Ernstbrunn Windkraft

Energiewende Platz, Korneuburg, Niederösterreich, Austria

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Ernstbrunn Windkraft

Energiewende Platz, Korneuburg, Niederösterreich, Austria

Firm

Architekturbüro Reinberg ZTGesmbH

Type

Commercial › Office

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2014

SIZE

5000 sqft - 10,000 sqft

Photos

Rupert Steiner (11)

Ernstbrunn: a (Net) Plus- Energy Office building

Georg W. Reinberg
Architekturbüro Reinberg ZT GmbH
Lindengasse 39/10, A-1070 Wien
reinberg@reinberg.net
www.reinberg.net

1. Introduction
The Simonsfeld Wind Power Company is a wind farm operator that- due to its strong growth, required a new office building, therefore a competition was called. The author together with his team won this competition. The planning process took place in 2012 and on March 2013 the building process started. The building was finished May 2014. The building should express the company's philosophy and generate more energy than is needed for its operation throughout the year (net plus energy).

2. Architecture
According to the functions of the building, it is divided in two sections: a very simple and functional optimized warehouse and an office building also constructed simple but expressing the attitude of “Wind Power Simonsfeld” company.
The warehouse is built in basis of a modular system and can be enlarged or easily transformed.
The Office Building: the office areas are directly exposed to the north light and receive diffuse light from the south. As a result, optimal light conditions are created for an office operation. Double-side natural lighting is achieved, without the need of sun protection, (as it is usual in the East, West and South orientations). The office- located in between the north and south wall - can be operated completely flexible (movable interior walls and panels).

Living, Dining, Meeting and ancillary areas
Those activities take place on the south side of the building; the areas dedicated to conviviality and dinning obtain the benefit of direct sunlight, very beneficial for this sort of activities. In the meeting rooms, guest rooms, and the ancillary areas, the sunlight is restricted through a limited number of windows so that the rest of the south walls is used to locate the solar technology.
Reception area, Hall and Communication area: this area is completely exposed to the sunlight in the winter and completely shaded in summer time. The Hall is richly planted with a special selection of indoor plants. It creates a strong contrast in term of light and temperature, between the standardize office rooms and the hall area, supporting the communication among the employees and stimulating a deep respect for the natural environment and the weather.
The two stores high Hall creates a spacious atmosphere and shows the philosophy of the Wind Power Company: orientated towards the respect of humanity and high quality and not just towards economical profit.
In addition to the representative function of this Hall, this area can also contribute a lot to the productivity of employees: for the isolated employee, working in her/his computer, the hall suggests a place of encounter and exchange; the different temperature stimulates the blood circulation and support the well been of the people.
The Hall is related to Wind Power not only through the experience of weather which is very important for such a company, but also through the curveted glass façade that orientates towards the own wind farm located at a hill nearby.
The view from the gallery on the upper floor is oriented easily in the direction of this wind farm. Thus, the wind power plant, optimized in its function (namely on the hill), can be seen and experienced constantly; wind power plants - located suboptimal on the plot just for exhibition purposes - can be dispensed.

Smart und Simple / Energy Efficient and Sustainable:
The building has a simple structure. In the office building:, the north, middle and south walls carry the roof; in the Warehouse the wall and roof are built optimized in cross-laminated timber. The only exception is the curved and tilted south wall that -according to its specific function as opening to the landscape - gives transparency and spectacular appearance. Here the structure is modular. The chosen construction system brings not only economic advantages but also creates flexibility within the different components.
Movable elements in the façade of the building were completely omitted. In the south façade there is a fixed horizontal shading system, (in summer the sun has a high south inclination of 65° and in winter just 19°). In any case, the critical windows in office areas were avoided (east and west orientation openings are exposed to a very strong shallow light in summer); east windows are only available in small scale in ancillary areas.
The energy concept features a cost saving operation by a good heat preservation (by high insulation, good glasses, optimal details, air tightness, summer night cooling by ventilation and passive solar gain in winter).

If, in addition, mechanical assistance is necessary, the operation of mechanical ventilation and ground water pumps is supported by wind power. Only when wind is not sufficient (wind calm or low wind) mechanical devices like water pump or mechanical ventilation are operated by electricity.
A massive wall, (concrete wall with clay plaster), as well as the concrete stair and stone floors serve as thermal storage for the winter passive solar gain and the summer passive night cooling. The inner side of the exterior walls, built in cross laminated timber is covered with clay plaster. Thus, Mechanical systems were reduced to a minimum.
exposure concept

Rich indoor green helps to control humidity.
The building has a controlled heat recovery ventilation system. Supply / exhaust air flow is 1850 m³/h. The office building is equipped with photovoltaic panels in façade and on the roof (50 KWp). There is an additional space reserve of 800 m² for more photovoltaic elements, on the roof of the warehouse and on the parking area as potential shading elements for cars. There are also 34 m² of solar thermal collectors with a 3000 liter buffer tank.
Additional heating and cooling capacity is available from the 11 boreholes (approximately 100 m deep), and a 20kW heat pump. The cooling of the IT server is obtained from ground water, and the pump is driven directly by a low-speed wind turbine. The rain water is collected for gardening or percolated onsite.
Simulation results (TAS) showed that the Plus Energy Building Standard is met with our basic photovoltaic equipment.

Conclusion:
In this architecture concept, the goal was not the juxtaposition of equal concept of Architecture, Energy Supply and Sustainability, but the unification of these elements in a new Architecture that achieves new and better architectural qualities trough the use of renewable energy resources and its sustainability. In this way the issues of energy efficiency and sustainability get the best response.

3. Participants
Client:a Wind Power company,
Architect and general planner: Architecture Reinberg ZT GmbH, Vienna (Employees: Christian Federmair, Isabel Carvalho, Martha Enriquez-Reinberg, Antonio Leonte)
Consultants in general planning team:
Structural design: DI Riebenbauer, Graz, Environmental Engineer and Simulation: IPJ engineering firm P. Jung GmbH, Cologne - Vienna; Building Physics and Biology: IBO Austrian Institute for Building and ecology; Landscape Planning: DI Anna Detzlhofer, Vienna, building service: BPS Engineering, Vienna.

Promoter for research work: “Haus der Zukunft“

4. Summary
Through an invited competition Architect Reinberg got the commission to build the office and a storage hall for the firm „Windkraft Simonsfeld AG“ (a firm which is building and running wind power plants). The project is producing more energy than it needs (Net-Plus-Energy-Building). The strategy to reach this goal was to save energy (for heating and cooling) by a very high quality of the building envelope (“Passivhaus Standard”). Different forms of local energy resources are used: passive thermal (through a large south oriented glass-facade) active thermal (36 m² and 3.000 liter storage tank), PV (50KWp), geothermal system (probes 11 x 100 meter deep, cooling by heat exchanger and heating by a heat pump) and ground water (driven by a slow running wind mill) for cooling the IT server. Natural materials like solid wood construction, cellulose insulation and clay plaster give the building a high ecological quality