In June this year the world will witness the first zero emissions building ever, Gamze Celikyilmaz from the Regional Environmental Center (REC), told participants of Building Green CEE conference.
To be named the REC zero emissions conference centre, it will exclusively utilise environmentally friendly technologies. Two solar panels on its rooftop will generate 22 300 kWh a year in what will be the largest sun-fed power capacity in Hungary.
Its walls will be insulated to ensure minimum energy losses, while its lighting system will be equipped with light sensors that will regulate artificial light according to natural light available. Heating and cooling will be navigated through underground resources.
The facility is the joint initiative of the Italian Ministry for the Environment, Land and Sea and the governments of Liechtenstein, Iceland and Norway, financed through grants under the European Economic Area financial mechanism.
Celikyilmaz was speaking at a panel, which focused on innovational green design and architecture and ways to integrate such designs with sustainable urban planning.
Jacques Gilbert, the MEEA technical and marketing manager for building innovations at DuPont, focused on ways to implement sustainable energy solutions into construction. One of the innovations at his company was the creation of plastics from plants and not from traditional materials such as oil.
The expert presented energy efficiency statistics for Zurich buildings of various ages to illustrate the fact that the newer the building the more energy efficient it is; hence, innovation was the key to sustainable energy.
He also introduced participants to the bio-climatic approach in construction, which relies on the relevant geographic orientation, large windows and use of thermal mass to make a building energy-efficient.
