Combining heritage with high tech

Planning: engineering office Steinmair & Partner OEG

This project renovated a wood shingle house from the 16th century and equipped it with modern HVAC technology. The goals of the project were to reduce the costs of energy without sacrificing comfort, to reduce the consumption of fossil fuel, and to increase energy autonomy.

Heating is handled by a thermal solar system and an air/water heat pump complemented by firewood in the cold winter months. Both heating systems employ heat storage tanks that collectively also serve as mutual backups.

The low-temperature heating system has large radiator surfaces. The basis for the low-temperature system was the strucural condition of the historic building with box-type windows and wall thickness of up to 30 cm as wood and wood-frame structures.

A photovoltaic system provides part of the required electricity. This system also assures interruption-free power supply to run heating pumps even in the event of a power failure. The photovoltaic system and the thermal solar collectors are mounted in the courtyard facing south and sourthwest and so do not disturb the overall look and feel of the historic property.