Idea
“Make, Use, Waste” – the prevailing linear way of thinking and acting powered by consumerism puts severe pressure on the earth’s natural resources. How can this pattern be changed and how can modern life and our societies become more circular? Currently one of the most resource consuming sectors is the building and construction sector. In Europe it accounts for approximately half of all extracted materials, half of total energy consumption, one third of water consumption and one third of waste generation.
The Hans Sauer Award 2020 „Designing Circularity in the Built Environment“ focuses on changing practices in the system that produce the “built environment” of cities and landscapes. “Built environment” refers to human-made surroundings that provide the setting for human activity, ranging from buildings to neighborhoods and cities themselves. The interdisciplinary competition not only wants to reward building new structures, but will also honor tools, methods and concepts that deal with the circular transformation of the already enormous quantity of existing constructions and / or structures. Additionally, the award focuses on people and projects that create and spread knowledge on the importance of circularity in the built environment.
The Hans Sauer Foundation is focused on fostering a “Circular Society” – in the Netherlands manifold actors do so for quite some time. This led to the idea to initiate a German-Dutch competition that not only awards outstanding projects, but also aims to foster the exchange of knowledge and experience between the two countries. The Dutch Consulate General and Stichting Circulair Bouwen, two high quality partners, have joined in announcing this competition.
Categories and Award
Please choose the category you would like to apply to and note it on your application (cf Application Requirements). The categories will be used as a guide for comparing applications to each other.
1. Best Practice | Design
This category honors existing projects, buildings, houses, etc which have been planned, designed and built with a strong focus on circularity. The projects should have been built or completed in 2016 or later.
2. Tools | Materials | Methods
This category honors tools, materials or methods which bring circularity to the built environment: Circular materials and techniques which deal with existing constructions and / or structures and improve processes with smaller scaled hacks and innovations.
3. Knowledge Transfer | Education
This category wants to honor ways of educating people and industries in becoming more circular, generating and spreading knowledge and bringing innovation into the field / sector.
There will be six awards in total: A German and a Dutch one in every category. The total award money of 20.000 Euro will be distributed by a Dutch-German jury. Additionally all prize winners get the chance to take part in an exchange program to visit either the Netherlands or Germany and learn more about best practice examples and the winning teams.
The Jury
Silke Langenberg (University of Applied Sciences in Munich)
Full Professor for Design and Construction in Existing Contexts, Conservation and Building Research at the University of Applied Sciences in Munich. Before, she was senior researcher at the Institute of Technology in Architecture and at the Institute for Conservation and Building Research at ETH Zurich. Her research focuses on the attempts to optimise planning and to rationalise the building process as well as on questions concerning the development, repair and conservation of system buildings, digitally fabricated constructions and larger building stocks. // Bild (c): Ekkehart Bussenius
Werner Lang (Technical University of Munich)
Werner Lang studied Architecture at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), the Architectural Association, London and UCLA, USA. He obtained his PhD in 2000 (TUM). Since 2010 he is Professor of Energy Efficient and Sustainable Design and Building (ENPB), Speaker of the Center for Sustainable Building (ZNB), Department of Civil, Geo and Environmental Engineering and of Architecture at TUM (joint appointment). From 2015 – 2017 he became Director of the Centre for Urban Ecology and Climate Adaptation, TUM. Since 2006 he is Partner and Shareholder of LangHuggerRampp GmbH Architects, Munich. In 2010 he became Director of the Oskar von Miller Forum, Munich. His Research focus is: Minimization of resource consumption, use of renewable energies and renewable building materials, development of closed material loops in the construction industry. Synergies of climate protection and adaptation measures at building and district level.
Tilmann Klein (Technical University Delft)
Tillmann Klein studied architecture at the RWTH Aachen, completing with a degree in 1994. From then on he worked in several architecture offices, later focussing on the construction of metal and glass facades and glass roofs. Simultaneously he attended the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf, Klasse Baukunst, completing the studies in 2000 with the title “Meisterschüler”. In 1999 he was co-founder of the architecture office rheinflügel baukunst with a focus on art related projects. In 2005 he was awarded the art prize of Nordrhein-Westphalen for young artists. From September 2005 until 2018 he headed the Facade Research Group at the TU Delft, Faculty of Architecture and since 2008 until 2016 he was director of the façade consulting office Imagine Envelope b.v. in Den Haag. Tillmann Klein organises the international façade conference series ´The Future Envelope´ at the TU Delft and is editor in chief of the scientific open access ´Journal of Façade Design and Engineering´. He finished is dissertation with the title ‚Integral Facade Construction – towards a new product architecture for curtain walls‘ in 2013. From 2015 until 2018 he was guest professor for Design and Building Envelopes at the TU Munich.
Since 2018 he is full professor for Building Product Innovation at the TU Delft and leads the Circular Built Environment Hub at the Faculty of Architecture
Masi Mohammadi (Eindhoven University of Technology)
Prof. Masi Mohammadi has a PhD on smart homes, holds the chair of ‘Smart Architectural Technologies’ at Eindhoven University of Technology, and heads the KIVI-chair of ‘Architecture in Health’ at HAN University of applied sciences, in the Netherlands.
As a senior researcher and project manager in different nationwide projects based in the field of smart healthy cities, she gained large experience in interdisciplinary studies. In collaboration with municipalities, housing associations and care organizations, she carries out her research on the next generation smart homes and neighborhoods in real life projects throughout the Netherlands. In this regard, she has served as chair and/or board member of more than 20 (inter)national committees and research networks, e.g. the honorary member of the Executive Board of the Dutch association of Facility Management in Healthcare, and as visiting professor at University of Technology Sydney. She has contributed to various publications on interdisciplinary domains of smart healthy homes. She is a well-known speaker who has delivered more than 120 academic and professional keynotes and invited to talk at national and international level.
In cooperation with: [icon name=“file-pdf-o“ class=““ unprefixed_class=““]
[icon name=“file-pdf-o“ class=““ unprefixed_class=““] Further information and terms of participation
[icon name=“file-pdf-o“ class=““ unprefixed_class=““] Short Profiles of Award Winners
Preisträger*innen
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Component Reuse NetworkComponent Reuse NetworkConservation, conversion and the creative use of materials
The federal association has been supporting the reuse of used building materials, residual building materials from construction sites and measured building products since 2011. The prevention of waste is our top priority. Therefore it is our target to raise awareness of the true value of our built environment. Conservation, conversion and the creative use of materials for recycling are practiced and passed on.
For new construction projects, dismantling is recommended and a material passport is required. On our homepage, knowledge is shared and information about current developments are provided. In addition, student work is accompanied and there is always room for questions!
Direct reuse not only avoids waste; it also saves energy and reduces CO2. In addition, the use of space for raw material extraction and landfill are becoming increasingly important. Regional systems are stimulated to pool competencies and powers. Through national and European
activities, many projects have been initiated and supported in their practical work. The knowledge gained is passed on, discussed and updated through lectures and further training offers. The networking of actors is particularly important to us. In addition, the first component catalogue for component exchanges was created, which today is used by students and research projects for the exchange of information.www.bauteilnetz.de
info@bauteilnetz.de
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People‘s PavilionPeople‘s PavilionTowards a circular world
In collaboration with Dutch architects Bureau SLA and Overtreders W, Arup delivered the structural design of the main pavilion for the Dutch Design Week 2017 in Eindhoven.
Made from borrowed materials, our structural design implicated a circular design with a close to zero carbon footprint. The building with a total space of some 250 square meters followed the principles of the circular economy. We designed a safe building without damaging the materials in any way and applied construction techniques that didn’t use glue, screws or nails. Keeping the materials at their highest value. Our calculations were validated through several experiments in cooperation with the Technical University Eindhoven.The frame was built up from standard, off-the-shelf, timber sections of different trade lengths tied together with steel straps to make longer and stronger composite elements. The columns consisted of seven-meter tall prefab concrete foundation piles. Steel rods from a demolished office building were reused as cross bracing. The composite timber beams, concrete columns and cross bracing were tied together using high capacity ratchet straps to create a safe and sufficiently rigid structure to withstand strong wind conditions. The glass roof was borrowed from a greenhouse supplier and the lower glass facade was saved from a demolished office building. The plastic shingles on the façade were made from plastic waste collected by the inhabitants of Eindhoven.
After the event, the building was successfully dismantled, and all the materials were returned to the suppliers. By demonstrating ways of borrowing and returning materials, the pavilion is a great example of circular design and construction.
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fo(u)r friendsfo(u)r friendsHimalaya school extension
After Nepal‘s earthquake in 2015 SUPERTECTURE designed and built four additional rooms in the school of the mountain village Dhoksan
in Nepal. In order to display some of Nepal‘s unlimited possibilities for reused, recycled, regenerative and circular construction technologies,
we decided to build every room as an individual house - every “class house” built with different innovative and underestimated materials:
free donated “earthquake” bricks, earth+bamboo+straw, “earthquake”-rocks + rocky slades, 700 old “earthquake“windows.
In the context of a social building project, we realised a variety of different examples for circularity in Nepals built environment. The primary
aspects of our circularity approach were reutilisation of manmade construction elements, as well as the research and application of natural
degradable and renewable building materials such as earth, bamboo and straw.
A secondary aspect of our circularity approach to building was the creative diversity of many smart and innovative ideas for recycled or
degradable houses within a single primary school extension complex. Our concept did not focus on a single circular building solution
but a wide-ranging and colourful building exposition. The innovation of our architecture consists of the individual material approaches and
a radical arrangement of many different ideas under the greater umbrella of broad possible circularity in Nepal‘s built environment.
Besides the architecture itself, it is innovative for young architects to undertake a design and construction project with sufficient time for
on-site research and analysis.www.supertecture.com
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RE4RE4REuse, REcycling, Refabricated and Refurbishment
The construction sector is responsible for the largest waste stream in Europe, generating approx. 800 million tonnes of Construction and
Demolition Waste (CDW) every year. The EU Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC requires of all member states to achieve 70% reuse,
recycling or other recovery methods of non-hazardous CDW by 2020.
In response, an international team of researchers and experts developed an innovative, holistic RE4 design for a 100% prefabricated, energyefficient,
seven-storey residential building, constructed from reused elements, with an average of 80% recycled CDW materials. The concept
can be adapted to specific project requirements, including office buildings. Recycling rates for structural concrete were increased by 100%
through innovative sorting and the successful handling of varying incoming CDW qualities, whereas a new approach for waste wood handling
led to 80% to 90% higher replacement rates of structural timber. Furthermore, RE4 showcases a solution on how to construct a fully dismantlable
and reusable building so that future generations of waste are limited to a bare minimum. Proof of concept was delivered by constructing
two two-storey demo buildings, one in the cold and one in the warm European climate. The developed solutions reduced the environmental
impact by 38% to 64% respectively in comparison to conventional ones.
RE4 has been developed while accounting for market expectations and scientific aspirations to find a suitable balance between stakeholder
requirements and the developed technical solutions.www.re4.eu
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CiWoCo 1.0CiWoCo 1.0Circular live-work housing block
CiWoCo 1.0 is an experimental circular live-work housing block in which future inhabitants were involved in the design process.
It is located in Buiksloterham, a former industrial area in North of Amsterdam designated as a circular architecture testing ground.
It is GAAGA’s first realised building in a series of circular and adaptive designs, based on John Habraken’s concept of “Open Building”
and fitting with circular design strategies such as the 10 R’s of circular economy of Jacqueline Cramer, and the building layer model
of Stewart Brand.
Usually, the building process is linear: materials are sourced, processed, transported and installed in buildings, only to be later downcycled
or scraped. However, CiWoCo 1.0 maintained a circular approach in all stages of the design and building’s lifespan, resulting in a
design with a highly demountable and adaptive character, unconventional building techniques, and an innovative application of reused
materials. By doing so, the building can adapt to future changes (both in use and function) without major structural changes, and 90% of
the used building materials can be reused or recycled at the end of building’s life, therefore functioning as a future material bank. Also,
other sustainability themes, such as energy reduction (almost energy neutral) and biodiversity were applied.
With CiWoCo 1.0, GAAGA shows the possibilities and usability of circular design and construction within residential projects, hopefully
inspiring and giving others an incentive for change as well.
www.gaaga.nl
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Kita Karoline GoldhoferKita Karoline GoldhoferDay-care center
“Kita Karoline Goldhofer” originates from the Reggio pedagogy approach which is embedded in the concept. The founder family’s old house became a part of the day-care centre. Reuse and recycling, as one of the pedagogy’s basic ideas, were introduced to the children as social
and ecological values.
For this purpose, the three existing building sections got preserved, exempted and encased under a new shell of polycarbonate multiwall sheets. The resulting spaces are part of the sustainable, cybernetic energy concept. The facade, as a “solar air collector”, allows the existing walls to remain uninsulated and to be experienced as a historical layer. The energetic renovation has an architectural-spatial approach.
The project supports circularity in the built environment.
The transferability of the concept lies in the architectural-constructional solution of the significantly relevant questions of how to deal with used building materials and how to combine energy-saving and CO2 neutrality with benefit for the space and usability. The interaction
between the existing building stock, shell, use and energy is decisive; the further development of the insulation question is also important.
The demonstration value of the “Kita Karoline Goldhofer” is high. Working with existing buildings is becoming increasingly important,
especially in the context of climate protection. With its innovative and future-oriented energy concept, the day-care centre is considered
a best practices project for further building projects.
www.heilergeiger.de
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Manual of RecyclingManual of RecyclingBuildings as sources of materials
How is it possible to keep the immense deposits of raw materials in buildings “active” and realise environmentally sustainable buildings
in the long term? Besides “sufficiency, consistency and efficiency”, this goal implies the intelligent use of resources, the recyclability of
structures, circular construction methods that reuse decommissioned materials; in short, “urban mining.” This poses a significant challenge
for architects and engineers, requiring them to rethink the planning and execution of building construction. The publication “Manual of
Recycling– Buildings as a source of materials” provides the necessary expertise for the associated paradigm shift in the construction sector.
In addition to successful project examples, this comprehensive and detailed guide provides in-depth explanations on calculation methods
and tendering aspects.
Some main topics of the content are:
- Recyclable construction
- Urban Mining – resource city and buildings
- Structures that can be dismantled
- Design and design methodology in the life cycle
- A detailed guide of relevant construction component connections
We are faced with a major challenge that represents a society-wide, global necessity. We see this as an opportunity to take a new,
concept-based architectural stance that puts a new sense of responsibility at the forefront of every aesthetic debate.www.shop.detail.de/de/atlas-recycling.html
