Magazine: Renovation of a multi-family house in Kapfenberg
Located in Kapfenberg, southern Austria, this multi-family house dating from 1961 has been retrofitted into a nearly zero-energy building. A large steel canopy stretches over the building and, at the building’s southern end, extends to the ground. Integrated into it are 630 m² photovoltaic modules and 144 m² solar thermal modules that are expected to yield enough energy to cover the bulk of the energy consumption of the building, including household electricity needs. A minor portion of the heating demand is covered by district heating. Inside the building, the 48 original apartments have been restructured into 32 larger ones that are wheelchair accessible. The former internal stairwells were converted to additional living space and instead, new exterior walkways with stairs along the eastern facade now provide access to all apartments. Four-storey high prefabricated timber frame elements (U = 0.12 W/m²K) were mounted onto the facade. These were assembled at the factory with all external doors and windows. At the entrance on the eastern side, supply ducts as high as the building itself were integrated in-between the facade elements, which due to their bright yellow colour, are visible from afar.
