Teaching teachers - capacity building for education for sustainable development

The AZB has been offering courses to international participants on the subject of energy efficiency since 2004. Last week the AZB hosted a group of 12 construction trainers from the UK, who have come here to Hamburg to improve their knowledge of sustainable construction methods. The aim of the course is to teach skills and knowledge that can easily be passed on in their lessons. The AZB has worked in cooperation with EUCONTACT Ltd, to provide this opportunity with funding from the European Union under the Leonardo da Vinci Lifelong Learning Programme (VETPRO strand).

The course started with an introduction and a tour around the AZB’s facilities. I think this was of particular interest to the visitors as construction training is not set up in the same way in the UK. On the whole, German construction apprentices undertake a 3-part apprenticeship with a construction company; 1 part theory at vocational school, 1 part practical sessions (at AZB) and 1 part within a construction company.

The second day of the course kicked off with an introduction to the passive house concept – something, which we here at the AZB consider to be a possible future house standard in terms of sustainable and energy saving construction. AZB works with the project Build with CaRe to promote energy efficient building and is developing a number of learning resources to achieve this knowledge transfer.

The achievement of the PassivHaus standard (and energy efficient building) in its nature exemplifies some of the problems that may exist in the current level of workmanship in the construction industry. Passive houses require a high level of accuracy – e.g. in order to make them completely air-tight. This means that there is no room for the “that’ll do” attitude which often exists among many construction workers.

The challenge facing the construction teachers now is- how to change this attitude? -especially when it exists among so many of the employers from whom current trainees are learning new skills?

The morning closed with a discussion about how to change attitudes among the trainees. The discussion highlighted some of the problems experienced in the UK system:

• Some construction trainees are paid to go to college, which has led to some students being there just for this payment rather than a real desire to learn.


• The lack of promotion of the building trade as an important career within schools leads to more and more people seeing it as one of the options for pupils if school grades are bad, rather than an option also for those with higher grades.


• The mentality of ‘getting the job done as quickly as possible’ rather than to the best quality possible.
  
  The overall image of the construction industry needs to change so that it is seen as a career worthy of respect. Perhaps when this capacity exists, construction trainees will be more able to recognise the positive impact they could have through their work in sustainable building, and take more pride in their work.
  
  The rest of the week’s course involved a mixture of theoretical presentations and practical sessions which provided the opportunity for an exchange of knowledge and further discussions around more specific, task-related topics. This ‘learning through doing’ approach is particularly effective for the transfer of knowledge.
  
  This newly-gained knowledge will be taken back to the UK and transferred again to trainees. Ideally, it could be transferred further from trainees to their future employers and from the employers to the other employees and so on and so on……
  
  To find out more about the courses run by the AZB, please contact Matthias Wurtzel
  email: matthias.wurtzel@azb-hamburg.de

Learning from the big screen

This week is 'SchulKinoWochen' (schools cinema week) in Hamburg. Between Monday 23 and Thursday 26 November, 11 cinemas around the city are open to school groups, students and, if performances are not sold out, to the public.

The films on offer range from new releases to classics. You can watch films you've seen before or catch ones you missed first time around. However, the aim is that you learn from them.

In her introduction in the printed listings, Christa Goetsch, Senator for Schools and Vocational Learning, says: "Cinema films have the power to spark social debate. Sometimes they remain in the collective memory as a work of art for an entire generation. But as with other types of media, to make the most of the experience, you need to know what you are doing."

For this reason, the descriptions of each film list the themes covered, the part of the curriculum to which it relates, URLs from which teachers can download marterials to use pre- and post-performance, and the class for which the screening is appropriate. An expert or, in the case of Empire St. Pauli , the film makers, will be on hand to lead debate or help viewers interpret the subject matter.

The films on offer range from 'Unsere Erde - Der Film' (released as Earth) to the screen version of the Thomas Mann classic Buddenbrooks via 'Fightgirl Ayse' (released as 'Fighter').

For each film there is a choice of dates and locations around the city. The screenings are also open to the public. Timings are between 9am and 3pm.

Round the world without leaving Bremerhaven

The distinctive shape of the Klimahaus in Bremerhaven

Axel sounds like a good bloke. He can discuss with Sardinian shepherds (in excellent Italian) the threats to their livelihood, and debate with nomads in Niger (in fluent English) the subtleties of the latters' relationships with women.

Axel is a real person. He's an architect from Bremerhaven. In the early noughties, he and a film crew followed the 8th line of longitude around the world. His diaries, his films, his photos and his souvenirs form the permanent exhibition at the Klimahaus in his home town.

The Bremerhaven 8° Ost exhibitionm, which opened in summer 2009, shows how we could all 'travel' but more sustainably, ie through the experiences of someone else.

I found the entry fee horribly high... It's Euros 12.50 for an adult, but fortunately, as a certified 'Praktikantin', I qualified for a reduction, though at Euros 8.50 it still hurt. The experience kicks off with a schmaltzy film - supposedly to set the scene, although the point escaped me and I simply wanted to flee. After this, though, you move to the start of your 'trip' and I suddenly got a tingle of expectation, perhaps because the first country you 'visit' is Switzerland, and I've long wanted to go there.

There are so many facets to the exhibition I missed several or failed to see the significance of some items until several countries on I realised there was a theme. However, although there are threads that run through each area, there is great variety in the way visitors are engaged. And, unusually, though it is hands-on and clearly relies on a great deal of technology, no-one will be alienated by their real or imagined lack of tecchy know-how or confidence with things computer generated. In fact, in retrospect, it feels quite old-fashioned because you engage with recognisable things rather than 'could be anything' metal boxes with flashing screens.

In 'Switzerland' you can race cows, ring cow bells and find out what climate change is doing to the glaciers

For example, in Switzerland there are cows to milk. As you knead, 'milk' goes into the pail, and if you lean against the animal you 'smell' the farmyard and hear the voice of the farmer encouraging you. You also 'climb' to the top of a mountain. Once there, you can admire the view while you catch your breath, write your name in the 'Gipfelbuch' , and... try your hand, or rather your lungs, at 'Jauchzen'. You watch and listen to Axel taking lessons from his host family surrounded by mountain peaks, admire his gung ho attitude, wonder at the echoes that bounce back, then go into the 'studio' through the door marked, 'On air'. Here you can listen to two examples, see the frequencies, and then.... yeeee, hoooo, haaayyyyaaaa, try it yourself. You record your attempt at caterwauling (sorry 'whooping') then play it back to see how it compares with those of the experts.

In each country, you 'read' Axel's diary (poor bloke, apart from in the Sahara it never seemed to stop raining), 'meet' the family he stayed with, and hear him discuss the climate-related issues they face in their daily lives.

I usually suffer 'museum fatigue' either immediately I enter into an exhibition space or very soon after, due to the lack of natural light and air. Four hours after handing over my Euros and entrusting my luggage to the garderobe personnel, I was still reading the information panels (every entry is summarised in English), trying out new experiences (crossing a hanging bridge made of 'vines', stepping onto a 'polder') when the 'This museum will be closing in 15 minutes' announcements started.

On 'Sardinia' you get a bug's eye view. You also have the chance to 'change' climatic conditions

Consequently, Axel returned to Bremerhaven without me and I'll never know who he met in Cameroon and how the people there live, or the name of his host on the Hallig (Holm) of Langeness in Northern Friesland. But that's okay because I've been to the 'Sahara' where I sweltered, and 'Queen Maud Land' in the Antartic, where I tried on the life-preserving but so very heavy boots, mitts and jumpsuit from the dressing up box, and froze in temperatures of(allegedly) -20C. And, as all I had to do was get to Bremerhaven, which I did by train, it might have felt like it cost the earth to get in, but my carbon footprint, at least, was negligible.

My one regret is that there isn't a way for visitors to take 'souvenir' photos of themselves in each country and be able to email them to themselves or pick them up as a postcard at the end of the exhibition. Mind you, I'd want two... one to keep as well as one to send. But actual or digital, such mementos would generate great publicity for the exhibition. On a par with writing a blog about the experience!

Update: a document from the Klimahaus PR office has alerted me to the following statistics:
The overall interior of the Klimahaus totals 160 400 cubic metres of which 11 800 sq m are given over to four exhibition areas. These are the Journey, the Elements, Perspectives and Opportunities.

This means, in the four hours I was in the Klimahaus, I didn't even see a quarter of what was on offer. Or try the exhibition restaurant. Or visit the shop. But that's what travelling is like, there's always something you don't have time for and have to save for a return visit.

Grinning and bearing it at the Zoo am Meer

Two polar bears pad among the 'rocks'. Behind, them, through a gap in the 'cliffs' is a typical red and white north German lighthouse, and a container ship passing by. No need to call the police though, these animals haven't lost their 'bearings', they are in the excellent Zoo am Meer in Bremerhaven.

Meet Lloyd and his friend. There's also a third bear - Viktoria. However as she is possibly pregnant (apparently it's difficult even for experts to tell) and is being cosseted away from the invasive interest of the public. Polar bears (Eisbären in German) are just a precious commodity in captivity as they are in the wild.

As if three polar bears aren't sufficient attraction, watching them swim is a particular highlight for visitors. However, despite the sunshine, during my visit the bears couldn't be enticed into the pool by their keeper. Fortunately, there's a link to a video on this page of the Zoo's site.

Despite its name, 'Zoo at the Sea', there is non-marine life there, too. At first I thought there was a polar theme... polar bears, arctic foxes (are they cute, or wot?!), artic hares. Then I thought perhaps the inhabitants were decided on the basis of being white... the snowy owl, the gannets.

But where do the chimpanzees fit in? And the racoons? And the guinea pigs in the petting area?

Visitors receive Das Zoobuch (the Zoo Book). It covers the history of the attraction and has fantastic photographs of its inhabitants and a great deal of detail about them. I dilligently made notes about the animals (did you know Humboldt penguins can live to be 25 years old? Or that seals can reach their 30th birthday?) as I walked round, then discovered that all the information and more is in the book. It is in German but the photos are great. There is, however, an English language version of the brochure ('Encounters of a Special Kind') which includes a site map and feeding times.

But back to the polar bears... Visitors can stand next to an outline of a bear on its hindlegs and compare their respective heights. (Polar bears may be 3m tall, so I would only come up to their paws.) You can see the animals from above and, assuming the bears are in their pool, nose to nose through the glass. The info board tells you a polar bear can live to be 41.

But... the Zoo says there are only around 25,000 bears left in the wild of which 60 per cent live in Canada. Further, computer simulations predict that by 2080 the ice caps will have melted. If there is no ice, there won't be any 'ice bears'.

Polar bears are all too good an example of the effects of climate change. I am sure most of us can empathise with the effect on an animal more than we can imagine the impact of rising sea levels. The bears spend April to the middle of June hunting on the pack ice. During the winter months they seek refuge from the low temperatures on land, in holes they dig themselves. For females, a long and sucessful hunting season is particularly important because in November or December they give birth.

Melting ice caps means stress and a change to the life cycle of the bears. Climate change is causing winter to arriver later and delaying formation of pack ice. While the bears remain on land, they cannot hunt. Each week on land means 10kg less fat reserve build-up. For a female this can be critical because, during the eight months that she is not able to hunt, she may lose up to 200kg. As temperatures rise, the bears' holes melt, leaving the offspring exposed to the weather before they are ready for it.

Visitors to the Zoo are made aware of climate change in other ways, too. There is a showcase of items you might find around the home... a shaving brush, for example. Lift the flap underneath it and you learn that these may be made of badger hair. Even the enduring German favourite sweets - 'Gummi Bärchen' (jelly bears, the teutonic version of the English jelly babies) are there as the production process requires gelatine which is an animal product.

There are also large information boards with URLs for organisations raising awareness of the effect of humans on our environment and who want to engage concerned citizens to take action.

These include the Deadline campaign which is concerned about the state of the seas, the site of WAZA ('World Association of Zoos and Aquariums') and yaqu pacha whose front page says it is 'an organization for the conservation of South American aquatic mammals'.

The zoo is open 365 days a year. It's got a cafe on the sunny, sea-facing side, which overlooks the brilliant play area for kids (and nowhere does it say adults are forbidden from sliding down the flume to get to it), and several terraces giving great views. Recommended - but do wear shoes you can climb (lots of) steps in.

Award-winning building opens its doors (and windows) at Hamburg main station

Surrounded by yellow taxis, a dual carriageway and in front of the squat brick building that is Hamburg main station, there’s a wooden hut. From the ‘wrong’ side of the piazza, it looks like building works. Get close to it and you see it's not. It is a house. However, it is so far from the stereotypical image of an English home, that I didn't realise I was entering through a window through the balcony (below) rather than the front door.

This is a Plus-Energie-Haus (here's what the Bundesministeriums für Verkehr, Bau und Stadtentwicklung - BMVBS - says about it in German). In English it's called an Energy Plus House. It could be the house of the future, or at least, as far into the future as our imaginations and technology lets us think.

It’s a copy of an award-winning building. The original won the 2007 Solar Decathlon. The biannual Solar Decathlon is competition run by the American Department of Energy. It attracts entries from teams of students from around the world, all motivated by the challenge to design, build, and operate a solar-powered house that will be voted the most attractive and energy-efficient of that year’s entrants.

Why ‘decathlon’? In addition to being powered exclusively by solar energy, the buildings have to ‘compete’ in 10 areas. The houses are rated in terms of:

· being attractive and easy to live in
· their ability to maintain comfortable and healthy indoor environmental conditions
· featuring appealing and adequate lighting
· supplying energy to household appliances for cooking and cleaning
· powering home electronics
· providing hot water
· balancing energy production and consumption.

In 2007, the winners were….. the team from the Technical University of the German city of Darmstadt. And, the same University did it again in October 2009!

I had the good luck to arrive at the Plus-Energie-Haus when there were no other visitors. The chap 'on duty’ was enthusiastic and knowledgeable. He volunteered information as well as answering my naïve questions patiently and, if he’d been asked the same query 40 times already that day, he didn’t let on.

My second piece of good luck was that just when I ran out of questions, a group arrived to watch the film (shown daily at 4pm as part of a tour of the premises), and then had the opportunity to put their own questions. Judging by the depth of technical detail they wanted, I think they might have been architects, or perhaps people wanting to build their own homes.

The difference between a Plus-Energie-Haus and a PassivHaus is that the former creates more energy than it uses – which it sells back to the national grid for a higher price than it pays for the electricity it buys from it. Since January 2009, the building has contributed 10,0000 Kw to the German national grid.

The example in Hamburg (it’s already been to Munich and Berlin and I believe it will next go to Frankfurt, and from there to Stuttgart) comprises two large rooms, with a bathroom in the ‘core’ and a ‘kitchen’ on the outside of the core walls. Of course, as this is an exhibition piece not a real house, there’s no shower and the cooking area is what the Germans call a ‘niche’ kitchen rather than a 'built-in' (ie complete) kitchen.

Another aspect that might be different if it were your average home, is the glazing. On the southern side, it is three-layer glass. On the north side, it is four-layer glass. Heck, I’ve only just learned you can get triple-glazed windows, and now I’m introduced to the concept of double the amount that’s standard in English homes. Can you even get these items in the UK?

I don’t look at these installations with the eye of an architect, but from the standpoint of the resident. The low energy use, the selling electricity back to the grid, the warm walls (achieved by inserting capsules of paraffin into the building materials, that take up excess heat when the building warms up and release it when the internal temperature falls, but which contain so little that even the container were to break and spill the ‘wall’ could absorb it), the huge windows, the covered balcony… It looks good. It feels good. But there’s a lot of wood to paint, repair or replace, and an awful lot of glass....

Those scenes from comics where the schoolboy with a cap, shorts and one sock round his ankles, hiding behind a wall when father or Mr Jones from next door comes home to see a star-shaped hole in his shed window or his greenhouse, will be a thing of the past… With the amount of glass required for photo voltaic cells, coupled with the solar panels, if these houses become standard, footballs will be banned from residential areas.

The Plus-Energie-Haus is in front of Hamburg main station (Glockengießerwall junction with Ernst-Merck-Strasse) until 25 January 2009.

It is aimed at developers, investors, planners... to show them that energy efficient buildings can be attractive and that they work. It is a prototype for buildings for the year 2015. My guide explained that it cost 1.2m Euros to build this version but by 2015, the technology and materials should be in general production and buying a version in that year should cost rather less - 300,000 Euros.

For more information about the building and the events taking place there see the Zebau site.

(Images courtesy of Zebau.)

Tage des Passivhauses

Between 6th and 8th Novermber, owners of passive houses in Hamburg opened their doors to the public. Coordinated by ZEBAU (Zentrum für Energie, Bauen, Architektur und Umwelt), 'Tag des Passivhauses' provided the opportunity for those who are (like me) interested in finding out more about passive houses, to pop in and learn ‘on-site’ about them.

I visited a terraced passive house in Wilhemsburg, Hamburg. This terrace house has already been awarded ‘special recognition’ from the Hamburger Passivhaus-Preises 2005, and it is also the regional winner of the ‘Efficient House’ competition 2009.

The house was designed by architect Jan Krugmann, who was there on the day to show visitors around the house and explain the technology used as well as to answer any questions we had. We also had the opportunity to find out what it’s really like to live in a PassivHaus through talking to the owner. Visitors were a mixture of other architects, people thinking about building their own passive house and those who were just interested.

Immediately on stepping inside the house I could feel the difference in air quality. The air felt uniformly warm – there were no chilly patches near to windows or doors, providing what I can imagine to be the basis of a very comfortable living environment.

The visit started with an explanation of PassivHaus technology, including the need for high quality insulation with precision-sealed at joints to maintain air-tightness and prevent thermal bridges. The insulation of window frames and triple glazing was also another area emphasised as being crucial to a PassivHaus. We were encouraged to touch the window and feel how warm it was on the inside in comparison to a normal double glazed window. Having never seen a triple glazed window before, I was amazed at just how warm it was. It was also almost unrecognizable as a window containing 3 panes of glass due to a visual trick played by reflections between the panes. Jan Krugmann also spoke about the need for the builders to work to the highest standard as passive houses rely heavily on the joints between insulation and the elimination of thermal bridges.

The house is ventilated through a system which brings fresh air into rooms through vents in the ceilings, whilst taking old, stale air out through vents in the kitchen and bathroom (where the air quality is considered to be lower as the moisture content is higher). The energy required for heating and warm water in this house comes primarily from the solar collectors on the roof. If extra energy is needed, it is provided by the wood pellet burner in the living room which amazingly only emits 20% of its energy into the room, whilst taking 80% upstairs to heat the water stored in a 750l tank. Amazingly the owner said that he only spends €280 per year on wood pellets – that equates to just over €23/month!

Another persuasive piece of information from Herr Krugmann is that it only costs 5-8% more to build a PassivHaus than to build a regular house!

Further information on the house I visted can be found here: http://www.ak-passivhaus.de/091108_krugmann2.htm

Multiple City - or how to recycle an exhibition

At the HamburgMuseum (but only until 15 November 2009) is an interesting exhibition called Multiple City - Stadtkonzepte 1908-2008 // Hamburg.

It was developed and displayed in Munich. However Hamburg has borrowed it and extended it to make it relevant to the north German city state.

The additional displays incorporate photos, original newspaper and magazine cuttings, and hands-on models. They cover topics such as how industrial architechure has been preserved and found new uses, for example as arts centres such as Hafenklang and the former Theodor Zeise factory which made marine screw propellers; the floods of 1962, since when the city's defences have been extended and improved; and the occupation by students and others in the 70s and 80s, of buildings due to be demolished to make way for impersonal and high density constructions, with the result that Hamburg has retained some of its character.

A small section considers the new threat to the city's character - how to retrofit energy-conserving measures without destroying the facades or the internal characteristics of historical or otherwise interesting buildings.

A talk, 'Wärmeschutztapeten für historische Fassaden? Energieeinsparung und Stadtbildererhaltung' ('Protection against climate change for historic frontages - Reconciling energy conservation and the preservation of the cityscape') at the Museum, on Wednesday 18 November, will cover this topic.