Berlin Palace / Humboldt Forum

Article in Berliner Extrablatt no. 87, April 2017, on the energy concept (translated by GTN):

„The entire building was calculated in accordance with the 2009 Energy Saving Ordinance (Energiesparverordnung - EnEV). The value for the primary energy requirement is more than 30 % lower than the permissible one.  This was a requirement of the Federal Ministry of Building. On the one hand, this is achieved through structural thermal insulation that is significantly better than the values of the reference building of the 2009 EnEV. On the other hand, the building is basically supplied from a district heating grid. The building uses the nearby Kraftwerk (Power Plant) Mitte which is one of the most modern power plants in Europe. In addition to district heating, it is planned to use shallow geothermal energy for heating and cooling. Thus, the use of geothermal energy can reduce the consumption of compressor cooling energy by the permanent consumers such us the cooling units in electrical and server rooms. North of the building, two arrays with totally 225 borehole heat exchangers (BHE) will be developed and 92 foundation piles activated. In order to further secure the cooling supply to the museum areas and to reduce the electrical peak power of the Humboldt Forum, an ice store will be installed. The totally installed cooling capacity is almost 3,000 kW (5,300 kW with ice store).”

Photo © Berlin Palace - Humboldtforum Foundation/Hi.Res.Cam GmbH.

 

Role

  • Numerical simulation of the geothermal system
  • Permitting procedures under the Water Act
  • Planning, tendering and construction supervision for the geothermal system, district heat heat supply (4,800 kW), heat pumps (1,200 kW), cold production and ice storage, adiabatic recooling of the chillers, free cooling, cold distribution and transfer (convectors, BTA, ventilation units) and heat distribution
2020
Opening
83.000 m³ 
Floor area
590 million  € 
Budget

“Sustainability and energy savings are key elements in this building project. Traditional energy-saving technique is utilised, as well as geothermal power, in order to reduce the use of carbon fuels and the emission of carbon dioxide (CO2). In this project, we will make good use of our experience with similar large projects, e.g. in the historic Reichstag building in Berlin.”

Gerd Möllmann

Project Manager

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