After pre-certification and an external examination, the Elbarkaden in the HafenCity are awarded with the eco-label in gold for exemplary, sustainable construction.
The hybrid building was pre-certified already before its completion in 2014. The HafenCity eco-label awards buildings with outstanding ecological quality. The certification system «HafenCity eco-label» was the first transparent and comprehensible award for sustainable buildings in Germany. The eco-label can be awarded in gold and in silver and has been awarded since 2007.
For the Elbarkaden a holistic concept was developed at the building level that includes all areas of sustainable building: in an interdisciplinary planning process, comparisons for building elements and energy simulations were worked out so that they would deal with the building as an overall system and take into consideration the renewable energy available at the site. Besides geothermal heating and solar power, wind power was also integrated for the purpose of covering energy demands, since it would compensate for natural fluctuations in solar-powered electricity production during the day and over the course of the years. This meant that the building’s own energy cover could be significantly increased.
The design’s rational basic structure forms the foundation for threefold flexibility: planning flexibility thanks to modular construction, flexibility of use provided by perfectly balanced floor plan layouts, and repurposing flexibility provided by an efficient structural engineering and shaft concept. Consistent system separation moreover allows for component-specific maintenance or replacement and good recyclability.
Inside, the design allows for the operation of a variety of climate zones and passive cooling-down at night. In the differentiated layout solutions it becomes clear that energy-efficient motifs go hand in hand with the creation of a variety of view axes, different uses, and their integration into the context, so that in the end we have a cleverly thought-out whole that is more than the sum of its parts.