dgj071 Minihouse I - Minimum Impact House

When you think of green building, for sure you will not connect to a life in the city. A number of projects, however, shows how to combine city life and ecology to innovative concepts. We introduce them to you.

On mini-space The "Minimum Impact House" is the result of a research and development project for sustainable housing in the city, and shows how creative urban gaps between buildings can be redensified.

Travel-Guide for the city Frankfurt am Main

In Sachenhausen

Minimum Impect House : Sustainable, vertical space development of small-scale available urban space

The Minimum Impact House is famous all over the world. Even in the japanese TV everybodys talking about it!

With the Minimum Impact House (MIH) new strategies for the development of urban residual areas were developed. The choice of locations Has a positive effect on the environmental performance of the building. In terms of sustainability offers a densification within the city territory require a lot of advantages: The urban sprawl is prevented. This creates congestion and strengthens the social fabric in the cities. Moreover, the reduction of land consumption is an active contribution to the protection of resources.

In modern residential consumption is minimized during operation largely. Therefore, with a lifetime of 50 years, the construction of the building for a large proportion of C02 emissions. MIH when the design was the use of renewable raw materials - optimized - especially wood. By a supporting structure made of timber panel construction and a fire protection system, the MIH was one of the first modern five-storey wooden building erected werden.Um to reduce energy consumption during use, the building was built as a passive house. As an important part of a ventilation system was installed as a compact unit (heat pump) with a degree of recovery heat recovery of 85%. The balance of energy is needed by a solar thermal system and a heat pump covered with 100% certified green.

Social and ethical responsibility Building their own home is the dream of many people, especially families. Here a strategy i provided to create a new type of homes in the city and reinforcing the social, economic, and cultural fabric of the urban centres. In the fast-grown suburbs an unnatural homogenous population is created because on the very small group of people usually moves there within a short period of time. This segregation of a large proportion of the society weakens the social structure. In the city centre a social groups a mixed and interact. The individual experiences being part of a society every day. This understanding is the foundation for any social and democratic understanding. Ressource efficiency and environmental impact Residential houses are the main course for land-use. Building new suburbs leads to the destruction of natural environments, more streets, traffic, and pollution. One important aim was to demonstrate that in the smallest urban niche it is possible to built a fully-functioning house which meets the highest design standards and ecological criteria.

Minimum Impact House - Developing a sustainable prototype

The project Minimum Impact House is a prototype for sustainable housing development in the city. Sustainability and ecology requires a holistic optimization of the building. At the mini house manufacturing of the building, operation and location factors such as urbanity and mobility were considered together. It turned out to be an inner-city densification has a number of environmental advantages. Prevent urban sprawl, traffic, reduces the intensified use of existing infrastructure and strengthen the social fabric of the city. For developing inner-city African developing new building types and building structures for the creation of sustainable housing in the city is required.

„The fact, that many people drive to town for work or leisure activity, increases the output of carbon dioxide.[..] Nearly half of the annual land consumption is generated by the building industry. With his architectural office (Drexler Guinand Jauslin Architects) he realized in Frankfurt a few years ago a idea: the Minihouse.

Italian only: Ridurre l'impatto del consumo di suolo, creando una nuova tipologia di edificio residenziale che recupera aree del centro cittá poco densificate: é questa la proposta di un progetto di ricerca tedesco che ottimizza globalmente l'impatto ecologico, sociale, economico attraverso alloggi di edilizia sociale residenziale in legno.

The demand for passive houses has risen substantially in recent years. To meet the ever increasing cost of oil and electricity prices, many owners opt for an energy-efficient construction and save up to 90% on energy costs.

The new planning guide passive houses residential planning prepares you for this task well before, because selected project examples and detailed technical information to help you implement your own building project.

Take advantage of the design manual passive houses of residential buildings

Expertise for client consulting: The selected projects provide ideas for your own design. Concept variants and construction data to support the decisions.
Safety in design: designs, details and concepts of the building can be incorporated into your own planning.

Small but beautifull - city dwellers living in the 21st century

Affordable housing in the city while maintaining quality of life - a problem that employs the Frankfurt architect Hans Drexler for some years. His concern was not only a question of economic efficiency, but also about the environmental and social benefits of densification of urban areas. An idea that should be in the interests of urban planners. After all boasted Frankfurt as Germany's capital and passive house is striving towards the European title of a Green City. The award given by the city's architecture award "Green Building Award" to encourage private developers to sustainable designs. Hans Drexler received the award in 2009 for his mini-house. On a wedge-shaped area of 29 square meters, he set up at the Walter-Kolb-Strasse in Sachsenhausen, a multi-storey wooden building in passive house standard with a floor space of 145 square meters.

Italian only: Completare, non espandere. È la filosofia di quest'opera sperimentale firmata dallo studio DGI architekten. Che pui a riqualificare nicchie, interstizi, spazi di risulta.

For the second time the „Architekturpreis für nachhaltiges Bauen“ (architectural prize for sustainable building) will be awarded in November 2011. Within the last competition architects, planner and  building owner of eight buildings were awarded with the Green Building Award. One of the awarded buildings was the Minimum Impact House.

Research Project: a prototype for sustainable construction

The existing infrastructure, the social and cultural offerings and the short distances make it attractive to live in the middle of the city. The dream of owning a home, however, can often seem to realize just on the outskirts. Inner-city building sites are scarce on the market and offer often difficult conditions. But even in an area of ​​29 square meters can be a full house plan that shows the office Drexler Guinand Jauslin Architects in Frankfurt am Main with his mini house.

The amount of frame houses measured to the total market of one- and two-family houses has been increasing constantly. About 13.000 residential buildings were built in timber-panel -construction and prefabricated timber-construction in Germany in 2009, with tendency to rise. Because of the commercial and technological advantage of the modern timber-construction, there can be expected, that the positive trend will continue during the following years.

Everybody is talking about sustainable building, but what does this really mean?
First of all: It is more than just a bit of insulation.
It is a gentle way of handling resources regarding the whole life cycle of a building.
This is what the project was about, the young architectural office
Drexler Guinand Jauslin Architects in Frankfurt and the TU Darmstadt worked.
The aim was to develop a prototype for sustainable building in cities.

This minibook summarizes the results of the three-year research project and the developement of the prototype house.

The Miniboook is published by Müller + Busmann, Wupperthal.

188 pages (English and German) 14,80 Euro

Order:

minibook@dgj.eu

Frankfurt's image is mainly formed by the high-rise buildings. But below them wether is changing.

http://www.baunetz.de/meldungen/Meldungen-BAUNETZWOCHE_166_984503.html

The "Minimum Impact House" is a prototype for sustainable and energy efficient housing in the city. The building is the product of a research project of the architectural firm Drexler Guinand Jauslin and the Department of Design and Energy Efficiency of the Department of Architecture of the TU Darmstadt by Manfred Hegger. "The gentle use of resources is a key aspect of sustainability. This is true in the use of urban remnant areas as well as in the choice of material and energy efficiency for he building." says owner and architect Hans Drexler. The benefits of existing urban infrastructure through a densification not only reduces urban sprawl of the surrounding area, it also reduces the volume of traffic and stabilizes the economic and social structure of the city.

The young architects office Drexler Guinand Jauslin designed a small town house on a site of only 29sqm.

There are a lot of Passivhouses, but most of them outside the city-center. The Frankfurt Minihouse shows that this can also be achieved on the smallest inner city sites.

Brandmark Greenbuilding - City awards eight Buildings.

Text zur Publikation

Left over sites and minihouses in Frankfurt.

Minimum Impact House is award by building ministery.

Sustainable Living on a 29sqm Site Area

An architects and the Technical Univeristy Darmstadt research about urban densification.