Low awareness of low energy housing

One of the two English women at the AZB for work experience relating to sustainable building practices has studied architecture.

The terms 'passive house', 'low energy house' and 'energy plus house' meant something to her before she came to the AZB. I am the second person and I hadn't heard of these concepts. This is despite my reading the two 'quality' English newspapers each weekend, being engaged in eco-campaigning work and, I thought, generally being aware and receptive to topics relating to sustainability.

I felt it would therefore be a useful exercise to ask 10 of my friends in England, two questions:

a) have you heard the terms 'passive house', 'low energy house', and 'energy plus house'?
b) can you explain them?

The receipients were chosen solely on the basis of being a friend. None is an architect or to my knowledge has studied architecture or lives with someone who is qualified in this field. Several are actively engaged in promoting green issues, most are graduates and some have completed, or are engaged in, further study.

Mr Jens Schwarz, the Co-ordinator of the RCE Hamburg and Region, feels the exercise is sufficiently interesting to roll it out among the trainees who come to the AZB.

Of the 10 emails I sent, one person had heard the term passive house but only that person said they could explain it. Three people had heard the term low energy house of whom two responded that they could explain it. No-one had heard the term energy plus house.

People living, working or studying in, Hamburg or visitors to this city (perhaps for the Third European Fair on Education for Sustainable Development which takes place at the AZB this week, ie Wednesday 28 to Friday 30 October 2009) or for the Christmas Markets (23 November to 23 December 2009), have a chance to find out what an energy plus house is.

Next to Hamburg's main rail station an energy plus house has been set up. It will be there until 25 January 2010. See ZEBAU GmbH for details and related events.

New RCE leaflets for Fair visitors

Two new leaflets about the RCE Hamburg and Region are now available. The English version is called 'Learning together to create a sustainable world'. The title of the German brochure is 'Gemeinsam lernen für eine nachhaltige Welt'.



They have been produced by the RCE Co-ordinator in time for the Third European Fair on Education for Sustainable Development which takes place at the AZB between Wednesday 28 and Friday 30 October 2009.

If you didn't attend the Fair and would like a copy of the English version click here, for the German version click here.

Partners exchange details of upcoming events

Numerous and diverse sums up the number and scope of the projects the Hamburg and Region Build with CaRe partners are working on.

On Wednesday 2 September 2009 representatives of six Build with CaRe partners (TUHH, G19, I-SH, IBA, ZEBAU, AZB) from Hamburg and Schleswig Holstein met to provide each other with an overview of initiatives planned by each organisation relating to Build with Care.

A representative of each organisation stood up in turn and presented the details. Each element was summed up on a slip of paper which the speaker attached to a pinboard under one of six headings:

(i) the overarching event the initiatives related to, (ii) details of any related exhibition, (iii) related workshops or information stands, (iv) publicity materials, (v) the outcomes for vocational training, (vi) the scope offered for visits.

Attendees were pleasantly suprised by the number (see photo at the top of this post) and scope of initiatives this activity revealed.

The presentation method also showed there was overlap in events planned and that therefore much could be achieved by joint working and promotion, for example by including details and links of relevant events, on the partners' websites.

Further outcomes were:

(a) an agreement that such meetings were mutually beneficial, that they should take place regularly and often (every three to four months), be kept short (maximum two hours) and that partners should take it in turn to host them. All attendees agreed that there might be occasions on which additional, sponteous, meetings would be appropriate and beneficial,

b)the international nature of work packages, 1, 3, 4, to which the partner were working, should be highlighted as far as was possible , but that this would be difficult with relation to work package 2 as the information related to regional matters.

ZEBAU will host the next meeting in February 2010.