Approach
Aims
The Project aims for developing, implementing and evaluating building and planning schemes and technologies which allow to plan and build sustainable and energy-efficient mass housing settlements in arid and semi-arid regions (“energy-efficient fabric”). The outcome of the Project will be technologies, methodologies and several built Pilot Projects for energy-efficiency in three fields:
- Urban Development and Design (inc. Urban Design, Architecture, Transport Planning, Landscape Planning and Climatology),
- Urban Infrastructure Systems(inc. Energy Management, Water and Waste Water),
- Buildings and Objects (incl. Structural Design, Building Technologies and Materials, Energy and Installation Systems).
This comprehensive and complex approach will lead to a significant enhancement of energy-efficiency of buildings, neighbourhoods and towns. The whole Project will be supported essentially by capacity development, awareness raising and assessment tools.
Partners
The Iranian consortium involves experts from the Ministry for Housing and Urban Development, the Building and Housing Research Center and the Iranian New Towns Development Corporation. The German consortium involves 12 chairs from different fields of the TU Berlin, together with scholars from non-academic research institutions and experts from companies and associations. The partnership between all actors is well-established since continuous collaboration already exists since 2004 in the sector of planning, building, construction and education.
Implementation
The Project is based on the method of design-based research, meaning a particularly close integration of conceptualization, evaluation of realization and dissemination (“Research by Design”). Mutual design and realization processes will build up capacities on both sides and draw scientific findings and abstract derivatives on energy-efficient mass housing in Iran. The findings in the different sectors will be pursued in several Pilot Projects, all to be implemented in Hashtgerd New Town and a central Pilot Project, the 35ha Area in Hashtgerd New Town. This 35 ha Area will become a unique demonstration ground for real-life innovations in Iran.
