DEG-Bank, Cologne

DEG has set new environmental standards with the new construction of its administration building in downtown Cologne: As the first building of the city, it received the gold certificate of the DGNB. IPJ engineering office developed a tailor-made energy concept with component cooling, ground water utilization and natural ventilation via an inner courtyard with “convertible roof”.

The energy-efficient and environmentally friendly building undershoots the statutory requirements by well of a third and saves 700 tonnes CO2 per annum in comparison to customary office buildings. Among the rest, this is achieved through consistent low energy consumption, environmentally friendly generation of cooling energy from the ground water and a grid-coupled photovoltaic system for the CO2-free generation of solar power. A climate engineering as well as an architectural highlight is the big glazed convertible roof of the inner courtyard that automatically opens at rising temperatures. The successful new building points out in an exemplary manner just how attractively energy-efficient and sustainable buildings can be designed.