280
P. Heck
14.2 Europe’s First Zero Emission Campus: The
Environmental Campus Birkenfeld (ECB)
This section gives an overview of the pertinent features and characteristics of
the Environmental Campus in Birkenfeld (ECB) as a case study. Located in the
Hunsrück Hochwald mountain region of the Rhineland-Palatinate, ECB itself represents a small-scale, decentralised system of material and energy management.
ECB’s energy and material management system also qualifies it as one of the
largest of Germany’s bio-energy villages (BEV), where at present nearly 2,600
people—including students, academics, researchers, administrative staff, private
sector employees, etc.—enjoy CO 2 -neutral electricity, heating and cooling. ECB
can boast about its status as the first zero emission campus in Europe. Furthermore,
it has been officially recognised as the Greenest University Campus in Germany
since 2016. ECB is a unique higher education facility, where zero emissions system
design is not only taught in theory, but is also implemented in practice by converting
a former US reserve military hospital into an actual zero emission university campus.
Hence, the zero-emission campus facility, with its innovative technology infrastructure, is not only home to students and environment-related study programmes, but is
also an object of study itself. Especially in the context of land use, the repurposing of
abandoned military brownfields into a centre of higher education and sustainability
creates a perfect example of the CE.
The conversion process took place from 1994 to 1996 (Fig. 14.8b), following
ecological construction principles and applying cutting-edge environmental technologies in the areas of sustainable repurposing of existing buildings as well as
energy-efficient and material-efficient new construction. Energy aspects of the buildings such as heating, cooling and electricity supply have been entirely based on
renewable energies. Moreover, the campus features biotopes and rainwater recycling
infrastructure that contribute to the sustainable water management system of ECB.
In the vicinity of the campus, an eco-industrial park was also constructed to optimise regional material and energy flows connecting the campus via district heating
and a low-voltage transmission grid. In 1997, a wood-chip power station was commissioned with an installed thermal capacity of 28 MW utilising about 65,000 tons
of low-level and highly contaminated waste wood from forestry, agriculture, landscaping and industry annually; the power station can produce up to 8 MW of heat,
37.5 t/hour of steam and up to 8.3 MW of electricity for the environmental campus,
neighbouring industrial facilities and the national electricity grid. In addition, the
cogeneration units at the wood-chip power station utilise the biogas output of the
nearby anaerobic digestion plant, which annually treats about 40,000 tons of municipal organic solid waste collected from the administrative districts of Birkenfeld and
Bad Kreuznach. As a result, these local energy sources utilising regional biomass
residues end up supplying a significant share of the campus’ total energy demand. The
remaining energy demand is covered by renewable energy installations on the campus
itself. Various photovoltaic (PV) systems installed on rooftops and on the building
P. Heck
14.2 Europe’s First Zero Emission Campus: The
Environmental Campus Birkenfeld (ECB)
This section gives an overview of the pertinent features and characteristics of
the Environmental Campus in Birkenfeld (ECB) as a case study. Located in the
Hunsrück Hochwald mountain region of the Rhineland-Palatinate, ECB itself represents a small-scale, decentralised system of material and energy management.
ECB’s energy and material management system also qualifies it as one of the
largest of Germany’s bio-energy villages (BEV), where at present nearly 2,600
people—including students, academics, researchers, administrative staff, private
sector employees, etc.—enjoy CO 2 -neutral electricity, heating and cooling. ECB
can boast about its status as the first zero emission campus in Europe. Furthermore,
it has been officially recognised as the Greenest University Campus in Germany
since 2016. ECB is a unique higher education facility, where zero emissions system
design is not only taught in theory, but is also implemented in practice by converting
a former US reserve military hospital into an actual zero emission university campus.
Hence, the zero-emission campus facility, with its innovative technology infrastructure, is not only home to students and environment-related study programmes, but is
also an object of study itself. Especially in the context of land use, the repurposing of
abandoned military brownfields into a centre of higher education and sustainability
creates a perfect example of the CE.
The conversion process took place from 1994 to 1996 (Fig. 14.8b), following
ecological construction principles and applying cutting-edge environmental technologies in the areas of sustainable repurposing of existing buildings as well as
energy-efficient and material-efficient new construction. Energy aspects of the buildings such as heating, cooling and electricity supply have been entirely based on
renewable energies. Moreover, the campus features biotopes and rainwater recycling
infrastructure that contribute to the sustainable water management system of ECB.
In the vicinity of the campus, an eco-industrial park was also constructed to optimise regional material and energy flows connecting the campus via district heating
and a low-voltage transmission grid. In 1997, a wood-chip power station was commissioned with an installed thermal capacity of 28 MW utilising about 65,000 tons
of low-level and highly contaminated waste wood from forestry, agriculture, landscaping and industry annually; the power station can produce up to 8 MW of heat,
37.5 t/hour of steam and up to 8.3 MW of electricity for the environmental campus,
neighbouring industrial facilities and the national electricity grid. In addition, the
cogeneration units at the wood-chip power station utilise the biogas output of the
nearby anaerobic digestion plant, which annually treats about 40,000 tons of municipal organic solid waste collected from the administrative districts of Birkenfeld and
Bad Kreuznach. As a result, these local energy sources utilising regional biomass
residues end up supplying a significant share of the campus’ total energy demand. The
remaining energy demand is covered by renewable energy installations on the campus
itself. Various photovoltaic (PV) systems installed on rooftops and on the building