IHK Educational Center, Aalen, Germany

Spread across two levels, the building offers space for electrical laboratories, test workshops, etc. including about 180 workshops and 100 classrooms as well as one digital classroom. The generously glazed façade provides the rooms with sufficient daylight. In the evening and in winter the daylight is supplemented by artificial light exclusively from LED lamps. The energy concept is based on a passive reduction of the energy demand through a high-quality building envelope, external sun protection systems and ventilation systems with heat recovery. Heating is provided by district heating. Transsolar investigated the thermal comfort in the workshops and classrooms. By optimizing the glazing values, reducing the internal loads, as well as natural ventilation of the workshops, the summer thermal insulation could be demonstrated with simple means.