nZEB Daikin wins Kaltepreis Germany
Daikin Europe NV (04/04/2011)
German ‘Kaltepreis’ 2011 awarded to Daikin Fachpartner for its “nZEB Herten”: Net Zero Energy in Commercial Buildings
On 22 March 2011, Hertener Zeller-/Athoka GmbH received the ’Deutsche Kältepreis’ in Berlin.
This is the third time that this annual award for energy-efficient, future-oriented refrigeration and air-conditioning technology is given by the German Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservancy and Nuclear Reactor Safety (BMU).Zeller-/Athoka GmbH won the second prize worth 5000 Euros in the category ‘Climate-friendly air-conditioning in commercial buildings’ for its new headquarters. The expert jury’s decision was determined above all by the technological concept chosen for the building which will enable a reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions of 90% in comparison with standard reference buildings. Zeller-/Athoka GmbH, a supra-regional refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat pump company, moved into its new building in 2010 where a research project, nZEB Herten, initiated by Daikin Europe N.V. and investigating net zero energy buildings (nZEB), is currently being conducted.
The building, covering a total area of 1335 sq.m. (800 sq.m. factory and storage space; 535 sq.m. administration offices) was approached from the very beginning with a net zero energy mentality. Already established renewable energy systems, such as heat-pump heating and cooling systems, together with photovoltaic cells, are being used together in a co-ordinated overall concept. A combination of Daikin Altherma air to water heat pumps providing underfloor heating and a Daikin VRV system (air to air heat pump air-conditioning system) ensure a comfortable indoor temperature all year round. The energy concept also includes an energy-saving ventilation system with heat and moisture recovery. Commenting on the project, Achim Zeller, managing director of Athoka GmbH said: “Our building shows that it is already possible to construct and to run reliably commercial premises in accordance with the net zero energy building standards of 2019 as well as it becomes clear that such buildings are getting economically feasible.
The necessary technology and components are already available on the market – both tried and tested, and also of the high quality expected from large-scale production. There is therefore no need to run unnecessary risks here.”
The building will serve for the next 12 months as research site. The project will look into how the technologies and materials used for the shell and the building’s heating, ventilation and air-conditioning interact with regard to costs and energy efficiency in a net zero energy building.
Five internationally renowned institutes (the French Centre Technique des Industries Aérauliques et Thermiques (CETIAT), the Fraunhofer-Institut für Bauphysik (IBP) and the Fraunhofer UMSICHT, the Technical University of Dortmund, as well as the University of Manchester (UK)) are working together in this research site to investigate in detail the complex (interactive) mechanisms involved in such net zero energy buildings. According to Ansgar Thiemann of the Daikin Environment Research Center: “This award confirms that Daikin’s efforts to find economic solutions for net zero energy buildings are on the right track. I am convinced that the planned follow-on projects in France, Italy and United Kingdom will make a further contribution to European building and energy concepts of the future.”
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On the photo from left to right you can find:
- Katherina Reiche (Parliamentary State Secretary, Federal Ministry of Environment)
- Achim Zeller (Company Director Athoka GmbH)
- Ansgar Thiemann (Environment Research Center, DAIKIN Europe N.V.)
- Thorsten Zeller (Company Director Zeller/Athoka GmbH)
