The eroded concrete in Neviges

[EN] The pilgrimage church in Neviges is a building where the experimentation with concrete becomes the main theme of the project. It is a unique work, sometimes secretive and enigmatic, whose primitive nature is necessarily due to the properties of the chosen material and its rough and elementary treatment. Its eroded surfaces refer us to an uncertain origin, full of strength and vitality. The starting point of this article is the premise that these primitive treatments appear intentionally by the clear will of the architect to investigate this old and new material.[ES] La iglesia de peregrinación en Neviges es un edificio en el que la experimentación con el hormigón se convierte en el tema central del proyecto. Es una obra singular, en ocasiones hermética y enigmática, cuyo carácter primitivo es debido necesariamente a las propiedades del material escogido y a su tratamiento tosco y elemental. Sus superficies erosionadas nos remiten a un origen incierto, lleno de fuerza y vitalidad. El artículo parte de la premisa de que estos rasgos primitivos aparecen de manera intencionada por la clara voluntad de su arquitecto de investigar este material antiguo y nuevo.Carrasco Rouco, D. (2014). El hormigón erosionado De Neviges. EN BLANCO. Revista de Arquitectura. 6(16):100-103. doi:10.4995/eb.2014.5815SWORD100103616Forty, ADRIAN "Concrete and Culture. A Material History" Reaktion Books, London, 2012.Pehnt, WOLFGANG "Gottfried Böhm" Birkhäuser Verlag, Basel-Berlin-Boston, 1999.Vega De LEÓN, Macarena De LA "Gottfried Böhm y la iglesia de peregrinación en Neviges (1963/1972)" 2012. (aparece en PRADA, MANUEL DE "Arte, arquitectura y mímesis" Nobuko, Buenos Aires, 2012).VOIGT, WOLFGANG ET AL. "Gottfried Böhm" Deutsches Architekturmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, 2006

MODELLWECHSEL

Wolfgang Pehnt lehrte Baugeschichte an der Ruhr-Universität Bochum. Er hat zahllose Arbeiten zur Architekturgeschichte der Moderne veröffentlicht und Monographien über Baumeister wie Gottfried Böhm, Hans Poelzig, Rudolf Schwarz und Karljosef Schattner geschrieben; er war Autor bei der Propyläen-Kunstgeschichte und Mitarbeiter von Fachzeitschriften, Katalogbüchern, Tageszeitungen und Rundfunkanstalten. Seine Bücher „Die Architektur des Expressionismus“ und „Deutsche Architektur seit 1900“ gelten als Standardwerke. Er wurde vielfach ausgezeichnet, zuletzt mit dem Deutschen Preis für Denkmalschutz (Karl Friedrich Schinkel-Ring)

Vom Umgang mit Kathedralen. Eine Kölner Diskussion über die Berliner Bischofskirche St. Hedwig

Dass man in Köln über die Berliner Hedwigskathedrale diskutierte, hängt mit einer Ausstellung des Wallraff- Richartz-Museums zusammen, die noch bis zum 18. Januar 2015 läuft. Sie reicht von Mittelalterträumen der Romantik bis zu Andy Warhols Pop-Versionen. So lag es nahe, in einem der ergänzenden Museumsvorträge zu fragen, wie es denn unser 21. Jahrhundert mit seinen gebauten Kathedralen hält

20% by 2020? Economy-wide impacts of energy efficiency improvement in Germany

The paper presents results of the implementation of an efficiency strategy in Germany until 2020 which is focused on cost-effective measures. The efficiency measures are calculated in bottom-up models and translated into a top-down macro-economic model. The comparison to a business as usual simulation shows some economy-wide rebound effects of about 17% of the overall energy savings. The analysis is limited to 2020. Given that an efficiency strategy is a long-term strategy, this puts the results on the rather conservative side. The results clearly show that improved energy efficiency results in a variety of positive effects on the economy and the environment. These range from reduced greenhouse gas emissions to improved competitiveness of firms and budget savings for consumers to economy wide impacts like additional employment and economic growth. Even the consideration of rebound effects did not change this picture significantly. Thus, exploiting the huge potential stemming from cost-effective efficiency measures should have high priority for the design of energy and climate policies.energy efficiency, bottom up scenario analysis, climate policy

20% by 2020? Economy-wide impacts of energy efficiency improvement in Germany

The paper presents results of the implementation of an efficiency strategy in Germany until 2020 which is focused on cost-effective measures. The efficiency measures are calculated in bottom-up models and translated into a top-down macro-economic model. The comparison to a business as usual simulation shows some economy-wide rebound effects of about 17% of the overall energy savings. The analysis is limited to 2020. Given that an efficiency strategy is a long-term strategy, this puts the results on the rather conservative side. The results clearly show that improved energy efficiency results in a variety of positive effects on the economy and the environment. These range from reduced greenhouse gas emissions to improved competitiveness of firms and budget savings for consumers to economy wide impacts like additional employment and economic growth. Even the consideration of rebound effects did not change this picture significantly. Thus, exploiting the huge potential stemming from cost-effective efficiency measures should have high priority for the design of energy and climate policies

Energiesparen in Bürgerhand

ENERGIESPAREN IN BÜRGERHAND Energiesparen in Bürgerhand / Blömer, Sebastian (Rights reserved) ( -

Farm systems assessment of bioenergy feedstock production: Integrating bio-economic models and life cycle analysis approaches

Climate change and energy security concerns have driven the development of policies that encourage bioenergy production. Meeting EU targets for the consumption of transport fuels from bioenergy by 2020 will require a large increase in the production of bioenergy feedstock. Initially an increase in ‘first generation’ biofuels was observed, however ‘food competition’ concerns have generated interest in second generation biofuels (SGBs). These SGBs can be produced from co-products (e.g. cereal straw) or energy crops (e.g. miscanthus), with the former largely negating food competition concerns. In order to assess the sustainability of feedstock supply for SGBs, the financial, environmental and energy costs and benefits of the farm system must be quantified. Previous research has captured financial costs and benefits through linear programming (LP) approaches, whilst environmental and energy metrics have been largely been undertaken within life cycle analysis (LCA) frameworks. Assessing aspects of the financial, environmental and energy sustainability of supplying co-product second generation biofuel (CPSGB) feedstocks at the farm level requires a framework that permits the trade-offs between these objectives to be quantified and understood. The development of a modelling framework for Managing Energy and Emissions Trade-Offs in Agriculture (MEETA Model) that combines bio-economic process modelling and LCA is presented together with input data parameters obtained from literature and industry sources. The MEETA model quantifies arable farm inputs and outputs in terms of financial, energy and emissions results. The model explicitly captures fertiliser: crop-yield relationships, plus the incorporation of straw or removal for sale, with associated nutrient impacts of incorporation/removal on the following crop in the rotation. Key results of crop-mix, machinery use, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions per kg of crop product and energy use per hectare are in line with previous research and industry survey findings. Results show that the gross margin – energy trade-off is £36 GJ−1, representing the gross margin forgone by maximising net farm energy cf. maximising farm gross margin. The gross margin–GHG emission trade-off is £0.15 kg−1 CO2 eq, representing the gross margin forgone per kg of CO2 eq reduced when GHG emissions are minimised cf. maximising farm gross margin. The energy–GHG emission trade-off is 0.03 GJ kg−1 CO2 eq quantifying the reduction in net energy from the farm system per kg of CO2 eq reduced when minimising GHG emissions cf. maximising net farm energy. When both farm gross margin and net farm energy are maximised all the cereal straw is baled for sale. Sensitivity analysis of the model in relation to different prices of cereal straw shows that it becomes financially optimal to incorporate wheat straw at price of £11 t−1 for this co-product. Local market conditions for straw and farmer attitudes towards incorporation or sale of straw will impact on the straw price at which farmers will supply this potential bioenergy feedstock and represent important areas for future research

Wind power in China - Dream or reality?

After tremendous growth of wind power generation capacity in recent years, China now has 44.7 GW of wind-derived power. Despite the recent growth rates and promises of a bright future, two important issues - the capability of the grid infrastructure and the availability of backup systems - must be critically discussed and tackled in the medium term. The study shows that only a relatively small share of investment goes towards improving and extending the electricity infrastructure which is a precondition for transmitting clean wind energy to the end users. In addition, the backup systems are either geographically too remote from the potential wind power sites or currently financially infeasible. Finally, the introduction of wind power to the coal-dominated energy production system is not problem-free. Frequent ramp ups and downs of coal-fired plants lead to lower energy efficiency and higher emissions, which are likely to negate some of the emission savings from wind power. The current power system is heavily reliant on independently acting but state-owned energy companies optimizing their part of the system, and this is partly incompatible with building a robust system supporting renewable energy technologies. Hence, strategic, top-down co-ordination and incentives to improve the overall electricity infrastructure is recommended