Canceled: Construction site aperitif in Langnau im Emmental

More than ten years ago, Elsi Reimann and Thomas Kaufmann got into conversation and laid the foundation for today's housing cooperative in Langnau im Emmental. This was followed by visits to various cooperative projects, ups and downs in the search for a suitable piece of land and the suitable piece of land and the planning. Today, the building project is almost project is almost complete and the members of the cooperative will soon be able to move into their apartments. Three questions from the mission statement accompany the cooperative on its way: "Does it serve people?", "Does it serve the environment?" and "Does it serve peace?" Timbatec can identify well with these questions. identify with these questions. We, too, always ask ourselves in our work whether our projects are environmentally compatible and ideally suited to the people who use them.

The Building
Those who consider the environment at the project definition stage environment at the project definition stage, usually opt for a sustainable timber construction. So was also the case with the Generationenhaus. In the center of the three-story building is an atrium as a meeting and access zone. Here the idea of caring and the non-profit community clearly emerge. come to the fore. In order to make this core zone possible, the surrounding balconies serve as a access and meeting zone. The arcades serve as escape routes in case of fire. escape route.

An electrobiological network minimizes electrical radiation in the apartments. apartments. This network is installed in the building shell and between the residential units. between the residential units. The building envelope is also exemplary in terms of energy. Minergie-P standard, uses solar energy via solar collectors and a photovoltaic photovoltaic system for partial self-sufficiency in electricity and heat. In addition, the architecture makes particularly good use of passive solar energy. solar energy.

The choice of materials
The high ecological standards of the of the building owner could be satisfied with sawn and planed beams. glued duo and trio beams were avoided wherever possible. Only with the large glulam beams and the wood materials used, glue cannot be dispensed with. glue cannot be dispensed with. As a result, almost half of the wood used is of the wood used is not glued. For all products, we ensured that processing was as products, we ensured that they were as easy to process as possible, thus enabling them to be deconstructed. The ceilings, for example, are made of a simple layer of solid wood beams, supplemented supplemented with three-layer and OSB boards. The solid wood is merely dried and left in its natural state. This means that it can be used without foreign substances such as glue and paint.

The Beetle wood
Storms and prolonged periods of drought are a problem for our spruces, because spruce forests damaged by drought and windthrow are a spruce forests are a paradise for bark beetles. The small beetle lives under under the bark of the spruce and, in large numbers, can even kill healthy trees. trees to die. In order to counteract an explosive spread of the bark beetles, beetle-damaged wood, also known as beetle wood, is removed from the forest. is removed from the forest. This wood has the same properties as conventional lumber and can be used as a material in timber construction without unrestrictedly usable as a material in timber construction. This is because the bark beetle lays its tunnels between the bark and the sapwood. bark and sapwood in the bast, not in the load-bearing wood itself. itself.

Nevertheless, beetle wood is often avoided, as individual burrows are visible due to visible due to discoloration. Not so on the Moosegg road. Half of the half of the solid wood cross-sections are made of regional beetle wood. That is sustainable, in solidarity with the regional forestry and in the sense of climate protection. It therefore serves people and the environment.