The most sustainable building in the world has a Problem

At the summer Olympics in Tokyo to compete this year, athletes from all over the world to find out who runs the fastest, farthest throws, highest jumps. To be a

The most sustainable building in the world has a Problem

At the summer Olympics in Tokyo to compete this year, athletes from all over the world to find out who runs the fastest, farthest throws, highest jumps. To be among the Best in the organizer itself, the International Olympic Committee IOC wants. Discipline means: to Build. And the sustainability is measured.

This is not the Olympic infrastructure is built up for a couple of weeks. Sustained such large-scale constructions, which are no longer needed after the million occasion often are, in most cases. The built in goal of the IOC headquarters in Lausanne, a control center and the flagship building of the sports Association is smaller and closer.

Marie Sallois is in the Atrium, with its white Columns, white tables and the white ceiling and spotlights. The Director for business development, brand and sustainability, the IOC has reason to be happy. The new building, which was opened last year, is the most sustainable building in the world. It is only the second building, which is the platinum certificate of the Swiss Sustainable construction Standard (SNBS) in Version 2.0 are given. And the first SNBS-building in French-speaking Switzerland. In addition, the house has been certified with two other energy labels, which are the good values to demonstrate.

Only four trash cans around the building

"We want to be a role model," says Marie Sallois. "That is why we have set ourselves very high targets for sustainability and no compromises made." The IOC went far to meet the demands. It's 2013, won a study contract, the 3XN Architects from Copenhagen and the Swiss office of Itten Brechbühl.

The Committee planted 50 trees in the Park next door to the city of a further 150. The wood for the roof timbers is FSC certified, the carpet installed without glue, building materials guaranteed free of poison. Sea water cools the building in summer. A Photovoltaic system on the roof in the Form of a dove, it is supplied with electricity. Is heated via a district heating network. The toilets flush with rain water.

Created with toxin-free building materials: a view of the Interior of the IOC headquarters. Photo: Keystone

The IOC thought in addition to the construction also to the use. The owner asked the employees how you want to work in the future. The floor plans are not free möblierbar, because the future is predictable. A new bus line stops directly in front of the house. There are Parking spaces for 135 bikes. Who parked the car, have to pay five Swiss francs per day. There are in the entire building, only four rubbish bins to dispose of paper or trash.

thanks to these efforts, the new building achieved in the American indicator Leed 93 points, more than any building so far. But who stands in the Atrium, which is shaped by oversized wooden rings, wonders why no one talks about the elephant in the room: the grey energy.

All want to build sustainably, but not on functionality, representation, or comfort.

Thus, the ecological Rucksack of a building is known: embodied energy is the total amount of non-renewable primary energy needed to create a building. This includes all steps from raw material extraction via production and processing to disposal, including the necessary transport and tools to include.

The new building replaces three buildings of the IOC in 1986, 1998 and 2008, in addition to the listed Château de Vidy from the 18th century. Century has created. 34, 22 and 12 years are no age for a building. In the competition, it had managed any of the Teams, the office space for 500 people without demolition to accommodate. A marble arch in the Park is reminiscent of the two old buildings.

The IOC used 95 percent of the materials, especially recycled concrete. This is good, in order to conserve the resources. However, the gray energy of the old buildings is wasted. After all, researchers at the EPFL and specialists of the circular economy have ensured that as many of the old furniture, electrical equipment and sanitary facilities were taken over by other developers.

The "Olympic House" was in June 2019 will be opened. Photo: Keystone

The new building, the embodied energy seems to be secondary. The facade is entirely of glass, one of the most energy-intensive materials. The two-piece construction bends consuming, leans in front and back. In the Atrium steel rings stabilize with a diameter of 26 meters, the floor plates, the project moved to each floor easy.

"The new building is primarily a functional building," explains Marie Sallois. "But it should also have a symbolism. Therefore, we were able to build, for example, is not a simple, rectangular wooden building." The facade plays on the Sport, the dynamics of the movement. The glass stands for the organizational transparency sought by the IOC. The circles in the Atrium symbolize the Olympic rings, the know, according to the Sallois 90 percent of the world's population.

builders could accents

The new building leads to a fundamental Dilemma in front of eyes. All want to build sustainably, but not on functionality, representation, or comfort. The answer to the climate question was in the Build so far: insulate Well and fossil-free heating.

However, the lower the operating energy is, the stronger the energy, the preparation to the weight. Exemplary energy new buildings emit significantly more greenhouse gases in the creation and disposal of waste, as in the operation. An architect wants to minimize the environmental footprint of the building must begin, therefore, in the design: a little excavation, a lean support structure, climate neutral materials.

greenhouse gas emissions are the greatest challenge of our time. The Building caused about 40 percent of global CO2 emissions, the man is responsible for. Certifications such as the Sustainable construction Switzerland Standard form of the embodied energy but only on the edge. You don't consider the topic broadly, therefore individual aspects fall into the weight. So the IOC-building achieved in spite of the lavish construction of the turn, the highest possible award at SNBS.

Ultimately, the certificates do not force the planner to face the CO2 Problem. A Builder who is willing, you could but put yourself accents. The IOC would insist that the embodied energy of the maximum score, and thus a real rather than a symbolic sign can put. Then Marie would have facades Sallois, but in a spectacular glass and bombastic atriums have to do without.

Created: 09.03.2020, 11:34 PM

Date Of Update: 09 March 2020, 12:01
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