Open Day - a huge success

The visitors could see it for themselves: Comfortable temperatures prevail in the apartments - even without heating. The fact that modern houses can manage without any heating at all is proven in Thun. There are many sources of heat in buildings, such as kitchen appliances and computers. People also radiate heat constantly. If the sun's rays are also used in an ideal way and the house is well insulated, there is no need for heating today if the design is good.

Advantage Surface temperature
Well-insulated walls are important. Because: The smaller the difference between the surface temperature of the walls, floors and ceilings and the air temperature air temperature is, the more comfortable it is in a room. That is why we feel feel comfortable in wooden buildings with good thermal insulation - even at somewhat lower room temperature. In this way, buildings can be operated in a more energy-efficient manner. In addition, wood has wood has a perceived higher surface temperature than concrete, steel, or glass, which additionally which additionally increases the sense of well-being.

Efficient Enabling night-time cooling
Global warming means that there will be more and warmer days with temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius. Summer heat thermal insulation is therefore becoming increasingly important. So that we also feel comfortable on hot summer days, buildings must be able to cool down at night. Important windows with adequate weather and burglar protection and insect screens. insect screens. External shading and appropriate window window size are equally important.

Mass equals stupidity
For a long time, it was thought that summer thermal insulation could only be achieved by installing a lot of mass. can only be achieved by installing a lot of mass. This is wrong. Old castles with their meter-thick walls may remain cool in summer. But this is due in particular to the small windows. Modern architecture often has large window areas. Once heated up, too much thermal mass can become a heat can become a heat trap, especially in inner-city locations where buildings cannot cool down buildings cannot cool down sufficiently at night. Important factors for good protection in summer are adequate window areas, good sun protection and efficient sun protection and efficient night cooling.

Houses without heating and without air conditioning make an important contribution to climate protection. An even greater potential for energy saving lies in the choice of building materials. Wood is already widely used in building construction. The next step is to dispense with climate-damaging building materials such as steel and concrete - including in basements and floor slabs. In order for basements to be mass-produced from wood in the future, a number of research questions need to be clarified. A research project of the Bern University of Applied Sciences together with Timbatec, TS3 and other business partners is currently addressing these questions. A start-up is to be founded from the group of research partners, which will be operationally active from 2023.

The emergence