Wood architecture, social space design, diversity community and inclusion project.

Published 5 October 2020

Franklin Village", one of the first large-scale socially and ecologically developed residential projects in Germany, is to be built on the "Franklin" conversion site in Mannheim. The idea is to build a quarter in timber construction that claims to be ecologically and socially sustainable. The project developers will celebrate the groundbreaking ceremony in mid-September with an artistically designed parade of diversity.

It takes about ten trees (three cubic meters of wood) to build a single-family house from wood; the Berlin architects Sauerbruch Hutton need about 2,500 trees to build the exemplary residential quarter of Mannheim. Around 750 tons of CO 2 is bound up in this amount of wood, which, according to one calculation, grows again in Germany in less than six minutes. The architecture, social concept and affordability of the residential quarter for around 200 people in the centre of the Franklin conversion area in Mannheim are to be just as sustainable as the building material. At just under eight euros per square meter of living space, some of the 90 apartments will be available once the entire project is sold to a foundation.

Just a few years ago, "Franklin" was one of the largest residential areas of the US Army in Germany. The city of Mannheim wants to see the topics of "social mix", "inclusion", "open space & urbanity", "urban development & architecture" and "energy & mobility" solved in an exemplary manner in a newly emerging district here. A concept tender was held for a central building area measuring 100 by 68 metres at the heart of the site, which was won by the partnership Innovatio / Profund / Sauerbruch Hutton Architekten. The winners of the tender are taking on the task of implementing "urban development of the future". Profund, based in Gera, Thuringia, is responsible for the construction and Innovatio (Heidelberg/Essen) for the project development. Profund sees itself as a strong real estate specialist, while Innovatio claims to think and realise social space design and sustainable neighbourhood development for the post-industrial age of cities.

As the project developer, Innovatio provides the conceptual framework for the large-scale project, speaking of "inclusively functioning urban quarters that carry the multi-generational idea within them". Keywords here are: Home, identification, diversity, lively neighbourhood, caring community, participation and overall sustainability. You could also say a village in the city. In practice, this means: various communal areas, including a neighbourhood forum with a large multi-functional room and kitchen, a fireplace room and
a large community terrace. Professional neighbourhood management, a differentiated mix of apartments for singles (including senior citizens) and couples as well as for large families, workshops, co-working, a large playroom, a barbecue area on the roof garden, the shady neighbourhood square designed by Urban Gardening - much of it organised by a neighbourhood app. Cluster apartments for people with assistance needs, care services and volunteer concepts are just as much a part of it as car-sharing.
Architecturally, the entire residential quarter was developed exclusively in constructive timber construction. The "Franklin Village" project is the largest timber construction project in Mannheim and one of the largest in the country. It is intended to serve as a model for "timber construction in multi-storey housing".
This will be a lighthouse project, because the material "wood" in construction makes a significant contribution to the energy transition and to minimizing CO2 emissions. Through the use of e-mobility, car sharing and photovoltaics, Franklin Village will also make a lasting contribution to CO2 reduction. The awarding of the project for its model character and its innovative strength in timber construction by the European funding fund EFRE and the state ministry for rural areas, confirms the consistent efforts of the project developers. The inclusion in the exhibition "Urbainable - Positions on the European City for the 21st Century" by the Berlin Academy of Arts, which opened in September 2020, underlines the exemplary nature of the project.

The project's sustainability concept is reflected in the architecture, and not only in the timber construction. An exemplary landscape architecture characterizes the green inner courtyard, which, together with the open neighbourhood square, forms spaces for neighbourly encounters. Not only the timber construction, but also all other building materials are ecological. District heating and photovoltaics provide electricity for self-consumption, everything is managed by a digital energy controlling system. The "future of living" emerges as an interplay of responsibility, awareness and communication, proclaim the makers. "We are happy that we are not only allowed to develop and build something so trend-setting, but that we are also allowed and expected to implement the overall concept of Franklin Village, so that it can become good," says Innovatio, which, at least in the first few years, will also take over the neighborhood management including the founding of the neighborhood association. "Those who proclaim sustainability should act sustainably themselves," say the project developers.

Source: PM franklin-village.com (Mannheim) from 16.09.2020

Keywords: Wood construction, News Blog Baden-Württemberg

Published 13 July 2021

Lecture about the developments on the timber market by Gerd Ebner

Published 7/2/2021 Length: 1 h 10 min.

Keywords:
Procurement, DE-News, Movies, Movies > 45 Min, Wood construction, Economics

Published 5 December 2019

Patrick Henry Village: Future district with a green heart

Dynamic Master Plan for the Patrick Henry Village presented / Citizen participation from 9 December onwards

A central park with a lake in the centre, diversity in architecture and in the use of buildings, energy production directly in the neighbourhood, a ring road, large neighbourhood garages, the public space free of parking spaces - these are just a few aspects of the dynamic master plan for the Patrick Henry Village (PHV). Heidelberg's largest conversion area will develop into the 16th district in the coming years. Representatives of the city and the International Building Exhibition (IBA) Heidelberg presented the plan at a press conference on the almost 100-hectare site. Online public participation will run from Monday, 9 December 2019 to Wednesday, 15 January 2020. From Wednesday, 11 December 2019, the master plan will also be discussed in the municipal council.

The European city in the 21st century

"We see Patrick-Henry-Village as a mixed-use district - a sustainable, modern and urban place to live and work in every respect. Patrick-Henry-Village should show how we transfer the old ideal image of the European city into the 21st century. We want short distances in the neighbourhood, a forward-looking and climate-friendly energy and transport concept as well as attractive and green open spaces," explains First Mayor Jürgen Odszuck. For Conversion Mayor Hans-Jürgen Heiß the dynamic master plan is a good basis for this: "The plan leaves us enough flexibility to be able to react situationally in the coming years of development. The scale alone of almost 100 hectares is unique for Heidelberg - many challenges and enormous opportunities await us," says Heiß.

The IBA Heidelberg helped shape the planning process from the very beginning. Executive Director Prof. Michael Braum highlights the city's courage in taking on the quality offensive of an International Building Exhibition in PHV: "IBAs are an urban planning excellence format - their projects go far beyond the usual standards. Meeting this high quality standard for an entire city district is a complex and demanding task. We look forward to continuing to accompany the city of Heidelberg in this endeavour."

Dynamic master plan in keywords

Uses: The district is to become a place of residence for about 10,000 people and a place of work for about 5,000. In principle, there will also be a mix of uses. The main residential areas are in the centre, in the north and on the western edge of the district. There will be offers for all population groups in all stages of life, with a focus on young, urban-oriented families. In the east - towards the 5 motorway - the focus is on different workplaces ranging from the sciences to craft businesses and urban manufactories, including digitalised logistics, as well as start-ups. Patrick Henry Village will also provide innovative forms for collaborative working. In the south of the area, the focus will be on education, sports, culture and creative industries. In the heart of the area, an open and experimental neighbourhood centre is planned - several more such "innovation anchors" are to be established in the area.

Architecture: New and existing buildings are to be mixed in the new district. For example, the former officers' villas in the north of the area and some of the characteristic terraced buildings in the centre are to be preserved. The new buildings will be designed in a variety of shapes. The mixing of the district is to find visual expression in a diverse architecture. Experiments are to be initiated that deal with cost-effective, energy-efficient and space-saving building and living.

Energy: The energy concept of the new district wants to learn from the experiences of Bahnstadt and take into account the fight against climate change. Accordingly, the energy required is to be produced as far as possible within the district in decentralised structures - for example via solar collectors. At the same time, energy consumption is to be kept as low as possible at all levels, whereby at the building level, production ("grey energy") and operation over a period of 50 years are also to be taken into account in the balancing.

Traffic: The new district will be a model project of the transport turnaround, where sustainable mobility is lived. From the first development measure onwards, environmentally friendly mobility will be ensured. In addition to an ambitious regional integration of PHV into the environmental network, the focus within PHV is on promoting mobility behaviour on foot, by bicycle and by local public transport. The central access axis in the district will be a ring road that connects the different neighbourhoods and open spaces and creates a city of short distances. The street system is planned without parking spaces. All plots are accessible by car, but parking will be in the separately accessible neighbourhood garages at the entrances to the district. As in the neighbourhood garages, sustainable mobility services such as rental bicycles, cargo bikes, etc. will also be available at the neighbourhood level in individual mobility stations.

Open spaces: A productive urban landscape is envisaged for PHV. Near-natural open spaces serve not only nature conservation or play and leisure uses, but also especially productive aspects such as food and energy production and water management. Essential spatial components of the open space concept are:

- The "Green Heart" is a ribbon that runs through the centre of the neighbourhood. At its centre is a park with a lake to the south of the former officers' mess, which opens up to the new centre of the PHV.

- The "green fingers" form a diverse network of open spaces consisting of gardens, near-natural areas, playgrounds and communal areas, and at the same time provide the necessary fresh air corridors in the east-west direction as well as biotope and path networks in the landscape.

- An edge to the west represents the transition to the adjacent agricultural landscape. The area includes local recreation, private gardens, nature conservation and various types of food production.

Digital services: The opportunities of digitalisation should be considered from the very beginning of the development process. Of course, complex requirements with regard to data protection and data self-determination must be taken into account. In principle, digitisation is not only about continuous broadband coverage of the area. In the future, PHV will offer a wide range of services on topics such as media/energy supply, mobility/neighbourhood garages and social coexistence (sharing). The services are to be bundled in a joint operator/quarter company and provided primarily via digital channels. For this purpose, there should also be a contact point in the neighbourhood right from the start.

Source: PM from 5.12.2019 of the IBA Heidelberg

Keywords:
Stock, Bike-/Velo-City, DE-News, IBA, Barracks conversion, News Blog Baden-Württemberg, Mix of uses, Quarters

Published 10 November 2020

BUND research award for dissertation on "Transparency in rent increases after energy-related renovations".

Dr. Kirsten David, a researcher at HafenCity University (HCU) Hamburg, has developed an innovative method for determining rent increases after energy efficiency measures: By means of functional cost splitting, rent increases become appropriate and comprehensible. The planning of the energetic measures is also ecologically optimized. For her dissertation entitled "Functional Cost Splitting for the Determination of Rent Increases after Energy Efficiency Measures", the scientist today receives the "BUND Research Award 2020". With the research award, the Bund für Umwelt- und Naturschutz (BUND) honors scientific work on sustainable development.
Rent increases due to energy-efficient building modernisation are legally permissible and politically desired as an investment incentive. After all, according to the German Energy Agency (dena), around 35% of Germany's total energy consumption is attributable to the building sector. An increase in the renovation rate is therefore necessary from a climate policy perspective.

However, while the legislators assume that such measures can be implemented economically and without affecting the rent, the experience of many tenants is different: Often the rent increases exceed the saved heating and energy costs many times over. In extreme cases, tenants can no longer afford their apartments. "To this day, energy-efficient building refurbishment has a reputation as a gentrification tool," says David. With the method she developed to determine appropriate rent increases, the 45-year-old scientist also wants to contribute to an increased social acceptance of corresponding measures.

"The basis of the politically expected increase amounts is the so-called coupling principle," explains the architect. "Like the Energy Saving Ordinance, it assumes that energy efficiency measures will always be implemented when a comprehensive refurbishment is due anyway. The sticking point: only the modernization costs entitle landlords* to rent increases, but not the costs for the renovation. The latter must be deducted from the total investment sum as "anyway costs". Eight percent of the remaining costs can be passed on to the tenants as a modernisation charge.

"The current regulation is insufficient. In practice, there are manifold demarcation problems between modernisation costs relevant to rent increases and maintenance costs not relevant to rent increases," says David. The method she developed, on the other hand, focuses on the climate-relevant improvement of each individual building component compared to its condition before the construction measure. "Functional cost splitting thus corresponds to the actual basic idea of the legislators, is practicable and enables an appropriate and comprehensible allocation to modernisation or refurbishment costs," says David.

According to the scientist, her approach leads to the omission of measures that are nonsensical from a structural engineering point of view and do not bring about any climate-relevant improvement of the building components: "With my method, such measures are not relevant for rent increases and are therefore uneconomical for landlords. In addition, your calculation method ensures that the modernization levy actually approaches the level of the ancillary cost savings as a rule. The award winner is therefore particularly pleased that the sustainability aspect of her work has been recognised with the BUND Research Award: "Rental housing stock can only be developed sustainably if ecological, economic and social aspects are given equal consideration. Functional cost splitting makes a significant contribution to this."

This year, the BUND Research Award will be presented at a virtual conference. Among other things, keynote speaker and environmental scientist Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker will discuss with the three award winners how science can develop more relevance and effectiveness for sustainability goals. The transfer into practice is also an important concern for David. Her next goal is to further develop functional cost splitting into an instrument that can also be understood by laypersons - preferably as an online tool.

Personal details:
Kirsten David is a guest researcher at HCU in the subject areas "Design and Analysis of Structures" with Prof. Dr.-Ing. Annette Bögle and "Construction Economics" with Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Reinhold Johrendt as well as a lecturer in the interdisciplinary study programmes. Her doctoral thesis was supervised by Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Reinhold Johrendt and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Krüger, (subject area "Project Management and Project Development in Urban Planning") and is freely available:
https://edoc.sub.uni-hamburg.de//hcu/volltexte/2019/508/.

David runs the homepage
www.funktionales-kostensplitting.de
and tweets on topics such as rents, housing and sustainability.
https://twitter.com/DrKirstenDavid1

Keywords:
Construction and operating costs, Stock, DE-News, Research, Climate protection, New books and studies, Contests & Prizes