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Print articleIn just six months of construction work, Luwoge transformed an occupied older building in the Ludwigshafen district of Pfingstweide, Germany, into a zero-heating cost house.
Margit Conrad, the German Environment Minister, said:
?Ludwigshafen has developed into an outstanding centre for energy-efficient construction. Saving energy and reducing costs go hand in hand here, and we need these types of projects. They demonstrate that comprehensive modernisation represents a real economic alternative not only for tenants but also for property owners. This zero-heating cost house provides impressive support for our campaign to encourage precisely such projects, namely UnserEner. Macht mit! - Unsere beste Energie ist gesparte Energie (roughly: ?It's our energy. Join us! ? The best energy is saved energy?), in order to protect our climate and resources.?
The zero-heating cost house is a clear example of how investing in energy-efficient modernisation can be highly profitable. The attraction of the zero-heating cost house is that the building itself covers the costs for the comfortable conditions within the apartments. Neopor panels from BASF provide the insulation. Together with triple-glazed windows and a controlled ventilation system with thermal recovery, they enable fuel consumption and CO2 emissions to be reduced by around 80%. Even the residual heating requirements do not generate costs: solar panels on the roof and the facades provide the energy for electricity and warm water.
Anja Ackermann, a tenant in the zero-heating cost house, is enthusiastic about the results. As she notes, ?Not only do we now live in a building that is just like new and has this great technology, we are also actively helping to preserve the environment.?
Residents of the 16 apartments benefit in many ways. The drop in heating costs means that their combined rent and heating payments are no longer dependent on energy prices. The thermal insulation promotes both comfort and health ? by improving noise insulation, for example. Radiators are no longer necessary.
Even under extremely cold weather conditions the tenants will still warm, thanks to a thermal radiation system integrated into the windows, a new technology that is being used for the first time in homes in Germany. It achieves a comfortable interior temperature faster and with less energy than conventional heating systems.
