An energy-plus building (also called: plus energy building, plus-energy house, efficiency-plus house) produces more energy from renewable energy sources, over the course of a year, than it imports from external sources. This is achieved using a combination of microgeneration technology and low-energy building techniques, such as: passive solar building design , insulation and careful site selection and placement. A reduction of modern conveniences can also contribute to energy savings , however many energy-plus houses are almost indistinguishable from a traditional home, preferring instead to use highly energy-efficient appliances, fixtures, etc., throughout the house.
27-426: "Plusenergihuset" (the plus energy house) was the Danish term used by Jean Fischer in his publication from 1982 about his own energy-plus house. PlusEnergy is a brand name, used by Rolf Disch , to describe a structure that produces more energy than it uses. The term was coined by Disch in 1994 when building his private residence, the Heliotrope as the first PlusEnergy house in the world. Disch then went on to refine
54-531: A Southern orientation are grouped to the left and right of a central access road, housing about 170 residents. Construction began 1999 and the settlement was completed in 2006. The houses contain 2-3 floors and were built with ecological building materials via wooden post-and-beam construction from regional forests and prefabricated individual modules, PVC-free, and environmentally friendly insulation materials. Apartment sizes are from 81 to 210 m and are rental and owner-occupied. An underground parking lot keeps
81-436: A decentralized ventilation system with heat recovery. The settlement is connected to a local heating network. The south facing roofs are covered with photovoltaic modules with a generation potential of 445 kWp of the entire site. As of 2022, it is the largest residential roof-integrated photovoltaic system. PlusEnergy is a concept developed by Rolf Disch denoting a "structure's extreme energy efficiency so that it holds
108-640: A focus on solar power use in his designs, in 1993 Disch started an initiative to make Sport-Club Freiburg the first solar soccer team in Germany with photovoltaic panels to power their stadium. Together with Coach Volker Finke , the Dreisam stadium in Freiburg was the first soccer stadium in Germany to install solar power. In 1995 Disch designed the Heliotrope building, a house that physically rotates with
135-404: A supermarket, convenience store and café on the first floor, offices and work spaces on the 2nd and 4th floors, and 9 penthouses on its roof. Notable aspects of the building are its vacuum insulated walls, ventilation with 95% heat recovery, triple paned windows, and solar-panelled façade. EnergyX DY-Building (에너지엑스 DY빌딩), the first commercial Net-Zero Energy Building (NZEB, or ZEB grade 1) and
162-458: A variety of techniques to produce a building that generates more energy than it consumes. A typical example is to capture heat during the day in order to reduce the need to generate heat over night. This is achieved using large North and South facing window areas to allow sunlight to penetrate the structure, reducing the need for energy use from light bulbs. Triple-pane or quadruple-pane windows ( U-value = 0.4 – 0.7 W(mK)) trap this heat inside, and
189-514: Is a 59-home PlusEnergy housing community in Freiburg , Germany. Solar architect Rolf Disch wanted to apply his PlusEnergy concept, created originally with his Heliotrope home, to mass residential production. The residential complex won awards, including House of the Year (2002), Residential PV solar integration award (2002), and "Germany's most beautiful housing community" (2006). It is one of
216-443: Is a German architect, solar energy pioneer and environmental activist . Born in Freiburg im Breisgau , Germany , Disch has dedicated particular focus to regional renewable and sustainable energy. As head of his own architecture firm, Rolf Disch Solar Architecture, Disch is committed to advancing Germany's incorporation of solar energy generation into residential, retail, and commercial building and design. In 1994, Rolf Disch built
243-411: The Heliotrope in Freiburg which was the world’s first home to create more energy than it uses, as it physically rotates with the sun to maximize its solar intake. Disch then developed the concept PlusEnergy , simply making it a permanent goal for his buildings to produce more energy than they consume in order to sell the surplus solar energy back into the grid for profit. Rolf Disch’s biggest venture
270-578: The PlusEnergy approach that differentiates it from similar concepts is that the owner or tenant of a PlusEnergy building should be able to live and work comfortably in it without sacrificing lifestyle or normal living standards. For example, solar panels are made aesthetically pleasing so that they are integrated into the façade of the structure. This reflects PlusEnergy's emphasis on community planning and integration, with aspects of transportation, water management and communication also being seen as part of
297-610: The PlusEnergy ideal. At the Solar Settlement for example, tenants and owners incorporate bicycle and car-sharing, and the neighborhood has an extensive car-free zone with many public transportation connections. Built in 1994 as the private residence and special project of Rolf Disch in Freiburg , the Heliotrope is claimed by its designer to be the first building in the world to create more energy than it uses, being reliant on entirely renewable power, and being emissions free and CO 2 neutral. The structure rotates to track
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#1732782419568324-553: The Solar Settlement is intended as an example of Disch’s vision of a “fundamental environmental imperative”. As of 2011, the homes have had more than 8 years of full occupancy and each produced more than 5,000 Euros ($ 5,600) of surplus energy a year, from which the owners of the houses have benefitted. The Sun Ship, located next to the Solar Settlement in Freiburg, uses its 60,000 sq ft (5,600 m) for retail, commercial and residential space. The Sun Ship houses
351-689: The Structural Engineering School in Freiburg as a structural engineer. Disch knew he was passionate about building, although he found his true heart lied in architecture and after only one year, in 1963, he transferred as an architect to the University of Applied Sciences in Konstanz , Germany. After his graduation in 1967 Disch worked as an architect for two years and established his own firm in 1969, Rolf Disch Solar Architecture. Rolf Disch became an environmental activist during
378-504: The addition of heavy insulation then means the structure is already warm in the evening and therefore needs less heating. In the Sun Ship , a 60,000 sq ft (5,600 m) commercial, retail and residential PlusEnergy structure, techniques such as phase changing materials in the walls and vacuum insulation are also used. This permits maximum availability of floor space without compromising efficient insulation. An important part of
405-508: The advancement of renewable and sustainable energy systems in building. The “Disch Design” was a concept he worked on from 1985 to 1988 building solar powered vessels of all sorts. During this period, in 1987, Disch raced a self-designed solar powered automobile in the World Solar Challenge , a race using only solar powered vehicles from Darwin , Australia to Adelaide , Australia. Disch cofounded three organizations promoting
432-510: The concepts involved with several more projects built by his company, Rolf Disch Solar Architecture, in order to promote PlusEnergy for wider adoption in residential, commercial and retail spaces. Disch maintains that PlusEnergy is more than just a method of producing environmentally-friendly housing, but also an integrated ecological and architectural concept. As such, PlusEnergy is intended to be superior to low-energy or zero-energy designs such as those of Passivhaus . The PlusEnergy approach uses
459-896: The design of the Heliotrope Disch has been promoting the use of Energy-plus-houses . His practice, Rolf Disch Solar Architecture, is using the brand name PlusEnergy to describe these structures which produce more energy from renewable energy sources, over the course of a year, than they import from external sources. It has designed several such buildings since, including the residential project Solar Settlement . 2008 German Sustainability Award 2007—2008 Japanese PEN-Magazine Creativity Award 2006 Germany's most beautiful housing community 2005 Wuppertal Energy and Environment Prize 2003 Global Energy Award 2002 European Solar Prize 2001 Photovoltaic Architecture Prize Baden-Württemberg Solar Settlement The Solar Settlement at Schlierberg ( German : Solarsiedlung am Schlierberg )
486-509: The design. PlusEnergy design also emphasises the importance of sustainable development on communities in general. An energy-efficient community is seen as generating positive identification and community pride. Rolf Disch says he attracts a "high quality of tenant", innovative undertakings and creative work places through his designs. Ecological urban planning techniques like traffic management with wide, attractive walkways, bicycle routes and connections to public transportation are all part of
513-538: The first energy-plus building (+ZEB, or ZEB grade plus) in Korea was opened and introduced in 2023. The energy technology and sustainable architectural platform company EnergyX developed, designed, and engineered the building with its proprietary technologies and services. EnergyX DY-Building received the ZEB certification with an energy independence rate (or energy self-sufficiency rate) of 121.7%. Rolf Disch Rolf Disch
540-539: The first housing communities in the world in which all the homes produce a positive energy balance and which is emissions-free and CO 2 neutral. The Solar Settlement at Schlierberg is a 59-home PlusEnergy housing community at Elly-Heuss-Knapp-Strasse/ Rosa-Luxemburg-Strasse adjacent to the Vauban quarter about 3 km from Freiburg city centre in South West Germany. Five rows of terraced houses with
567-527: The protest against the construction of a nuclear power plant in Wyhl , Germany. As an educated environmentalist Disch saw this form of energy as destructive, seeking renewable energy as an alternative to achieve sustainable development. The protesters in Wyhl succeeded and the nuclear power plant was never built which fueled the anti-nuclear movement . This success in mind, Disch applied his architectural knowledge to
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#1732782419568594-458: The street car free. The houses are oriented to the South for optimal passive and active use of solar energy. Thermal insulation is used according to passive house standard, including glazing of the main facades with a U-value of 0.5, resulting in a heat requirement of only 11-14 kilowatt hours per m and year, which as of 2012 was 200 € (including maintenance costs) per year. Each house has
621-484: The success of the Heliotrope, Rolf Disch Solar Architecture applied their PlusEnergy concept to mass residential production in the form of a community development of 50 PlusEnergy houses. The project, called Solar Settlement , won 2002 House of the Year, 2002 Residential PV Solar Integration Award, and Germany’s Most Beautiful Housing Community, 2006. Built between 2000 and 2005 in the Vauban quarter of Freiburg ,
648-479: The sun to maximize sunlight and natural heat use. The Heliotrope was the first building worldwide to have a positive energy balance, meaning it generates more energy than it consumes. Different types of renewable and sustainable energy concepts in addition to solar power are used in the original Heliotrope, built in Freiburg’s Vauban quarter. It was the first of three such structures to be built in Germany. After
675-533: The sun, which allows it to use a large amount of natural sunlight and warmth during the day. After the success of Freiburg’s Heliotrope, Hansgrohe contracted Rolf Disch Solar Architecture to design and built another Heliotrope to be used as a visitors' center and showroom in Offenburg , Germany. A third Heliotrope was then built in Hilpoltstein , Bavaria to be used as a technical dental laboratory. With
702-591: The use of renewable energy: Energie in Bürgerhand ( Energy in citizens’ hands ), 100% GmbH and FESA – Förderverein Energie- und Solaragentur Regio Freiburg ( Development association for energy and solar businesses in the Freiburg region ). Disch is an active member of the associations Eurosolar , Deutsche Gesellschaft für Sonnenenergie ( German society for solar energy ), Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen e.V.( German sustainable building council ). With
729-520: Was completed in 2004 with the 59 PlusEnergy home Solar Settlement and the 60,000 sq ft (5,600 m ). PlusEnergy Sun Ship . In June 2009, Disch launched the 100% GmbH organization, with the aim to make Freiburg and its surrounding district the first 100% sustainable renewable energy region in the world. Rolf Disch was born in Freiburg im Breisgau , Baden-Württemberg , Germany in 1944. Disch first studied cabinetmaking in 1958 until later switching to masonry in 1961. In 1962 he enrolled at
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