[Darmstadt, Germany] Heidelberg doesn't only have a beautiful historic city centre, it also boasts new urban areas that are worth seeing. The Bahnstadt in particular is striking: it is the largest Passive House district in the world. This makes Heidelberg an ideal venue for the Passive House conference "Achieve Better Buildings!". Besides expert talks and practical workshops, the Passive House Institute will also offer many new features in Heidelberg. In addition, there will be special offers for participating municipalities and housing associations.
The Passive House Conference "Achieve Better Buildings!" will take place on 3 and 4 May 2019 at the City Hall in Heidelberg. Experts will give specialist presentations on indoor and recreational swimming pools built to the Passive House Standard, the first Passive House Hospital in the world in Frankfurt, and summer comfort. The city of Heidelberg is patron of the conference. Mayor Eckart Würzner will also give a speech, a welcoming address will be held by Franz Untersteller, Minister of the Environment of the German Federal State Baden-Württemberg.
Combining efficiency and building culture. On Friday, a panel session with high-ranking experts will debate the issue of how a high level of energy efficiency and building culture can be combined. In addition, a panel of experts will discuss how architects and designers can convince their clients of the advantages of the Passive House Standard. As with all Passive House conferences, numerous workshops will take place including workshops on the Passive House Planning Package PHPP, on balance calculation at the district level using the tool districtPH and on curtain wall façades. This time the cost of participation in the workshops is already included in the conference fee.
Passive House Slam premiere
For the first time, a Passive House Slam is being organised at the Passive House Conference. With this entertaining format on Friday evening, specific experiences relating to the construction of Passive House buildings will be described in short five minute talks. For our international audience an English language Slam will take place. The legendary Passive House Party will be held in the City Hall directly after this.
Cool components
Parallel to the "Achieve Better Buildings!" Conference programme, there will be a two-day specialist exhibition in which manufacturers will exhibit their products for energy efficient construction and building modernisation, many of which have already been certified. After the conference, participants will be invited to take part in one of the excursions to Passive House projects in and around Heidelberg on Sunday.
A visit to the Bahnstadt
One of the excursions will take visitors to the Bahnstadt in Heidelberg, which is the largest Passive House district in the world at present. The city has made the Passive House Standard mandatory for this area near the main railway station. Since 2010, many residential and nonresidential buildings have been erected to the Passive House Standard, including three children's day care centres, a school, a civic centre, fire station, DIY store and a cinema. The construction of a shopping mall is under progress, a fitness and wellness centre is also planned.
"Refreshing"
"It is refreshing to see how the city of Heidelberg has demonstrated a liveable model for sustainable construction. As practised in the Bahnstadt, this can work everywhere. I hope that the conference in Heidelberg will lead to the dissemination of these approaches and will encourage others to follow suit", says Dr. Wolfgang Feist, Professor at the University of Innsbruck and founder of the Passive House Institute.
