BuildTog: European research and construction project enters into construction phase

JOINT NEWS RELEASE

 Buildings in Passive House standard in Germany and France under construction

Frankfurt/Main, Germany – April 16, 2013. The European research and construction project BuildTog (Building Together) has entered into its construction phase with two adaptations in Darmstadt, Germany and Lieusaint, France. The project will be presented during the 17th International Passive House Conference in Frankfurt/Main, Germany on April 19-20, 2013.

BuildTog is driven by the European Housing Network EURHONET, the French architect Nicolas Michelin with his architecture firm A/NM/A, the German energy efficiency consultancy LUWOGE consult and the world‘s leading chemical company 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 by the renowned French architect Nicholas Michelin (A/NM/A). This is a guarantee for the high quality of architecture. Local architects and project developers then adapt this design on site to meet the specific contextual requirements.

While BASF solutions for insulation and heat management help achieve the desired energy efficiency, planning, construction and performance of BuildTog houses are monitored by LUWOGE consult. Objective is to optimize 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.

Two ongoing BuildTog projects in Germany and France

In Darmstadt, Germany, 37 dwellings with 3,778 m² living surface and in Lieusaint near Paris, two buildings of around 1,500 m2and 1,400 m² living surface are currently under construction. Inaugurations of both BuildTog projects are scheduled to 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.

More information on BuildTog will be given during a presentation at the 17thInternational Passive House Conference at Messe Frankfurt in Frankfurt/Main, Germany on April 19, 1 p.m. in hall “Illusion”. Furthermore, project partners present BuildTog at the Passive House Exhibition alongside the Conference in hall 5.0, stand 8.2.

Contacts:

About EURHONET

The European Housing Network, EURHONET, is a network of about 29 public and social housing companies from England, France, Germany, Italy and Sweden, managing over 700.000 dwellings. Since all countries are facing the same challenges all over Europe, Eurhonet’s objective is to help find ways to save energy. This is why they initiated BuildTog.                                      

 www.eurhonet.eu

About A/NM/A

Since 2000, A/NM/A - Agence Nicolas Michelin & Associés - has been actively researching and producing innovative solutions in the fields of architecture, urbanism and landscaping. It is a renowned French architecture firm whose architecture proposal won the bid for the future French Ministry of Defense project in Paris. A/NM/A puts a great deal of importance on producing “ultra-contextualized” urban projects inspired by the spirit of place as well as tailored buildings, perfectly for the Buildtog project.                                                                                                                        www.anma.fr

About LUWOGE consult

LUWOGE consult was formed in 2006 as a subsidiary of LUWOGE, the housing company of BASF. The set objective is to market the comprehensive and long-time knowhow and experience of its mother company in the field of energy efficient solutions. This is applied in the context of both, new construction and modernization. Within in the BuildTog project LUWOGE consult pursues several objectives: the development and refinement of a methodology and adequate instruments, to gain substantial experience within differing markets and climate zones, as well as the design and marketing of multipliable concepts for energy efficient constructions. All objectives are instrumental in ensuring the overall long-term performance of the project.                                      www.luwoge-consult.de

About BASF

BASF is the world’s leading chemical company: The Chemical Company, headquartered in Ludwigshafen, Germany. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. It is the company’s purpose to create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. Concerning the construction industry, that means that BASF‘s broad portfolio of construction related raw materials, systems and finish products help to achieve more sustainable buildings. Within BuildTog, BASF delivers, for instance, various insulation materials that help achieve the set energy performance targets.                                                                              www.construction.basf.com