A German startup is offering a new way for old buildings to potentially reach net-zero status: adding a prefabricated second skin.
Ecoworks begins the process with a 3D scan of an old building, both inside and out, creating a digital twin. The model is then sent to suppliers and a factory, where most of the second skin is prefabricated, including windows, ventilation, and channels for pipes.
The resulting new envelope includes a modular roof with built-in solar panels. Construction workers can install a facade panel at the site in 20 minutes. A full building conversion, including replacing fossil-fuel-powered heat, can be done in a few weeks.
Ecoworks uses AI to identify buildings best suited to its approach. Simple, block-like apartment complexes are top choices, but the company plans to expand to schools and single-family homes. It also has plans to offer its services in other countries.
Related Stories
| Sep 16, 2010
Green recreation/wellness center targets physical, environmental health
The 151,000-sf recreation and wellness center at California State University’s Sacramento campus, called the WELL (for “wellness, education, leisure, lifestyle”), has a fitness center, café, indoor track, gymnasium, racquetball courts, educational and counseling space, the largest rock climbing wall in the CSU system.
| Sep 13, 2010
Second Time Around
A Building Team preserves the historic facade of a Broadway theater en route to creating the first green playhouse on the Great White Way.
| Sep 13, 2010
World's busiest land port also to be its greenest
A larger, more efficient, and supergreen border crossing facility is planned for the San Ysidro (Calif.) Port of Entry to better handle the more than 100,000 people who cross the U.S.-Mexico border there each day.
| Sep 13, 2010
Triple-LEED for Engineering Firm's HQ
With more than 250 LEED projects in the works, Enermodal Engineering is Canada's most prolific green building consulting firm. In 2007, with the firm outgrowing its home office in Kitchener, Ont., the decision was made go all out with a new green building. The goal: triple Platinum for New Construction, Commercial Interiors, and Existing Buildings: O&M.
| Sep 13, 2010
Committed to the Core
How a forward-looking city government, a growth-minded university, a developer with vision, and a determined Building Team are breathing life into downtown Phoenix.
| Aug 11, 2010
ASHRAE Receives NIST Grant to Study IAQ in Retail Stores
The American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has been awarded $1.5 million dollars in grant money from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to conduct a three-year research project on ventilation and indoor air quality in retail stores.
| Aug 11, 2010
SPRI expands membership to include green roof and photovoltaic component suppliers
SPRI, the association representing sheet membrane and component suppliers to the commercial roofing industry, recently approved a bylaw revision expanding its membership to include companies that represent emerging technologies, such as photovoltaic and vegetative roof components.
| Aug 11, 2010
LEED 2009 cites FloorScore Certification as indicator of indoor air quality
The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has cited FloorScore® certified flooring products as eligible for credits under the new LEED 2009 Version 3 guidelines. Reflecting the inclusion of FloorScore, the new LEED IEQ Credit 4.3 for Low-Emitting Materials has been expanded from “Carpet Systems” to “Flooring Systems” to include hard surface flooring.
| Aug 11, 2010
CHPS debuts high-performance building products database
The Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) made a new tool available to product manufacturers to help customers identify building products that contribute to sustainable, healthy, built environments. The tool is an online, searchable database where manufacturers can list products that have met certain environmental or health standards ranging from recycled content to materials that contribute to improved indoor air quality.
| Aug 11, 2010
29 Great Solutions for the AEC Industry
AEC firms are hotbeds of invention and innovation to meet client needs in today's highly competitive environment. The editors of Building Design+Construction are pleased to present 29 "Great Solutions" to some of the most complex problems and issues facing Building Teams today. Our solutions cover eight key areas: Design, BIM + IT, Collaboration, Healthcare, Products, Technology, Business Management, and Green Building.
