11/09: First government agency building complying with the Passive House standard

The state of Hesse has started the Europe-wide tender process for the new construction of the first government agency building in Germany complying with the Passive House standard.

On a 9.993 m² property located in the commercial zone Tiergartenstraße in Heppenheim, the construction of an office complex with about 6.000 m² floor area for the main use and 265 parking spaces is planned in a Public-Private-Partnership (PPP), the state announced. In the future, it will accommodate a total of 301 government employees of the Heppenheim department for land management and the Bensheim department for roads and transportation. The savings in heating compared to conventional construction are supposed to be around 60 %, the emissions of carbon dioxide can supposedly be reduced by up to 80 %.

The applications for the participation have to be submitted in December. The invitations to bid are scheduled to be issued to selected bidders in March 2010.