Abstract:
This paper analyzes a number of design proposals submitted within the framework of a large architectural
competition in view of their eco-efficiency. As all new or refurbished buildings in Central Europe need to
meet certain minimum energy performance requirements, many architectural competition announcements
encourage participating planners to propose low-energy, passive or even plus-energy buildings, and also to
take into account the ecological performance of building parts. Especially for public buildings, which are
often seen as role models, competition announcements feature many environmental criteria addressing
building envelope, HVAC-systems, and eco-impact of materials. It is difficult to compare project
submissions (for example in terms of energy performance), as the quality and amount of information for each
project varies widely. In most competitions, a professional jury chooses the “best” projects and it is
debatable if ecological and energy performances are considered in the process. In this context, this paper
presents results of a case study conducted in Austria. The entries of a competition for refurbishment and
extension of a school building are analyzed using submitted project narratives as well as simple heating
demand calculations. The outcome is subsequently compared with the Jury's final ranking of the
submissions. The results can shed some light on the following questions: Do the competition entries provide
sufficient information to evaluate their thermal and ecological behavior in general? Did the ecological and
thermal performance influence the outcome of the competition and final Jury's ranking of the submitted
proposals?
