Call for entries for the Building-Integrated Solar Technology Architecture Award 2017
Published
Solar Energy Promotion Association of Bavaria (SeV) organises the competition for architecturally and technically sophisticated solar energy systems for the 7th time, with prize money of 27,000 euros
The utilisation of solar energy in and on buildings is a key issue in the context of energy-efficient construction. Solar technology systems should be a natural part of innovative building envelopes as well as components of energy-efficient refurbishment.
The task is to find adequate design realisations for these technical innovations. By integrating solar energy systems into roofs and/or façades in an architecturally and technically sophisticated way, architects can increase awareness of the connection between buildings and solar technology among building owners and the general public and thus help renewable energies to become more widespread.
To increase acceptance and further spread the topic, the SeV is organising the "Building-integrated solar technology 2017" architecture prize.
All architects, owners/operators and solar technology companies - private or commercial, industrial or public - with at least one solar system (solar electricity and/or solar heat) that forms an integral part of the building are eligible to participate worldwide. Commissioning, i.e. the verifiable first energy supply of this system, must have taken place in the period from 1 January 2014 to 30 June 2017.
The closing date for the competition is 31 July 2017.
The first prize is endowed with 15,000 euros, a further 10,000 euros are earmarked for recognition prizes, and an additional 2,000 euros will be made available for a student project.
The popular ESA dormitory on the campus of the TU Kaiserslautern (TUK) is in great need of renovation. The foundation's renovation concept for TUK envisions the former experimental building becoming a CO2-neutral building. The estimated costs for the work have not yet been fully raised. Therefore, the ESA residents are participating with a crowdfunding campaign, which has been available on the Startnext platform since September 13.
"We are all grateful that we can continue to live in the ESA and contribute to the building's continued existence. There is a unique atmosphere here," says resident Marcel Meyer. At the end of May, the dormitory was finally handed over to its new owner, the TUK Foundation. Now the renovation work, worth a total of two million euros, is to get underway quickly. The remaining cost share of 700,000 euros is currently being raised by the foundation through fundraising. The ESA housing association's crowdfunding campaign is intended to generate further publicity and finance a modern solar system and insulation for the listed building.
On the campaign website at www.startnext.com/ein-haus-im-gruenen a pitch video and further information are available. "So that potential supporters can learn even more about us and life in the dormitory, we are also posting self-made video clips and a virtual tour of the building on the ESA website and on Facebook," explains Meyer.
Inviting people to the ESA via video as part of the crowdfunding campaign: (from left to right) Matthias Kremer, Tabea Lang, Marcel Meyer and Anna Avagyan - representing the entire residential community. Photo: TUK
Renovated all around, the dormitory will act as a gateway between the university campus and the Palatinate Forest in the future. "TU Kaiserslautern is proud to present such a unique building on its campus. With the energy-saving architecture, the builders have created a dormitory that has not lost its relevance today after 35 years. This is one reason why it was the first building on our campus to be listed at the end of last year," says Prof. Dr. Arnd Poetzsch-Heffter, President of TUK.
Annette Mechel, board member of the foundation, adds: "As the new owner of the dormitory, the TUK Foundation is pleased to be able to accompany this exciting project. The commitment and willingness of the residents to cooperate are helping us enormously to implement the not so easy renovation.
The crowdfunding campaign is expected to be available on Startnext for three months. The TUK Foundation and the ESA housing community are happy about every small donation that contributes to the preservation of the unique building. On the campaign website, supporters can receive a thank-you gift in return and request a donation receipt.
Further information is available at: esa.dormitory.uni-kl.de. On Facebook, the page of the ESA dormitory can be found under "@esakaiserslautern".
The TU Kaiserslautern is the only university in Rhineland-Palatinate with a technical and scientific orientation. Future-oriented study programs, practical training and a modern infrastructure are the framework conditions that students find at the campus university. The TU Kaiserslautern was awarded the Excellence Prize for Studies and Teaching in the nationwide competition "Excellent Teaching". With this award, the TU demonstrates the high value of its study programs. In addition, students and scientists benefit from the numerous internationally renowned research institutions that cooperate closely with the TU Kaiserslautern in the field of applied research.
Source: Press release of TU Kaiserslautern from 9.9.2020
A subsidy programme for small electricity storage units with grants of up to 3000 euros was launched today in Brandenburg. The State Ministry of Economics and Energy supports private homeowners in purchasing a battery storage unit if they generate the electricity themselves with a photovoltaic system on their own roof.
The small-scale storage programme is initially limited to 500 subsidies. It follows the previous year's 1,000-storage programme, which, according to Energy Minister Jörg Steinbach, had met with great demand. Within only six weeks, 1,026 applications had been submitted. Funding of over 5.3 million euros was approved.
The funding programme has already been exhausted.
www.ilb.de/kleinspeicher
The First round for the application in the small storage tank programme is with 500 applications been terminated.
Sign up for the ILB Newsletterso as not to miss the start of the next round of applications.
30.10.2019 | Source: Brandenburg Ministry of Agriculture and Energy
In 2015, the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy approved 939 new projects totalling 548 million euros. In the previous year, the figure was 695 projects with 373 million euros in funding. The majority of the funds were channelled into wind energy, photovoltaics, energy efficiency in buildings and cities, energy storage and grid infrastructure. The EnArgus information system and the BMWi's research portals (see column on the right) provide a detailed insight into the projects and the funds utilised. For energy efficiency in buildings and cities, the volume of funding for newly approved projects in 2015 totalled 73.48 million euros (13% ).
The illumination of night landscapes by artificial lighting increases globally by about 2 to 6 percent per year, with effects on people and nature. A new guide describes how municipalities can minimize light pollution by making their street and building lighting more efficient. Researchers from the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) and the University of Münster have now jointly published the guide on redesigning and retrofitting outdoor lighting.
About 30 percent of vertebrates and even more than 60 percent of invertebrates are nocturnal and can be affected by artificial light at night. The protection of the night must therefore be understood more strongly than before as a fundamental task of nature and landscape conservation, says Prof. Dr. Beate Jessel, President of BfN. The guide to action now published shows that it is possible to minimise the ecological damage caused by artificial lighting. It contains numerous concrete recommendations for action and practical tips for outdoor lighting.
Good lighting is efficient and reduces power consumption while increasing visibility and safety. It is aesthetically pleasing and minimises environmental impact. Many of the measures presented in the action guide are also simple and inexpensive to implement, is how IGB researcher and study leader Dr. Franz Hölker sums up the requirements. Franz Hölker's team is a leader in Germany and internationally in research into so-called light pollution. This is the term used when artificial light at night has a negative impact on humans and light-sensitive creatures. The guide is largely based on scientific findings that his working group, together with researchers from the BfN and the University of Münster, have gained over many years of work.
In the absence of explicit regulations for outdoor lighting, industrial standards for lighting are often treated in practice as legal provisions. In many cases, even the minimum requirements of the technical standards are far exceeded in order to exclude possible claims for damages, for example in the event of traffic accidents, and to prevent accusations that the street lighting does not comply with the state of the art. The result is that outdoor areas are often illuminated much more than necessary, with possible negative consequences for people and nature. However, it is possible to minimise the ecological impact of artificial lighting and at the same time meet social requirements such as safety and aesthetics.
The first author, Dr. Sibylle Schroer from the IGB, gives examples of solutions: Municipalities should use luminaires that do not emit light upwards. The illuminance should be as low as possible and cold white light with a high blue light content should be avoided. This is because the circadian system of higher vertebrates and humans is particularly sensitive to blue light. The use of warm white light can mitigate the negative effects on many organisms and is often perceived as more pleasant by humans.
The interdisciplinary collaboration with the lawyer for environmental and planning law, Benedikt Huggins from the University of Münster, uncovered gaps in environmental law in order to better protect organisms from exposure to poorly installed, unnecessary or excessively bright artificial light in the future. The recommendations were made on the basis of the two research and development projects Analysis of the effects of artificial light on biodiversity, Determination of indicators of impairment and derivation of recommendations for action to avoid negative effects in the context of interventions and Light and glass: Legal issues of the endangerment of species by light and glass, funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment and accompanied in terms of content by the BfN.
The restriction of light pollution brings further advantages, for example in terms of energy savings and thus climate protection, as well as for human health. The guide offers those responsible in local authorities as well as those responsible for lighting, urban and regional planning a free professional decision-making aid to actively promote the conscious use of artificial light.
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