Striving for simplicity – Realization of a zero energy standard for three student residences on the TUM Campus Garching

The subject of this research project is the planned new construction of three 4-story student residences on the Garching Campus of the Technical University of Munich (TUM). Against the background of the increasing demand for student housing, the TUM Campus Garching - where both research and teaching are practiced - is to be further developed into a campus with housing. Prior to the start of planning, the Studentenwerk formulated high expectations in terms of architectural quality, materiality, quality of stay, energy and ecology (LCA), and costs (LCC). Therefore, the Munich Student Union, as the building owner, agreed to have the building project scientifically accompanied by a research project. The results of the research project "Striving for simplicity" of the TUM are to be implemented and linked with the claim of a zero energy standard.

To establish the basic principles, the previous research project "Striving for simplicity 1" of the cooperation partners at TUM theoretically analyzed the principles of "Striving for simplicity" with wood, lightweight concrete and highly insulating masonry. The project investigates the extent to which buildings can be constructed with simple and robust design as well as building technology and how these perform in terms of environmental impact and life cycle costs - also taking user behavior into account - in comparison with conventional residential buildings and residential buildings in low-energy design over an observation period of 100 years. Results from "Striving for simplicity 1" included, for example, single-layer wall constructions, a simplified ventilation concept for structural moisture protection, and robust building technology.
In the follow-up project "Striving for simplicity 2" the findings are currently being implemented as prototypes in three residential buildings in Bad Aibling. The findings from the "Striving for simplicity 1 and 2" research projects are to be adapted and further developed for the three student apartment buildings in Garching in a planning process between the architecture and engineering offices.

Based on the three student residences, the research project aims to combine "Striving for simplicity" with the demand for a zero-energy standard - including constructional and design challenges: The measures for an excellent energy balance are to be an integral part of the architecture in interaction with a reduced and robust building technology, so that a zero energy standard can be achieved in an economical and resource-saving way.

The innovation of the project compared to the state of the art - with a legally regulated share of renewable energy in the new construction of buildings (EEWärmeG, EEG) - is to develop buildings optimized with regard to the life cycle and to achieve a high robustness. This should minimize the influence of the user on the building performance (performance gap) and the consequential costs for the environment (e.g. in deconstruction).