EVALUATION

Overview of Rule of Thumb Tools

The fundamental concepts of sustainability in the design phase are space, materials, energy, water, and costs. To determine and optimise these concepts, rough calculations, known as rule of thumb formulas, can be used. In the phases of building approval and the realisation of the building, precise calculations and simulations should then be conducted. Digital rule of thumb formulas assist in optimising material use, energy, and water consumption, as well as streamlining the entire planning process.

Tools for Life cycle assessments (LCA) Calculations

Whether planning an efficient building, aiming for a more sustainable operation of a company, or deciding on a more sustainable approach for a community, the right tool aids in accounting and supports making crucial decisions. This brochure presents a range of digital tools designed to support the creation of precise, insightful, and forward-looking assessments.

The concise booklet will include the following content:

Assessments in Context: Summary of guidelines, EU standards, and relevant terms.

Overview of LCA approaches: For a better understanding of the relevance of various assessments, such as life cycle analyses, life cycle cost assessments, CO₂ calculations, and energy simulations.

Overview of Selected Tools: A comparison of software capabilities across different assessment types for buildings, SMEs, and municipalities

Tools in Detail: Explanation of the capabilities and applicability of the software, including whether BIM models can be integrated, whether the tool is free, etc.

Comparison of Tools: A summary overview to support an easy and productive selection of the right tool.

Strandhotel Otterndorf

Fredebohm Touristic in Otterndorf was founded on October 30, 1987, by Traute Fredebohm as a vacation home rental business. On January 1, 2020, the company was taken over by Ole Fredebohm and has since operated under the name "Fredebohm Touristik Inhaber Ole Fredebohm e. K." The company currently runs a vacation home rental business, an associated bike rental, a beach cabin rental, and a "Freibeuter" beach bar. In addition, the company arranges excursions and sells tickets for mudflat hikes and concerts.

Fredebohm Touristic is planning to build a new "Strandhotel Otterndorf" with 26 apartments, a wellness area, a breakfast room, and a shop for tourist souvenirs. They aim to design this hotel in an energy-efficient, sustainable, and smart way. The company is seeking support from the Mittelstand 4.0-Kompetenzzentrum Rostock. The Kompetenzzentrum will assist the company, particularly in the development of a smart hotel concept, as well as in creating a sustainability and energy concept.

CO₂ Accounting for Cities and Municipalities: The Example of Dahme – For a Climate-Positive Future

Dahme is a small town with 1,200 residents located on Lübeck Bay in Schleswig-Holstein. With more than 15,000 day visitors, 600,000 overnight stays, and 3,000 second-home owners annually, tourism is the primary source of income for the municipality, which features a several-kilometer-long sandy beach easily accessible via a promenade. In 2021-2022, a local development concept was created for the municipality. One of its goals was to develop a climate protection and sustainability concept, followed by the active implementation of the proposed measures, aiming for all areas of the municipality of Dahme to become CO₂-neutral by 2035.

As part of the project "Climate-Neutral (Positive) Municipality Dahme," the Mittelstand-Digital Zentrum Rostock, in collaboration with students from the Faculty of Design and the Master's program in Architecture and Environment at Hochschule Wismar, assisted the municipality in accounting for its CO₂ emissions and developing a sustainable, climate-neutral overall concept. Based on the local development concept and the action areas described within it, goals for environmentally sustainable development were explored, and a vision for the long-term enhancement of the Baltic seaside resort of Dahme was developed. In addition, selected flagship subprojects were studied in greater detail. During the support process, various concepts were created, and calculations and simulations were conducted.

Digital Tools for Sustainable Planning: A Case Study of the Forward-Thinking Modernization of Stadtwerke Wismar’s Administrative Building

Stadtwerke Wismar GmbH supplies around 45,000 customers in the Hanseatic city and its surrounding area with electricity, gas, district heating, and water. However, its administrative building, dating from the 1960s, no longer meets today’s standards for energy efficiency, occupant comfort, or modern working conditions. Since the coronavirus pandemic, workplace requirements have changed considerably—digitalisation, remote working, a shortage of skilled labour, and heightened expectations for health and indoor climate mean that existing administrative buildings must now be reimagined.

Wismar University is assisting the municipal utility in developing a forward-looking, holistic modernisation concept that integrates energy efficiency improvements and the utilisation of subsidies. As part of a university seminar, students analysed the existing building using freely accessible digital tools and devised various sustainable modernisation options. The tools employed included:

• Sun-Path Tool – for sun path analysis
• ubakus.de – building physics evaluation of components
• EnerCalC – simplified energy balancing
• bauteileditor.de – life cycle analysis
• OpenStudio®/EnergyPlus – energy and daylight simulation