Issue 02/19 of CUBE Magazine is being published to coincide with EXPOREAL in Munich and is dedicated to a topic that has been at the forefront of architectural debates for years: how can the ecological footprint of new and older buildings be improved?
It is increasingly being realized that this topic is just as central as transport: “Almost half of the energy required in Germany is used to produce and transport building products, build new houses, renovate existing buildings and finally supply buildings with heating, cooling and electricity,” it says. The booklet uses many examples to show what is possible today and that all topics need to be considered – building materials, recycling, energy consumption and houses as regenerative power plants. Urban planning is also an aspect.
For TEK TO NIK, however, the ecological perspective is nothing new. The office has over 15 years of experience in ecologically thought-out renovations and new buildings. This issue of CUBE includes a reference to the FortySeven & Co administration building, which was awarded gold by the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB) (page 65). The building earned this award not least thanks to the discovery of natural stone as a climate-friendly building material.
Manfred Wenzel explains: “Many people don’t know how excellent the ecological balance of natural stone is. The energy required to produce it is only 3% of concrete. What’s more, natural stone requires no additional insulating material, lasts for centuries and is easy to recycle.”
A downloadable version of the booklet can be found here.
