Timber constructions made without glue or screws, bathroom walls made of clay, a green roof, rooms flooded with light – and all of these with a suitably modern appearance. At Solar Decathlon Europe, MiMo demonstrated how urban densification can be environmentally friendly and sustainable. The young team from the University of Applied Sciences in Düsseldorf used Schüco systems for the façade, doors, sliding doors, roof glazing and opening control.
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| Completion | 2022 |
| Architects | Team MIMO Hochschule Düsseldorf |
| Specialist company | Berger GmbH & Co. KG |
| Picture credits | © Marvin Hillebrand |
In the final evaluation, MiMo was awarded 775 points from the ten Decathlon categories, achieving fourth place out of 18 teams. The winning team was only 39 points ahead. However, even more important than the ranking was the long-term use of the innovative ideas from the group of international participants. The MiMo house will remain at the living.lab NRW in Wuppertal for at least three years, alongside seven other buildings. living.lab NRW is a research and educational institution of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, where researchers have been working on climate-neutral construction and sustainable living in the city of the future since October 2022. The researchers will be carrying out tests on the innovative buildings over a long period of time. Following a phase of exclusively scientific use, it is planned for the model buildings to be opened to the public next year.
The communal space on the ground floor also serves as the entrance area for the building. Visitors step into the House Demonstration Unit (HDU) through the fully glazed Schüco ADS 75 HD.HI aluminium door. As the HDU was designed as a fully accessible model house for many visitors, the building can be accessed from three sides. Inside, the AWS 75.SI+ system is used as a window door. This access serves to join together the two areas of the communal space. All the doors are barrier-free thanks to the level threshold, making them suitable for people with walking aids, pushchairs or wheelchairs.
The glazed building entrance blends perfectly into the glass Schüco FWS 60.SI Green mullion/transom façade. The façade works as a “climate envelope”, which stretches around the entire house, broken up only by the external opening units. The Schüco AWS 57 RO roof window on the green roof ensures maximum levels of natural light. Together with sensor-controlled glass louvre blades in the façade, this forms the glass building envelope. Optimum thermal insulation values mean the climate envelope acts as a thermal buffer.
While wall heating in the bathroom and a mechanical ventilation system with heat recovery regulate temperatures and ensure a high air quality in the accommodation modules, the ventilation of the communal space is regulated by the climate envelope. The automatic Schüco TipTronic SimplySmart window actuator controls seven units in the roof glazing as well as the glass louvre blades in the façade.
The roof glazing and louvre blades are also fitted with photovoltaics, so in addition to their ventilation function, they automatically follow the path of the sun to generate maximum solar energy. Under strong sunlight, the louvre blades also shade the interior areas. In order to make the best use of the building energy, MiMo developed the “energiBUS system”. This pre-fabricated sub-module is installed next to the communal kitchen and connects the household devices via an intelligent thermal distribution system to the central heat storage units and the thermal pump, which includes an ice storage unit.
Um den Gedanken der Nachhaltigkeit über das Gebäudeleben des HDU hinaus zu erfüllen, lag ein großes One key consideration for MiMo when selecting the systems was recyclability, as the team wanted to ensure the HDU remained sustainable even at the end of its life cycle. All the Schüco systems used are Cradle to Cradle Silver certified and recyclable, meaning they will not harm the environment once the MiMo model house can no longer be used. Especially in these times of energy shortages, the HDU has shown how sustainable and energy-efficient construction and living is already possible.
The interplay of different systems, materials and innovations means that newbuilds are already able to address the challenges of climate change, conserve the environment for the long term and make efficient use of energy. Individual systems and ideas from the team can even be applied to existing buildings to improve their energy balance, while parts of a building can be replaced with new circular systems. Schüco windows, doors and sliding doors can be easily retrofitted and work to improve thermal insulation, thereby significantly reducing energy consumption and making spaces more comfortable.
