Solar City

Angelo Antolino

Set Ref:211

Date:27/04/2010

Over the last decades, the south German city Freiburg has earned the reputation as "Germany's greenest city." Architect Rolf Disch has designed the residential area 'Am Schlierberg' which goes beyond mere energy saving: its houses produce more energy than they consume. This now provides a model studied worldwide.
On the outskirts of the city, former French military quarters of 'Vauban' was a residential area which, from the beginning of the 1990s was the model neighbourhood. But now,'Am Schlierberg' provides homes with solar panels constituting roofs and south facing glass sides to ensure natural lighting and heating throughout the day. These houses make up these costs by being completely independent of old non-renewable sources.
Freiburg's city centre is full of bicycles and trams form a network linking each area of the city. It follows a series of policies aimed to ensure inhabitants a high standard of living by minimizing pollution and focusing on renewable energy.