FUTURIUM -

BERLIN

The building is a space for promoting dialogue between research, development and interested members of the public. Exhibitions and events help provide exposure for future-orientated developments that are of national and international importance.  

Werner Sobek supported the project with comprehensive sustainability consultancy. This work involved carrying out comparisons between alternative measures for optimising the comfort and energy requirements of the building. These comparisons included the consideration of passive measures (focussing on the facade) and the Life-Cycle Assessment-related evaluation of structural component assemblies and energy production methods. A thermal building simulation and a daylight simulation were carried out as part of the optimisation process. 

Werner Sobek’s consultancy activities also included close communication with technical building service planners and building contractors. The result of this cooperation is an innovative energy concept that cleverly links together active and passive measures (e.g. via the inclusion of a latent heat storage unit). This allows the building to achieve a balanced primary energy requirement when viewed over the space of a year. Thanks to the comprehensive consideration of all sustainability issues during the planning and execution stages, the “House of the Future” achieved the highest quality level of the BNB standard (Gold). The highest quality level was also attained vis-à-vis the demanding criterion, “Risks to the Local Environment”.