On the northern outskirts of Viernheim, in the popular new development area of Bannholzgraben II, green V is being built, a modern residential project consisting of a total of five buildings with 87 modern owner-occupied flats. The location is excellently chosen: surrounded by nature, close to the forest and yet with ideal connections to Mannheim, Heidelberg and Weinheim.
The entire complex is connected underground so that all five buildings can access shared resources. This creates a sustainable building infrastructure consisting of PVT collectors, heat pumps and storage facilities. The primary goal of the property is to save energy in heating and electricity consumption, thus enabling environmentally conscious living in the metropolitan area.
Thanks to joint planning and use, green V is considered a pioneer of modern, shared building energy. All flats in the new building will have balconies or garden areas facing south-west, which is ideal for photovoltaic systems. All buildings are connected by a shared underground car park with space for 112 cars. The basement floors house the flats’ cellars and technical rooms.
The energy concept
The energy concept comprises several levels. Current climate protection standards are implemented for the flats, which protect the environment and save resources. Against this backdrop, the use of fossil fuels is avoided. Heat and hot water are generated by heat pumps, which are supplied with electricity and heat from over 160 PVT modules (photovoltaic and solar thermal) on the roof.
Sustainable technologies in joint use
The SOLINK modules from Consolar have a PV module on the top for generating electricity. On the back is a heat exchanger that cools the solar module and simultaneously absorbs heat from the ambient air. Cooling improves the yield of the solar module by 6-8 per cent and also increases the longevity of the PV. The energy generated (electricity and heat) ensures efficient and silent heat pump operation. The ratiotherm heat pumps then provide hot water and energy-efficient heating in the houses. The apartments are heated via underfloor heating using hot water. The heat pumps work perfectly not only in new buildings, but also in existing ones.
The innovative ratiotherm heat pump technology in combination with SOLINK PVT modules also allows rooms to be cooled by approx. 2-3°C below the outside temperature in summer. To lower the room temperatures in the flats, the floor can be temperature-controlled using room thermostats if desired when the outside temperature reaches approx. + 25°C. After central switching on the heat pumps, cooled water flows through the pipes laid in the floor as required, in reverse to the heating concept. In this way, heat is removed from the rooms in summer by means of floor temperature control. This is done exclusively without air circulation and therefore without noise and draughts in the rooms. Most of the energy required to cool the water circuit in the pipe network is generated by the photovoltaic system on the roof.
With a collector area of around 665 m², the energy concept generates around 525,000 kWh of electricity and heat per year – saving around 352,000 kg of CO₂ per year.
The participants – the people behind the new building
The green v is a project by Diringer & Scheidel Wohn- und Gewerbebau GmbH, the property developer in charge of the project. This ambitious project is supported and accompanied by other partner companies such as ratiotherm (heating concept), Consolar (supplier of PVT collectors), Solterra (contractor) and TGA Peters (planning). The success and high efficiency of this project are only possible thanks to the smooth cooperation between the various companies.
Find out more about SOLINK PVT air-brine collectors at consolar.de