 |
A building full of cutting-edge technology
The equivalent of only three liters of heating oil per square meter of living space and year and a more than 80 percent reduction in emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) - this is fact not fiction. And this is why BASF's ultramodern low-fuel-consumption apartment building is also called the "three-liter house." A team of scientists have completely refurbished an older building in the Brunck quarter of Ludwigshafen, an area with workers' apartments just a stone's throw away from BASF. Compared with an unmodernized older building, average yearly heating requirements can be cut by up to 90 percent. And that saves the tenants cash: Tenants living in a 100 square meter (1,000 square feet) apartment pay annual heating costs of less than EUR 150 instead of EUR 1,000. Highlights of the three-liter house include optimal thermal insulation with newly developed construction materials from BASF, a special air-exchange system and a fuel cell - an efficient and eco-friendly way of turning natural gas into heat and electricity.
|
 |
At first glance, it looks like a perfectly normal building, but the three-liter house is full of cutting-edge technology. The special thermal insulation system consists of Neopor and a new interior render that was developed by a team of researchers in BASF's Polymers Laboratory. It contains 10 to 25 percent of latent heat stores in the form of wax particles. If it gets too hot outside, the wax melts, consuming heat in the process, and it stays cool indoors for longer. BASF researchers "packed" the wax into microcapsules so that it can be incorporated into concrete or plaster. The triple-glazed windows in the three-liter house provide additional thermal insulation. They have frames made from BASF's VinidurŽ plastic and the space between the panes is filled with a noble gas. In addition, a special air-exchange system recovers 85 percent of heat that would otherwise be lost via the air. Some of the three-liter house's heat requirements are provided by a fuel cell, a device that is an efficient and eco-friendly way of turning natural gas into thermal energy.
|
|
In Germany alone, innovative approaches to the refurbishment of older buildings have a huge market potential: At least 70 percent of the country's 34 million apartments in older buildings would benefit from renovation. This would generate construction work worth a total more than 400 billion Euros.
Thanks to its expertise in the modernization of older buildings, BASF has gained a strong position in this profitable market. Currently, BASF derives six percent of its sales from the construction industry and offers the widest range of products for this sector in the chemical industry worldwide.
|
|
Innovation Award winners
Karl Arenz,
Wolfgang Greifenhagen,
Dr. Ekkehard Jahns,
Dr. Andreas Kicherer
|
|
|
|
|
|
