Green Solution House wins the Active House contest
21 November, Brussels- Active House Alliance, the network of companies sharing a vision of buildings that create healthier and more comfortable lives for their occupants without negative impact on the climate, is glad to announce the winner of the Active House label contest. The contest was launched last April to introduce the new label and it gathered 21 submissions from all over the world.
The jury, composed by international experts, included Rory Bergin, Arch MSc, Partner, Sustainable Futures, HTA Architects (England), Duzan Doepel, Partner, architect, DoepelStrijkers, (The Netherlands). Marco Imperadori, Professor, Politecnico di Milano (Italy) and Mónika Tornóczky, MSc. Architect, product manager of Alukönigstahl (Hungary).
The jury nominated 5 full scale projects out of the 21 participating projects, which the Alliance evaluated further with interviews to the architects, owners and evaluated them in accordance with the Active House principles of balancing comfort, energy and environment.
The jury appointed Green Solution House as winner of the contest because of its unique combination of the three Active House principles in the design processes, its detailed modernization of the existing buildings and its educational characteristics.
“In terms of design it is clear that Green Solution House embraces the principles of Active House whist successfully dealing with the complexity of transforming an existing structure” says architect Duzan Doepel. Architect Rory Bergin points out that “Green Solution House is a very complex project and it is encouraging to see such a sophisticated approach worked through in all details and it deserves recognition”.
The Active House Alliance and the jury decided that other three of the shortlisted projects should be awarded with an Active House label. Those projects are Isobo Aktiv Haus in Norway, LichtaktivHaus in Germany and House at Lake Garda in Italy. “Overall these projects have different elements that are a showcase of what active house means” stated architect Monika Tornoczky. “The projects are built in different climates and under different conditions. It shows that the Active House principles can have a variation of design and be used all over the world” she explained.
“Many labelling schemes for buildings are focusing on heat savings but it is also important to focus on buildings in hot climates” says Professor Marco Imperadori. “The house at Lake Garda has solved the energy efficient issue in a hot climate and still it allows for large window areas and good daylight conditions. Such big windows are fundamental in a beautiful environment like Lake Garda is. Therefore, not only climate comfort but also psychological comfort helps in an Active House” he explains.
All four projects will be now awarded with the Active House label and will be presented at relevant conferences as well as the Alliance will develop individual articles and blogs for each project.
For further information, please contact Kurt Emil Eriksen at kurt.emil.eriksen@activehouse.info or by phone at 0045 23200141.
Notes to the editor:
About Active House
Active House is a network of companies, universities and associations that share a vision of buildings that create healthier and more comfortable lives for their occupants without negative impact on the climate – moving us towards a cleaner, healthier and safer world.
The Active House vision focus on a balanced and holistic focus on Comfort, Energy and Environment and defines highly ambitious long-term goals for the future building stock.
In order to encourage the supply chain in the construction sector to embrace this vision and adopt greener and healthier buildings by designing comforting spaces, which are also sustainable and green, Active House has developed a number of specifications that define an Active House. These specifications are tools to design buildings based on a balanced focus on comfort, energy and environment, and to receive the Active House Label.
The Active House label is a worldwide quality stamp for comfortable and sustainable buildings. It advices on elements that are important to humans’ life and living in their home.
The Active House label can be issued to buildings that has been evaluated in accordance with the Active House specifications and meet the minimum demands for indoor comfort, energy efficiency and environment.
Buildings that have received the Active House label have been designed and evaluated with a combined focus on comfort, smart use of energy and minimum impact on the environment.
For further information please visit: https://www.activehouse.info/ or follow us on twitter: @Activehouseinfo
Active House is glad to announce that the jury appointed Green Solution House as winner of the contest because of its unique combination of the three Active House principles in the design processes, its detailed modernization of the existing buildings and its educational characteristics.
The Active House Alliance and the jury also decided that other three of the shortlisted projects should be awarded with an Active House label: Isobo Aktiv Haus in Norway, LichtaktivHaus in Germany and House at Lake Garda in Italy as the all represent a best case of the application of the Active House principles in different climates.
