Category Energy Autonomy in Action
What surprises most people is that we do not need to heat any more. As mentioned above, we live in a building cooperative house with 28 households constructed in the cost limits of social housing, i. e. there is really no expensive technology put in it. The building fits the energy consumption limits of a low – energy house. However, the two parts of the building are large and almost cube-shaped, i. e. have a very good ratio of surface to volume. This means that the low-energy standard that is by definition a relative standard that depends on the surface/volume ratio of the building, corresponds to a very low absolute heat demand of only 36kWh per square metre a year...Read More
The SOLKIZ photovoltaic plant was constructed in 2005 on the top of three roofs of the new ecumenical parish centre in the Messestadt Riem, Munich, which was finished in that year. It is almost three times larger than the SOLNA photovoltaic plant, but has been set up exactly in pattern with SOLNA. Again, we have founded a personal company, the SOLKIZ – Solares Kirchenzentrum Messestadt Riem GbR (Solar Church Centre Messestadt Riem Personal Company). The contractual and financial setup was similar to that of the SOLNA plant.
Figure 16.7 Ecumenical church centre with SOLKIZ photovoltaic plant seen from the church tower
Source: Gerhard Endres
Note: Photovoltaic panels are on three different roofs – left behind, centre and at the right out of picture
Within the first three years, the S...Read More
Citizen-owned photovoltaic installations set up with our neighbours
In addition to purchasing 100 per cent renewable electricity from generation facilities owned by farmers, we are also owners of renewable electricity generation plants, via shares in two photovoltaic installations and a small share of a windpark. All three installations are citizen-owned community installations. While the windpark was implemented by a developer, we have organized the installation of the two photovoltaic plants ourselves.
The first installation (SOLNA) was set up on the flat parts of the two building parts that form our house; the second (SOLKIZ) was installed on three roofs of the ecumenical church centre in our city quarter.
We combine energy savings and use renewable energies, and conservation is the larger part in this equation. We consume 75.2 per cent less electricity, heat and transport energy than an average German family of the same size. And the renewable energy generation component in our family reduces our reliance on fossil fuels by another 38.4 per cent of that notional average family consumption level. The total adds up to our 100 per cent-plus performance. We are also very conscious about reducing the embodied energy in our lifestyle – but it is not included in this calculation. By ‘embodied’ we mean the energy that was required to satisfy our daily consumption of goods and services: food or clothing, for example, or what has been required to manufacture, transport
The only way an average family with limited means can afford full renewable energy supply is to organize and build on a network of wider community support. There is no magic in the number 100 per cent, and neither does it require iron discipline and perfection to achieve it. We exceeded 100 per cent renewable energy supply despite the numerous compromises we had to make. The keys to a renewable life are new or revived forms of networking and cooperation. This message will become clearer when I specify our energy savings and renewable energy measures. The community organization was essential in achieving 100 per cent renewable energy supply. WOGENO e. G...Read More
Messestadt Riem at Munich’s eastern fringe is a model for a post-fossil, post – ‘airtropolis’ redevelopment: it occupies former Munich airport, although the airport simply expanded on a new site to the city’s north. The small city centre was conceived as a showcase for urban sustainability, using the state of the art at the time. Ultimately, 16,000 people are expected to live in the area. Unlike much of the rest of Munich, Messestadt Riem is home to lower than average income groups and a higher than average number of children: precisely the sort of population usually considered to be too deprived of income or means to afford a ‘sustainable’ lifestyle.
The DH system is fed by a geothermal power station using heat from the Upper-Bavarian hydrothermal stratum found 270...Read More
Our family lives on renewable energy – 100 per cent. This sounds extraordinary, but there are many individuals and families in the world who are already fully renewable energy supplied – and many may not even be aware of it. Also, our success was made possible only by working closely with many others, and depended on the sustainable urban development principles of our neighbourhood. All we did was to make a slightly larger commitment than others in assembling various readily available cooperative opportunities and to take advantage of the features of our city quarter.
I speak to you from our family’s perspective but the story is bigger than that...Read More
The key areas of research for supporting the development of 100 per cent renewable communities involve the collection, use and management of information within an integrating framework. First, a standard methodology for baselining direct energy use on a self-consistent, community-wide basis is a critical foundation for developing comprehensive plans. Beyond that, guidelines for estimating and categorizing indirect energy use assist the definition of boundaries and scope for community efforts. The integrated nature of community-based planning requires a similarly integrated approach to assessing and reconciling energy-use inventories for buildings, transportation, central plants, etc...Read More