Construction of an eco-friendly house, an energy self-sufficient building with "zero gas emissions", began yesterday at the Shanghai Expo site.
Hamburg House, Germany's only Urban Best Practices Area (UBPA) pavilion, is being designed to create a perfect environment for urban living, in line with the Expo theme of "Better City, Better Life," said Anja Hajduk, Minister of Urban Development and Environment of Hamburg.
With a total investment of 4 million euros, the project covers 570 sq m, with an exhibition area of about 3,000 sq m. It would incorporate "both living and office functions to showcase how we could enhance the experience of urban living through resource and energy conservation," the minister said.
Without traditional heating or air-conditioning facilities, the building is the first certified construction project for a passive-house in China, meaning ultra-low energy buildings that require little energy consumption for heating or cooling.
Using both rooftop solar panel system and underground heat pumps, the building would consume only 50 kilowatts energy per sq m each year, a fourth of what is required in a traditional office building, according to Ingrid Spengler, architect of the project.
"We want to get the message across that we need to reduce carbon footprint everywhere in the world, and we are able to do so," she said. "It's very important to build better buildings (consuming less energy) to reduce air pollution."
The design of the building blends with Shanghai weather conditions, said Spengler.
"Given that Shanghai is much hotter and more humid than Hamburg in summer, most of the building's windows face northward to keep off excessive heat," she said
Hajduk expressed hope that the participation of the Hamburg House in the Expo would help "consolidate" the relationship between Shanghai and Hamburg, which have been "twin cities" since 1986.
The 2010 Shanghai World Expo has chosen more than 55 projects to exhibit in the Urban Best Practices Area of the site.
Source: China Daily
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