Pavilion of Innovations

Pavilion of Innovations in the course of the EXPO 2010 at the German Centre, Shanghai - China  

 

The EXPO 2010 in Shanghai was a especially show case not only for the different ways of life in the world, as well a different innovative building constructions and technical systems ware shown to the visitors.

of is finally opening up. The exposition, which for the first time was held in London’s Hyde Park in the year 1851, is a global event, a meeting of nations and cultures like no other. Of course, Germany will also be represented at the EXPO 2010 with its own pavilion. But there is another German project right next door to the EXPO, which is also worth visiting in any case. In the city part called Pudong, there is the Pavilion of Innovations. This area is packed with everything modern research has to offer in techniques, construction, quality of living and environmental awareness.

Like no other comparable project, the Pavilion of Innovations stands for the close collaboration between Germany and China when developing and examinating new construction materials and energy-efficient parts. Prof. Dr. Hans-Peter Leimer, who teaches construction physics at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Hildesheim and at the Hefei University in Anhui, China, is head of the projectteam which consists of many well-known companies and construction consulting offices.

Other participants of the project are Dipl.-Ing. Peter Bachschuster, an Architect and Urban planner, Prof. Dr. Eberhard Grossert, a Civil Engineer, and Dipl.-Ing. Ronald Kruse, a HVAC Engineer. Everybody has contributed to the draft, the planning and the formation of the Pavilion in their own areas of expertise. Together, they have built the China-German-Group. Main objective of the China-German-Group is an integral planning by the magisterial planners in an early state of construction projects. The results are using the resources in a cost-effective way and also creating energy-efficient buildings.

As the construction works move on quickly, the Pavilion of Innovations is scheduled to open on May 1st the day of the grand opening of the EXPO 2010 in Shanghai.

The Pavilion is being built on the ground of the German Centre, the first-to-go spot for business contacts between China and Germany, right in the middle of Shanghai. Within its spacious area, the German Centre wants to present a modern concept of a technologic city with the slogan „experience the quality of life“. Along with lots of Chinese and international visitors, a lot of well-known politicians and other high standing persons are also expected to visit the area, always keeping in mind that topics such as quality of living, longevity, health, energy awareness and future awareness have never been as important as they are nowadays.

That is where the Pavilion of Innovations ties in, focusing on clean, regenerative energy suppliers such as air, sun and earth. The Pavilion is heated by a newly developed system consisting of earth tubes, which pull the warmth out of the ground and transmit it to a water-filled pipe system inside the walls. By using modern technology, the wastewater from inside the building is being purified and efficiently used.

Inside the Pavilion of Innovations, high-tech window panes will immediately create a „feel good“-atmosphere. Three different companies will present their most recent developments in this research field. A self-heating glass with an almost invisible included metallic layer and interior sun-blinds, another glass panel with built-in LED lights and last but not least, a window that can be clouded without losing any lucency will be expecting the visitors. Of course, there cannot be a Pavilion of Innovations without solar technology, which has become a more and more popular source of energy in Germany over the past couple of years. In the Pavilion, the sun energy will also be used in order to warm up the water.

The concept of the „smart house“ as seen on TV and in magazines many times, will also be presented in Shanghai. The user is supposed to interact with the building, navigating the most important functions all from one spot. Within this so called „room management system“, developed by a Chinese partner company, the central navigation is provided by a device which works like a mixture of a cell phone and a touch pad.

Energy technology, otherwise difficult to integrate creatively, has been architecturally realised in an extravagant way in the Innovations Pavilion.

The aim was to design a building which appears lightweight, but still fulfils the concept of a Pavilion and also encourages the visitors to experience innovative energy technologies live.

 

1.         Structural Design

1.1       Introduction

The building is a temporary innovation pavilion and it is intended to present newly developed, energy-saving industrial products there. The building complex is built on top of an existing underground car park and consists of the following elements:

  • Building Element 1 - Steel Roof Construction
  • Building Element 2 - Technical Building
  • Building Element 3 - Glasshouse
  • Building Element 4 - Information Building
  • Building Element 5 - Grillage / Foundations

The main construction elements are two different concrete cubes, a connection made of glass, a tilted steel roof on a 21 m long and 19 m wide above-ground grillage.

One cube, the information building, is a two floor building. The other cube, the technical building, is a one floor building. A construction made of glass connects the cubes.

1.2       Building Stiffening

The different buildings are mostly stiffened independently and sufficiently from each other. The vertical load is going to be transferred directly into the grillage. The horizontal load of wind or an earthquake is going to be transferred by frames, walls and fixed columns into the grillage consisting of an above-ground arranged foundation.

The information building is going to be stiffened by its walls and the slabs / ceilings.

The steel roof will lead off the horizontal loads through bracings into the walls of the technical building.

The technical building is going to transfer the horizontal and vertical loads by frames in one direction and through the walls in the other direction.

The construction of the glasshouse is going to transfer the loads by frames.

The basement of the building is going to be built on the columns of the existing underground car park. The columns are dimensioned for a four-storeyed building which is planned to extend the German Centre building in future.

 The characteristics of the Chinese building materials were implied into the static-software for the static prooves.

 

1.3       Building Element 1 - Steel Roof Construction

The steel roof overstretches corrugatedly a part of the buildings and has an inclination of 7 degrees. The beams of grid are arragened in a kind of “pick-up sticks” shape. The grid is supported by short steel columns which are connected with the concrete walls of the technical and information buildings and additional three single steel columns.

To prefabricate the steel roof construction for production it was divided into 4 parts for transportation on the street. So these 4 single parts could be manufactured in a horizontal position in the steel plant. On site the individual parts will be lifted into their final position in a roof inclination of 7 degrees.

1.4       Building Element 2- Technical Building

This building is 12 m long, 5 m wide and 3,25 m high. The single walls are connected with slabs on different levels.

1.5       Building Element 3 - Glasshouse

The dimensions of the glasshouse are a x b x h are 5,0 m x 4,0 m x 3,0 m. It is a part of the auditorium and intended to connect - independent of the weather - the technical building and the information building.

1.6       Building Element 4 - Information Building

The building is on the ground level 8,6 m long and 5,3 m wide. Two walls go tilted stretching to the top so the dimensions change over the 7,35 m height to a lengths of 9,8 m and a width of 5,5 m.

1.7       Building Element 5 - Grillage / Foundations

The construction is built of the 21 m long 19 m wide grillage. The grillage is point supported on 12 ground columns of the underground car park. In addition the columns are dimensioned for the loads of the underground car park and for a four floor building which was planned to extend the German Centre building in future.

The above-ground built basement place consists of a 25 cm concrete slab. The main beams are 100 cm high and 50 cm wide.

From the position of the grillage built on top of an underground car park above the ground results the altitude of the different building elements of the pavilion of innovation.

 

2.       Technical equipment of the building

2.1     General information

Part of the equipment of the Pavilion of innovations is a novel technical device for energy supply. It mainly uses regenerative energy sources and is being visualized for the visitors of the German Centre within the Pavilion.

Within the one-storey technical building, the entire building services installations for air conditioning is located and presented. Using the DDC (Direct Digital Control) device, the installations are regulated, controlled and monitored in a usage-optimized and user-friendly way.

Free-of-charge energy sources such as sunlight, air warmth and earth warmth are being used in this project.

Another part of the technical equipment of the building is the guarantee of a effective and optimized watering and dewatering systems. Therefore, the possibility of rainwater use and wastewater use is being taken at the Pavilion. Nowadays, the interior and exterior surface of office buildings is mainly made out of glass components. Therefore, the project will introduce “active windows” using built-in LED lights, modern clouding devices and heating glass.

The presentation is being topped off by an intelligent high-comfort building management system, which should be especially interesting for hotel guests.

2.2     Geothermic energy for cooling and heating

Cooling and heating of buildings using geothermic energy is a pretty recent technology that is being introduced at the Pavilion. The technology uses a heat pump in order to either warm up the walls of cool down the rooms.

Sensors-featured earth-sensors which don‘t need any additional welding once put into the ground will be used. The heat carriers circulate within these earth-sensors.

2.3     Brine-water heat pump

The full air conditioning of the building requires an air conditioning system  which can be adjusted to the actual user‘s needs. The air conditioning of supply air is being provided by warmth pump which uses the energy of the outside air. Special earth heat exchangers draw in the air.

After being cooled down, the air is ejected back outside. The inside distribution of the air through the building is provided by a ventilation system.

Shanghai with it‘s subtropical maritime monsoon-climate is especially suitable as place of construction for the air brine-water heat pumps, providing annual labour numbers of at least 3.

2.4     Heating and cooling

The energy won by the innovative devices is being used for both heating and cooling of the buildings components.

Surface systems of the floors, ceilings and walls will be used. Among with systems which are already common on the German market, such as floor tempering and ceiling tempering, new developments such as wall tempering will be used. They still need to be tested from construction physics point of view under the climate circumstances of Shanghai. 

2.5     Glass systems for clouding, illumination and heating

In order to use the surface systems as effectively as possible, glass systems will also be included into the Pavilion.

These systems either provide a built-in sun blind or nano-particles colour the glass and reduces the transmission of sunlight within the composite glass plate. The user can choose between five steps of light filtering.

Along with it‘s longevity, this integrated sun protection is expected not to cause any major operating or cleaning expenses.

This kind of clouding device is especially suitable for buildings which are exposed to strong wind or have to fulfil high hygienic standards, not offering an installation of both interior and exterior clouding device.

Glass walls often affect the room comfort in a negative way due to their cold radiance. Within the scope of the expanation, a self-heating glass without wires will be presented. The flow of heat within this glass is provided by a thin metal layer placed between two glass layers. This glass can also be combined  with a clouding system.

Another result of the „High-Tech-Generation“ is a glass with included LED lights. The user can choose the illumination or the play of colour using a special program.

2.6     Water management

Rain water and waste water technologies are gaining more and more ecological impact, especially in countries with high population rates.

This interaction of gaining, using and re-using is presented by using different technological devices. The water management systems such as rain water use and water processing are shown both inside and outside the Pavilion by using different technical systems.

2.7     Intelligent building control

The entire technical devices of the Pavilion are monitored and adjusted by a user-friendly superior system.

In order to analyze the current state of the building systems, the data will be transferred online to research institutes in Germany.

In doing so the adjustment systems of the particular devices will be optimized and matched to the climate requirements.

By using a “room management system”, the user is given the possibility to navigate the most important functions and adjust settings all from one spot.

 

Fore mor and detailed informations see LINK