Professor Fisch, on the website of your institute the Wen Yuan project is described as a „ cooperation project in the field of sustainable restoration and German building culture abroad”. Could you please explain the meaning of „German building culture“?

The Wen Yuan Building is built following a special architectural style, which was developed in the 1920’s and 1930’s in Dessau , the so called Bauhaus-Style. It is a german variation of the modern architecture and it can be assumed that the two architects Wen and Yuan - by the way this is the reason why the building is called Wen Yuan building – were inspired by this style about 50 years ago.

How do I identify the Bauhaus Style?

One characteristic of Bauhaus Style is that the design follows a clear and simple geometry. So characteristics are simple forms, right angles and a functional structur. In the Wen Yuan building for example you can see rectangular long window formations, which cover nearly the whole height of the room. The arrangement of the windows is also very typical, as it has fine variations of fixed glazing and movable openings that base upon former production conditions. The architecture has been taken back and it does not dominate the impression. By contrast today many buildings in Shanghai are built in a very eye-catching way. That way architects want to show what they are able to build. But the Bauhaus style consists of simple and clear structures.

Why is the Wen Yuan building a listed building?

This building is one of a few buildings in China with which the Bauhaus style in the 1940‘s and 1950‘s was copied. That is the reason why the Wen Yuan building is listed.

How did you get the oppurtunity to restorate the building?

The building had been used by the Department of Building Engineering which got a new building last year. For this the administration of Tongji University admitted the College of Architecture and Urban Planning to use the historical Wen Yuan building among other things as an institute of ecological and energy efficient construction.

Will the building symbolize its contents?

Yes, it also symbolizes the contents of teaching. I think, it is a good idea to represent your work with the building you work in, to use it as your own laboratory and as your own contribution concerning sustainable construction.

How did it happen that this Chinese-German cooperation project between the Institute of Building Services and Energy Design (TU of Braunschweig) and the College of Architecture and Urban Planning (Tongji University in Shanghai) has been established?

The Institute of Building Services and Energy Design at the TU Braunschweig is one of the leading institutes in Germany concerning energy efficient construction, planning and running of office buildings as well as the technical utilisation of solar energy. The connection to the College of Architecture and Urban Planning at Tongji University exists for several years. The dean of the college, Professor Dr. Zhiqiang Wu, studied architecture and did his doctor's degree at the Technical University Berlin. This cooperation results from other tasks that we have performed in China. Professor Wu and I have a trustful trade-off, that way it works very well.

The project is called a „national pilot scheme“. That means that there has never been anything like that. To what extent this project is unique?

What makes this project unique is the fact that it is about restoration – especially in terms of an energetic restoration of a listed building. I think buildings should be preserved. You should not construct buildings just to demolish and replace them again. Furthermore another aim is to achieve sustainability. I am sure, at Tongji University and in China this really is a pilot project.

What does a „sustainable energy concept“ mean?

Sustainability means, that you try to minimize the use of material needed for restoration and to minimize the future energy consumption as much as possible during the life cycle of a building. Sustainability also means resource friendly construction. For example you don’t use an insulation of 20 cm knowing that more than 10 cm of insulation does not make any sense in this case. That would just waste material and energy. Moreover when you construct a building you should only use material without high energy demand in production. For example constructing with aluminium is extremely energy-intensive, compared to constructing with wood. In addition to that the building should have a good comfort, but small energetic expenses. That includes for example a low power demand in the next 20 years concerning air conditioning, cooling and illuminating. As you surely know, in Shanghai the problem of cooling and dehumidification is more serious than heating during winter time. Until now the Wen Yuan building has not been heated or cooled at all. There were only illuminating, no other building services. That way the rooms in den Wen Yuan building have been cold in the winter and warm in the summer.

So the point is to link all the factors with each other optimally.

Exactly, using a good building services engineering we can produce a moderate climate in the building - with low energy demand and costs.

How are the responsibilities in this cooperation?

The cooperation is based upon confidence and closely trade-off. The contract we have concluded declares my institute and the college both as equal partners.

In which stadium is the project now?

We have concluded the concept phase by creating a feasibility study for the restoration of the raw construction and the building services engineering. This study includes certain objectives: low energy consumption for heating, cooling and ventilation as well as increased comfort by producing a moderate room climate. To achieve that, the location’s natural resources (like ground, groundwater, solar irradiation etc.) must be used as well as possible. At the moment we are working on a research cooperation contract that includes the further realisation, implementing and the energy efficient use of the building. We hope to win the Bundesministerium für Arbeit und Wirtschaft (BMW) as a partner, because the energy optimised contruction is established there.

And after the concept phase follows…

The design phase - the typical planning process in China is to engage the so-called design institutes. These institutes try to realise our concept in China. However, at present the project has to take a break as there is a deficit in the budget on the Chinese side for the further financing. Actually the Tongji wants to finish the construction at their centenary in May or June 2007. But as the financial basic conditions are not very good finishing the construction in June 2007 is impossible. Therefore at present we in Germany are canvassing for sponsors and subsidies.

There seem to be a lot of differences between construct-process in China and in Germany.

What I am still surprised about is that you can hardly get information in China about buildings that had already been built. To quote an example: We were searching for comparative values. If you have an energetic aim you need a reference value, for example a total primary energy supply of 100 kilowatt hours per square meter and per annum – an aim that we want to achieve within the scope of the German F+E-program ENOB (Energieoptimiertes Bauen, which means energetical optimised construction). That is an aim I would like to achieve concerning new office buildings in China. Thereafter I’m able to declare: Okay, the aim is a fourth, a tenth or a half of the average energy consumption of buildings in China today. But that is still missing in China. We have intensively researched, we have also engaged our Chinese collegues at the Tongji in it, but we could not find any comparative values.

Which means…?

Nobody can tell me how the resource consumption of a new office building concerning water, energy, electricity etc is. I have to know values per square meter so that I am able to compare. It does not make sense if the Ministry of Construction declares that 50 percent of the building’s energy consumption has to be saved. 50 percent of a few is a few, and 50 percent of a lot is a lot. In my opinion 50 percent without a reference does not make any sense at all. By raising a standard concerning energetic and sustainable construction I want to call attention to the importance of reference-values you need to evaluate.
What is really important to me is being able to measure success by values, you understand? Then we can finally say: Per annum and per square meter this building spends x kilowatt hours of energy or x Yuan energy costs, and another building spends ten times more than that, for example.

Another important item is the existence of design institutes that I have already mentioned. There a big problem of communication and understanding occurs. We made an innovative concept and decided in which direction we want to go in the future – the energy resources are limited and everyone knows the climate problems. Naturally the next step is the implementation planning. It is new for me that architects and engineers have to hand over the whole implementation planning to the design institutes.If we lose the continuity of information, there is no feedback about the concept and the implementation. It will not work concering communication and content.
And I really have to resist any modification of the concept. If the concept changes, I won’t be able to stand for the content or the aim anymore. But it seems to be typical for the Chinese construction process that the information of the concept is not kept in mind during the implementation. Instead the maintain doing what they always have done. By this usual planning process innovations falls by the wayside. That’s why the college and we try to keep control over the project. Of course the college is also more interested in an innovative concept than in a conventional one.

How do you want to achieve that?

We have established a research and development project between the CAUP and my institute, which will supported by sponsors and the German government. That means I try to animate German companies to get involved within the restoration of the building. I have already found a couple or nearly a dozen of German companies that will participate by donating material. For instance BASF is responsible for insulation, Rehau for certain technique components, Siemens for the building control system, Paradigma for solar panels etc.

How do you convince the companies of your project?

That is a good question. I think that global companies like BASF, Siemens or Rehau with branches in China certainly are interested in selling their products on the Chinese construction market. So I promised the companies that the project will be an opportunity for advertising – by the way it is also planned to be a showcase on the EXPO 2010 in Shanghai. Every company will be mentioned by a sign at the building. That way the companies can use the building for advertising and participate from the results of the monitoring.

So the project is an opportunity for German industry to present themselves. People will see at the restorated building which German companies participated. How does such a project enhance the general exchange between Germany and China?

At present our problem is that the Chinese government calls for energy efficiency in the future, but that in reality nothing is put into practice. Instead Chinese investors are interested in making remittance. But it will change over the years. It needs time until the political aims get through to every district and until they are also controlled and realised. Whatever, with this project we can demonstrate German ‘know how’ about energy efficient conctructions and also that the politics are interested in it. You may regard our project as a missionary project in a way. We cannot talk about environmental and climate protection in Germany while the conditions for ecological acting in other countries like China are that bad. Because in China ten times more buildings were erected than in Germany we have to build energy efficient buildings In china to protect our climate. The bottom line is that we all live on the same earth.

So despite of restorating the Wen Yuan building another aim of your project is…?

The point is also to inform people in China about energy efficiency by pointing out, that this is not just a matter of environmental protection, but also a matter of economy. You know the German companies also do not invest for fun. And some of them offer 100 000 Euro of material donations for this project.

What are the next steps for you and for the project?

We will prepare a far-reaching master agreement with the German sponsors, the Tongji University and us, which gives our cooperation in this project a guarantee until EXPO 2010. It is impossible to work that much without final results. The German companies must be entitled to use this project as a opportunity after completing. We intend to support the buildup of the instite of energy efficient and climate friendly construction at the Tongji University’s College for Archtecture and Urban Planning and to advise them on contents of teaching and research. This is our request at present.

Professor Fisch, thanks for answering my questions!

Contact:

Univ. Prof. Dr.-Ing. M. N. Fisch
TU Braunschweig
Institut für Gebäude- und Solartechnik (IGS)
Mühlenpfordtstr. 23
38106 Braunschweig
Tel.: +49531 / 391-3555
Fax: +49531 / 391-8125
Mobil: +49171 / 5108001
URL: www.igs.bau.tu-bs.de