Family Center, Erlangen, Germany

Family Center

The new building offers room for children, youth social work and family educational facilities. The family center will not receive a standard energy supply, but will be connected to a large neighboring building – a community and health center [BBGZ]. For heating, this means connection to the locally available district heating system. For cooling, the BBGZ's geothermal probes will be used for purely passive conditioning; no active chiller is planned.

The air conditioning and ventilation concept was developed in several iterations. The result is a minimized exhaust air system; it is the most balanced in terms of energy consumption, investment and operating costs. The concept is based on basic ventilation via supply air elements in the main utility rooms, i.e. the group and multi-purpose rooms, which is limited to the necessary minimum and supplemented by shock ventilation as required.

Adequate glazing and external sun protection ensure thermal insulation during the summer. The concrete ceilings should be at least 50% open so that their thermal mass can be used. Underfloor heating is used for underfloor cooling in the summer and can thus limit peak temperatures. A photovoltaic system is planned on the roof in order to cover the base load with regeneratively generated electricity.