2013 Exhibitions
The European research and construction project BuildTog (Building Together) has entered into its construction phase with two adaptations in Darmstadt, Germany and Lieusaint, France.
Groups that support the BuildTog include the European Housing Network (Eurhonet), architecture firm A/NM/A, led by French architect Nicolas Michelin, German energy efficiency consultancy Luwoge consult, and speciality chemicals firm BASF.
The objective is to create a new generation of residential houses in several European countries which combine best energy performance with cost-efficient construction and high-quality architecture.
Since BuildTog residential houses are designed and built to reach the Passive House standard, they are anticipating the future EU energy saving targets, which will influence the norm for all new buildings in EU as of 2020. Hence, Eurhonet and its partners consider the project to be a good demonstration of how energy can be saved in construction.
Another basic condition for all BuildTog projects is to design and build houses cost- efficiently. Project partners will therefore use modern, standardized and reliable construction materials and appropriated technologies, which are primarily based on a concrete shell insulated from the outside.
To ensure their methodological comparability, all BuildTog houses follow a common design that has been developed Nicholas Michelin, and the design is adapted by local architects and project developers to meet the specific contextual requirements.
BASF solutions for insulation and heat management help achieve the desired energy efficiency, planning, construction and performance of BuildTog houses and are monitored by Luwogeconsult. Objective is to optimise the planning methodology and to enhance the future construction process. All results will be published in order to drive knowledge transfer within the industry and meet future European energy targets.
The project had been presented during the 17th International Passive House Conference in Frankfurt/Main, Germany held in April.
Meanwhile, in Darmstadt (Germany), 37 units with 3,778 sq m living surface and in Lieusaint near Paris, two buildings of around 1,500 sq m and 1,400 sq m living surface are currently under construction. Inaugurations of both BuildTog projects are scheduled for February 2014. Furthermore, project partners expect the permission for two more projects in France and the start of one Swedish project in the coming months.
(PRA)
