoid glued laminated timber that is more expensive and also more intense in primary energy. Furthermore, the higher bearing capacity of round wood should be used. In order to achieve equal cross-sections and in that way a standardization of the points of connection, the fundamental set will be sorted according to strenght, so that stronger parts can be used where higher strain occurs.
   For the integration of round supports in the element construction method (ceilings) it is necessary to design new points of support and a new connection system.
4. Steelless ceiling supports:
   Steel parts are energy intense in their production. Besides, in the wood construction, they require the cooperation of two crafts (locksmith, carpenter). The reduction of the complexity of the supports is supposed to ease the multiplication of the ceiling system for consecutive projects in reform states.
   A new concept for the supporting framework of the ceiling and of the roof is necessary.

The named innovations let the office building become a prototype in many areas of the wood constructional work. The promising future prospects of this object justify the development of new constructional parts and systems in order to make the multiplication of this "prototype" economically and ecologically still more useful.

Through the architecturally accentuated design concept it is intended to increase the attention and sensitivity for topics of sustainable development, global changes and ecological systems.

Passive house windows

The intended window is a completely newly developed solid wood passive house window. It has so far not been installed in any such large-scale passive house.

The development of the window was based on the idea of an environment-conscious dealing with raw materials, the ecological safeness and renewability of the materials. A great part of the materials comes from naturally growing raw materials like wood and cork.

Contact

Franz X. Kumpfmüller
BBM (Beschaffungsbetrieb der MIVA)
Maximilian-Pagl-Straße 5
4651 Stadl-Paura
Tel.: 07245/28636
Fax: 07245/28636-30
E-Mail: office@miva.at