Benchmark Study on Green Buildings - Royal Architectural Institute ...

government covering a portion of the school’s energy bills so funding can be redirected
and used elsewhere. So far this program has been quite successful, with 200 of 1000
schools in Berlin participating.
Some past renewable energy & green building programs:
Past German incentives in various areas of the green building movement include the 1998
‘100,000 Solar Roofs Program,’ which provided 10-year loans with reduced interest rates
to buyers of photovoltaic (PV) systems. It ended early, in 2003, when all targets were met.
The Renewable Energy Sources Act Feed-in Tariff was designed to encourage customers
to begin generating their own solar electricity. Under this program, started in 1999,
customer applications received approximately 56¢ per kWh from local power companies
for solar-generated electricity sold back to the grid. This program was set for termination
once the combined capacity of Germany’s solar power plants reached 350 MW, so the
program was concluded mid-2003.
German Research Foundation (GRF):
The ‘Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft’ (German Research Foundation [GRF]) is the
central, self-governing research funding organization that promotes research at
universities and other publicly financed research institutions in Germany. The GRF
serves all branches of science and the humanities by funding research projects and
facilitating cooperation among researchers. It has numerous funding programs available
(which can be viewed under the ‘Research FundingPrograms at a Glance’ tab),
including its Individual Grants Program, to which any organization conducting R&D can
apply. Given their significant environmental concern, the development of technologies
and practices that reduce harmful environmental effects have a very good chance of
receiving some type of funding or support from the GRF.
Baufritz green building company:
Baufritz is one of Germany’s leading design companies, specializing in sustainable
buildings. Its slogan is German, but basically means “experience the buildings of
tomorrow, today!” Baufritz, a 108-year-old German company, prides itself in catering to
customer design requests, while minimizing the building’s ecological footprint at the
same time. Its homes use integrated climatic design concepts including proper orientation,
heavily insulated walls, door and window glazing, thermal mass, summer shading and
heat recovery ventilation to reduce heating bills to only $150 per year. Hot water solar
and photovoltaic electricity systems are also installed to reduce impacts from energy
production and to take advantage of the generous federal subsidies. Other lowmaintenance
and durability features include self-cleaning windows which have a special
film to facilitate cleaning by rain water and a paint and coating system for exterior siding
that never needs repainting. The healthy, streamlined interiors offer efficient floor plans,
attractive built-ins, lots of natural day-lighting, and feature nontoxic materials and
finishes to achieve superior indoor air quality. Extensive decks and balconies extend the
living area and create sunny, wind-sheltered outdoor spaces. The company also offers a
compact modular greywater treatment system called AquaCycle, which cleanses the
wastewater from cooking, dishwashing and bathing and reuses it for toilet flushing,
laundry, landscaping and similar purposes where drinking water is not needed. The
77