(1)Development process

An integrated development and planning process moulded the „Ludesch Community Centre“ project.  Long before the planning actually began, a workgroup was formed which included interested community members.  They looked into the subjects of utilization,  how social events would be compatible with the space on hand and the best way to use the small amount of resources available.  The questions of using energy sparingly and sensibly as well as the use of environmentally safe building materials had a great influence on the results.  It is very important to note that construction stayed within budget despite the elevated ecologically motivated specifications.

The workgroup formed by the township defined the expected uses of the new Community Centre as follows:  The building should be a meeting place for the townspeople.  It should be easy to reach from any direction and be multi-functional.  It should be a landmark identified with Ludesch which will turn public attention towards, and support the commercial aspect of Ludesch in the region.  For this reason it is also important to include local supply capabilities in the centre. 

It was also important to include high quality work places with a maximum of flexibility with regards to future requirements.  In respect to energy and ecology the following specifications were made:  The building had to achieve low utility costs and an optimal ratio between total costs and the lifespan of building constructed to the Passive House standard and built in adherence to ecological guidelines.  Last, but not least, it was important for the work group that biomass energy be used for heating. They also wanted to use lumber from the Silver Fir tree in the surrounding forests for construction of the building, walls and furniture.  

(2)Technical Information about the building

The building consists of 3 structures that are connected to each other.  The 6,000 cubic metre basement is a solid structure and includes the technical room and various storage rooms.  It takes on the 8,500 cubic metre timber construction which holds all of the rooms used by  local organisations on the ground and upper floors.  A multi-purpose hall, the town library, the mail room, a coffee shop, rooms for a children‘s play group and 2 businesses can be found on the ground floor, while  the municipal offices, an information centre for mid-wives and the offices of private service providers are all found on the second storey.

The Ludesch Community Centre was designed by the architect, Professor Hermann Kaufmann, who was also a member of the workgroup.  The floor space is 3,135 m2 or 14,500 m3, which had a total cost of 5.6 million Euros.  The net cost of the building was 4.5 million Euros.  After a relatively long preparatory phase, during which the workgroup drew up a book of duties in regards to the realisation of ecological standards, the building itself was erected in a short time, starting in May, 2004 and finished in November, 2005.

(3)The ecological goals and their realisation goals.

The goal of the municipality was to make a lasting example of combining our resources using the definition of very high ecological standards.  In the first place, this means adhering to the Passive House standards with the least possible total energy costs, then the calling for tenders and awarding the contracts for all of the jobs using the Ecological guidelines, and the use of renewable energy sources.  An especially innovative  approach for the production of energy is the roof for the 350 m2 village square, which is locked in by the U shape of the 3 structures.  The roofing on the steel girders serves as a Photo voltaic facility.  This means that the roof doesn‘t only protect, but it also functions as a producer of electricity. Surplus electricity is fed into the public power supply system.  Solar panels on the individual structures produce warm water, while ground water is used for the cooling system in the summer.

The Vorarlberg Ecological Guidelines: construction, notes which construction materials cannot be used because of their harmful effect on the environment, or conversely, which materials are preferable because of their positive effect on the indoor climate of the rooms.  For this reason, PVC was not used in the ductwork, electric cable casings and floor coverings.  The use of solvent containing materials like lacquer, paint or glues was also frowned upon as well as the use of softeners and substances containing formaldehyde.  Cellulose and sheep‘s wool was used for the insulation in the walls, whereby it is said that sheep‘s wool is capable of absorbing poisonous vapours to a certain degree.

The deciding factor for the appearance of the Ludesch Community Centre was the use of timber.  The consequent use of the rough hewn, untreated wood of the Silver Fir on the building‘s facade, is responsible for the appearance of the three structures. Alone the direction of the planks creates diverse block diagrams and calls forth magical light and shadow effects on the building.  The silver grey patina that is formed by weathering , will lend the building an additional vibrancy in years to come.  The one metre wide overhangs aid the constructive protection of the wood. 

Inside, the untreated Silver Fir wood creates a warm atmosphere, giving the lounge a client friendly character, where the walls, ceilings and furniture paint an all around uniform picture.  Because of this, the Community Centre has been given a vibrancy which is unusual for an administrative building.  The innovative approach to the concept and the consequent realisation of clear ideas has contributed to the  building  already, setting an example far beyond the regional boundaries.

(4)Passive House standards und Ecological guidelines Construction Passive House

The definition of the Passive House Standard published by the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Innovation and Technology, describes a unique quality of energy efficiency for buildings, but doesn‘t provide a defined method of construction.  With Passive Houses, resource requirements and construction and running costs over the next 100 years are about equal.  The construction of a Passive House costs a maximum of 3% more than that of a conventional building.  The additional expense is compensated for within a very short time by the factor of 10, lower running costs of a Passive House. 

When the construction materials are renewable raw materials, construction is partly passive because wool, wood or clay are all produced by nature.  The heating in a Passive House is exclusively by supply air.  Heating energy is often provided by burning bio mass.  In the Ludesch Community Centre, this is provided by the nearby wood chip plant which also supplies public buildings in the area like the school complex.  Warm water is produced by solar panels.

The „Ecological Guidelines, Vorarlberg“ published by the Environmental Association is made up of two parts.  The „Ecological Guidelines: Office“ and the „Ecological Guidelines: Construction“.  The Guidelines: Construction has the following goal:

Right from the time that the products and services are procured, environmental compatibility should be seen and addressed as an understood criteria.

It often happens that necessary information is missing, and this is what the guidelines provide.  They also help to reduce the additional time required to procure materials in an environmentally friendly manner.  This must be formulated in the tender.  The simplest way is when the commitment to ecological performance features are integrated in the performance description and, if applicable,  the acceptance of tender.

The guidelines only give a short description of moderately good construction materials, ecological characteristics and arguments about why the material is only moderately good.  Ecologically commendable products, on the other hand, are described in detail with additional references and sources of supply.  Details about reference projects as well as tender texts and information about the use, utilization and disposal of construction materials is also given.

(5)Interview with Mr. R. Wehinger

Mr. Wehinger is an architect in the offices of Professor Hermann Kaufmann. 

When Peter Metzler asked him about the project he said:

In the year 1995, the University of Innsbruck had already made a study about the development of the town of Ludesch.

In this study it came to light that communication facilities were missing and that there was no real town square since the church, the Blumenegg- Hall and the old Town Hall and social centre were all located directly on the road.  Up until then, a proper village life was practically impossible.  With the decision to build a new town centre, a work group was formed in 1997 which began a space and function program in accordance with a survey conducted within the community.  In the year 2000, our company, the architectural offices of Hermann Kaufmann, was invited to join the development study.  Then, in the framework of the study, the needs that were voiced when the survey was conducted were worked into the first, rough concept.

It was our goal to scale the diversity of essential functions to fit the character of the village.  This is why the concept of a 3 element construction was created with a roofed over village square as the communicative middle point and the infrastructure facilities around it so that the village would have higher local value. 

In the beginning, the town was thinking of a hybrid construction project, but right from the start, the declared wish was to use wood as the building material.  However, due to the available technical facilities in connection with profit requirements, there were misgivings.  It was very important to us to construct the whole building with timber since we had a lot of experience in timber construction and also knew how important adding value locally was.  After numerous talks with individual expert planners it was confirmed that it was possible to use timber construction alone.  For us planners. it was important to use the wood in an ecologically friendly way.  That meant to leave it untreated.  This led to the construction of rough hewn facades with a meter deep, cantilevered,  constructive overhang as protection for the wood.  The lamella structure on the roofed over area is also made up of untreated wood surfaces.

Because the town of Ludesch had such a large number of Silver Firs, it was important to us to use this wood for the facades as well as on the inside of the building.  Leaving the walls on the first floor in a rough hewn state was a courageous yet unusual step.

(6)Talk with Gebhard Bertsch

Mr. Bertsch is an expert in environmentally friendly construction controlling.  We asked him his opinion on some ecological subjects and the Passive House in general.

Bertsch tells us that every Passive House has an air ventilation system with heat recovery.  In the summer, the cooling load is led through a  spring where the temperature of the water is 7 degrees and the cooled air is blown into the rooms at a temperature of about 23° Celsius.  During the winter, the same spring is used to warm the air.  If the temperature outside is -10° Celsius, the air is warmed to about 5°.  The discharged heat recovery air then warms the air temperature to about 18° - 20° Celsius and the rest of the heating is taken over by the town‘s own heating network in the form of a wood chip plant close by.  I don‘t know of any other buildings of this size in the German speaking part of Europe that use this kind of heating system.  Most of the facilities use heat pumps.

The building was constructed using the Ecological Guidelines: Construction published by the Environmental Association, Vorarlberg.  The guidelines have very strict criteria.  All of the acquired materials are tested for their pollution content. For example, the existence of  polyurethane foam or harmful bonding agents is looked for.  This means that the craftspeople are thoroughly checked to make sure that they bring the environmentally compatible materials to the construction site that were ordered.  Up until now, buildings were only tested for the existence of harmful pollutants if the owners made a complaint.  We go into the building two or three weeks after it has started operating and test for pollutants.  We assume that the results will be quite low. 

The project is part of the research program „House of the Future“.  There is a work group within the program that deals with material inspections.  The inspections are done by checking the article description of the materials that are brought to the construction site and comparing them to a check-list.  The whole building is built PVC free, which means it is especially important to inspect electric cables.

Basically, there are two strategies to keep the pollutants to a minimum.  The first way is the choice of materials, where attention is paid the amount, or non-existence of solvents or formaldehyde in the materials.  The second way is to use materials that bind active pollutants and afterwards to purify the air.  In this building, for example, a large amount of sheep‘s wool was used for insulation.  This is a natural fibre which has the ability to bind solvents and formaldehyde and therefore improve the quality of the air.

(7)Talk with Anton Zech

Mr. Zech is the municipal mandatary and an important part of the decision making for the Community Centre.  We asked him about ecological criteria that were taken into consideration when decisions were made.

First of all, we have to mention the Passive House Concept.  Secondly, the fact that it was a timber construction using local Fir Tree timber, which was provided by the agrarian community in Ludesch.  Thirdly, it is the use of ecologically sound building materials, meaning materials that have the least amount of pollutants.  The town of Ludesch has been a member of the climate alliance since 1994 and has been participating in the e5 program for energy efficient communities since 1998.  It was therefore very important for us to get an exemplary project off the ground.  Our community has its own  sponsorship project for ecological and energy saving construction and naturally wants to bring about an excellent example within our own area of interest.

It should be emphasized, as mentioned earlier, that timber from the Silver Fir tree from our own community was used.  Added to that is the fact that the lumber was taken to a saw mill in Vorarlberg.  This alone kept a large portion of the revenue in the State.

In relation to that, a large role was played by the innovative character of the project.  A 600 square metre courtyard is enclosed and covered by a glass roof which shades the area.  There is a translucent, or clear, photo voltaic facility in the roof.  This means that the photo voltaic elements are shrink wrapped in the glass plates and they let about 10% of the light through.  This is a  new technical development that combines the clean production of energy with architectural/artistic ideas.

When asked what the township politicians expect, he said:

Ludesch is mostly a street town.  Public facilities like the church, school and Town Hall are not concentrated in one place, which is why none of those places have been able to develop a central function.  The multi-functional use of the Community Centre will bring about a strengthening of community life.