After a highly successful meeting in Valencia earlier this year, the Eurhonet Sustainable Construction Topic Group will meet again in Munich. We are grateful to be hosted by our colleagues at Münchner Wohnen GmbH to explore sustainable districts and the simple construction concept.

Sustainable neighbourhoods

This year, we have widened our view beyond the single building, approaching our challenges from the neighbourhood perspective. Building on our previous discussions of sustainable mobility, we will be further exploring the idea of the sustainable neighbourhood.

As part of the EU project ASCEND, the Harthof neighbourhood in Munich is being transformed into a clean, CO2-neutral positive energy district. Rental homes in the area need energy efficiency improvements, heating from renewable energy sources, and shared clean mobility services. We will also hear how this project will feed into Munich’s ambition to scale the transformation to 100 similar districts by 2035.

In addition, we will explore how the use of certifications for neighbourhood development can help to create more sustainable and well-connected districts. This will include examining how a community-based certification approach can apply to both the planning and built stages of neighbourhood-scale projects.

Photos from our previous in-person Topic Group meeting in Valencia

To facilitate knowledge sharing, we will hold a Flying Experts Workshop on the topic. Participants will be divided into small groups from different countries. Working from architectural plans, they will develop a plan for a neighbourhood development project. Each group will then present their ideas, comparing and contrasting their different approaches.

A World Cafe Workshop will also encourage interactive dialogue. Participants will be divided into themed tables, discussing different phases of sustainable neighbourhood development, before rotating to exchange ideas. The workshop will conclude with a plenary session to summarise the main takeaways and outline a shared vision.

Simple construction concept

Our meetings are developed according to the needs of our members. Topic Group participants identified the simple construction concept as a topic they would like to discuss further this year. We are therefore very pleased to welcome Tilmann Jarmer as a guest speaker on the topic.

Tilmann Jarmer is a Research Associate at the School of Engineering and Design at the Technical University of Munich. Following his guest lecture, we will visit a pilot site developed according to the simple construction concept. Using these insights, we will reflect on how the approach could be integrated into our own work.

Photos from our previous in-person Topic Group meeting in Valencia

Register

Eurhonet members can download the agenda and register for this meeting through the Members Only Zone. If you are not yet a member of Eurhonet, find out about joining us.