A Masterpiece of Sustainable Construction

During certification for sustainable construction according to the German BNB system, the building achieved the highest score ever awarded and the best possible rating for material ecology. WSGreenTechnologies, a Werner Sobek Group company, was on board the project from day one as specialist planner and advisor. "A comprehensive and holistic approach to planning is crucial for the successful realization of such a special building", according to company founder, Professor Dr. Werner Sobek.

Penned by Berlin architects Richter Musikowski, Futurium was opened in autumn 2017. The striking sculptural building in the Berlin Spreebogen district will be used to showcase future-orientated developments of national and international importance, presenting them to the general public as part of exhibitions and events to be held in the building.

The sustainability credentials of the Futurium building are derived from a concept developed by WSGreenTechnologies. The new construction project benefitted from holistic planning and optimization right from the beginning in terms of its economic, ecological and socio-cultural footprint. Thanks to the comprehensive and timely consideration of all aspects of sustainability during the planning and execution phases of the project, Futurium was able to achieve the highest score ever attained during sustainability certification. The building was also awarded the best possible rating for material ecology. The certification procedure was carried out in accordance with the BNB rating system for sustainable building.

The Futurium – an inner-city ‚power station‘

Notwithstanding its ambitious architectural design, designated usage as an event venue and high level of comfort, the Futurium is an energy plus building in terms of primary energy consumption, thanks to a compact design, passive construction features appropriate for the usage of the building (particularly with regards to the building envelope), a strict policy of needs-based air and energy provision as well as highly-efficient building services technology. As well as making extensive use of solar thermal and photovoltaic installations, the building relies exclusively on a highly-efficient trigeneration system (combined power, cooling and heating) for the provision of energy. Latent cold and electricity storage units allow peaks in supply and demand to be evened out, thus completely eliminating the need to install any peak load boilers. Viewed over the space of a year, the building produces a primary energy surplus of 8 kWh/m²a or 99,000 kWh/a (relative to demand as defined in the EnEV Energy Saving Directive).

WSGreenTechnologies was on board the project from day one as specialist planner and advisor; close collaboration between architects, client and other planning experts was key for the extremely successful realization of this particularly sustainable building.

"We were able to continually optimize the energy quality and sustainability of the building thanks to the use of the BNB system during the project planning phase", explains Kurt Denzel, Managing Director of WSGreenTechnologies.

A plea for the careful use of resources in the urban environment

"The fundamental aim of this project was to design a building featuring a high level of user comfort with excellent energy properties, whilst ensuring the careful use of the construction materials at our disposal. We aim to plan buildings, urban areas and cities that are all sustainable." This is Sobek’s vision.

WSGreenTechnologies, the Werner Sobek Group specialist in sustainability and construction technology, is also behind the sustainability concept of the Futurium building.

Facts and Figures:
Architects: Richter Musikowski, Berlin/Germany
Client: Federal Institute for Real Estate (BlmA), Berlin/Germany
Tenant: Futurium gGmbH, Berlin/Germany
Energy/Sustainability: WSGreenTechnologies GmbH, Stuttgart/Germany
Planning period: 2013 – 2015
Construction period: 2015 – 2017
Landscape Architects: JUCA, Berlin/Germany
General Contractor: BAM Deutschland AG, Stuttgart/Germany