Passive House Bruck is a pilot project with the aim to give potential residents an understanding of the advantages of passive house design and to demonstrate its applicability in extreme weather conditions. The five-storey apartment complex was officially certified by the Passive House Institute Darmstadt, as the first passive house residential building in East China. Moreover, it was the first project realised in China that received platinum certification of the DGNB (German Sustainable Building Council).

The project was a combined effort of several German companies and institutions to introduce German technology and know-how in the field of energy efficiency in buildings to China. The design was planned by Peter Ruge Architekten in Germany to improve and implement innovative, energy saving and sustainable building practices. The local climate has shaped the impression of the façade: triple glazed window units have been specifically used in all private rooms and common areas, whilst fixed sun shading elements protect the glass façade in the warmer half of the year. The closed areas of the highly insulated façade act to protect the building shell from intense sunlight through a screen of colored terracotta rods. The insulation could also be achieved through the usage of air tightness tape. Just as for the façade, the building technology was designed specifically for the project. The balanced ventilation system provides efficient heat and humidity recovery. With all efforts the annual heating requirement was lowered to 9 kWh/(m2a) whereas the primary energy demand of the building is 106 kWh/(m2a).

About the Energy Efficiency Award

The Energy Efficiency Award 2020 – East-China was organized by the German Industry & Commerce Greater China in Shanghai (AHK Greater China Shanghai) in September 2020.

In order to illustrate the successful implementation of German technologies, products, and services in construction projects in East China, five examples were awarded and presented to a broad public audience. The selected reference projects show innovative German energy efficiency technologies, e.g. in the field of isolation, heating, and heat recovery, as well as the use of planning, architecture, and engineering services from Germany. All projects are results of fruitful cooperation between German companies or institutions and their Chinese partners.

On September 16th, 2020, the awarded projects have been published with videos and presentations of the project representatives at a hybrid event in the office of the AHK Shanghai and broadcasted worldwide through the internet.

The Energy Efficiency Awards are part of the German Energy Solutions Initiative of the German Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy to recognise the positive impact German energy efficiency technologies have on China’s efforts to become more energy efficient.