Open GardensGuide to Smart Technologies

How to use this guide?

Under this cover the scheme of the area is laid out. Each piece of smart- and eco-technology is numbered and marked in the scheme. The map legend is next to the scheme. Locate yourself on the map and then fol-low the numbers. Each number indicates a point of interest. Simply look for the number of your point of interest and you will then find the par-ticular technology and relevant page number. Just go to the page to learn more. Small signs in the area will help you locate the right spot. Fancy a guided tour? Ask at the reception desk to join the next available group! See otevrenazahrada.cz

The Open Gardens education and advisory centre built and managed by the Czech Environmental Partnership Foundation (Nadace Part-nerstv) is the best in its class. Thanks to the high-quality insulation and smart technologies used in both the new C building and in the reconstructed B building, Open Gardens is one of the most energy-efficient office buildings in the Czech Republic. We save water and energy, and we recycle, reducing our impact on the environment. The technologies used in both building also reduce operating costs. Itwas simply a smart investment. We believe that good examples can lead to smarter cities and buildings. Imagine how our future may look! The Open Gardens can be an inspiration!

Guide to Smart Technologies

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www.otevrenazahrada.cz

Awards

2012 Czech Energy Efficient and Ecological Project: in the category Buildings

2013 ABF Foundation and the Centre for Passive Houses Award

2013 Building of the Year: Awarded by the Minister of the Environment for energy efficiency; Skypaper Award for the buildings extraordinary ecological, social and aesthetic benefits.

2014 Finalist in the Sustainable Energy Europe and ManagEnergy competition

2014 Building Efficiency Awards: 3rd place in the category Commercial Property

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The Open Gardens map

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Birdnests

Recuperation system

Photovoltaic panels

Solar collectors

Root-zone treatment

Sunblinds

Drinking fountain

Heat pumps

Green roof

Well

Water tankCompost

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Main entrance from doln

street

B Building (renovated to

passive standard)

C Building (opened in 2013)

Caf

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Inside map

Sunblinds

(To be foundin the B Building)

Water saving

Clay plaster

Lights

Building management system

Ceiling heating

Rainwater flushing

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Topics

HEATING AND COOLING

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ELECTRICITY AND LIGHTS

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WATER SAVING

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NATURES WELCOME

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1 Rainwater harvesting means saving water d page 7

2 Where the building breathes in and out d page 2

3 Our larch trellis will be green d page 10

4 Our well d page 7

5 Where the building breathes in and out d page 2

6 Drinking water for everybody d page 7

7 Can we trap sunshine? d page 5

8 The natural roof d page 10

9 Where do bats and swifts sleep? d page 10

10 Our extraordinary lake d page 7

11 Your banana peel belongs in the compost d page 10

12 Would you like sparkling or lightly sparkling water? d page 8

13 Rainwater flushing d page 8

14 Clay plaster sucks! Literally. d page 5

15 Totally airtight d page 2

16 Smart Venetian blinds d page 3

17 Heating, cooling? Ceiling! d page 3

18 You are part of our heating system d page 2

19 Who turns the lights on? (C Building) d page 5

20 Who turns the lights on? (B Building) d page 5

21 Fan-coil heating d page 3

22 Nothing compares! d page 5

23 Building management system d page 2

Legend

C Building

1 Our deep-well generated heating, cooling system and system of cooled ceilings have helped

us to create the most energy efficient office building in the Czech Republic. The building does not require any conventional heating systems and requires very

little energy to heat and cool the building space. Under normal conditions, the building is sufficiently

warmed by the heat generated by human occupants, electric lighting and domestic appliances.

Heating andCooling

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2 Where the building breathes in and out

The smart recuperation system allows air to be re-circulated in the building. The air dispelled from the chimney is the last stage in this process. On the terrace you can notice a shaft leading to the heat exchanger, which looks like a big cylinder full of small tubes. This is where heat is transmitted from the air, letting it in and out.

Building management system

Our building is smarter than anybody else in this building. Its controlled by the BMS (Building Management System)smart measuring and regulating system. It coordinates every active technology in the building. After a years experience, we and the Siemens engineers have now set the system so it can detect the most efficient combination of used technologies.

Totally airtight

A zero carbon building means having a perfectly airtight building. This can be achieved only with precise execution, good insulation along with air-tightened faades, windows and doors. We have proved this by using the Blower Door Test.

You are part of our heating system Building heating also uses passive sources of energypeople and computers. Now that doesnt mean were going to throw you into the stove! We only use the heat you or your comput-ers emit.

HEATING AND COOLING

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Smart Venetian blinds

Wooden frame windows are shadowed by outdoor Venetian blinds. Due to our sunshine, temperature and wind sensors, blinds know when to open or close. This helps us the building to maintain a constant temperature.

Fan-coil heating In the new C building, there is a system of pipes that run along the thermo-active concrete built into the ceiling. The B build-ing uses a different systemfan-coils. This is a simple device consisting of a heating/cooling coil and fan installed under the windows.

Heating, cooling? Ceiling! How do we measure the temperature of the building? Asystem of pipes run along the thermo-active concrete built into the ceiling. Heating or cooling liquid is streamed through these pipes and as a result, heating and cooling energy is generated from eight deep wells (boreholes) by 4 heat pumps.

HEATING AND COOLING

4 Our B building roof consists of pho-tovoltaic panels. Thanks to the placement of these panels, we annually produce 13 MWh of electrical energy which covers the cost of four months consumptionenough energy to cover the consumption of one building! In the Cbuilding we also use smart sensors that automatically turn lights on and off.

Electricity and Lights

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Who turns the lights on? Have you noticed that in the C building there are just a few switches? We dont need them because the lights are turned on by our smart system sensors. Thats why we only turn on our lights when theyre needed. The lights in the B building are operated manually.

Clay plaster sucks! Literally. Clay plaster accumulates water, so it helps us to control the level of air dryness. We really do have clay plaster even if its white coloured. We use white casein colour on the surface of the walls because casein increases reflection so that we can save the energy we need for lighting instead.

Nothing compares!

Our goal is to have a zero carbon building, which means that the entire consumption of the building will be covered by re-newable sources. There is a similar floor area in both build-ings, but their construction, faade materials, recuperation systems, etc. are different. Now we can compare them to show which is more efficient.

Can we trap sunshine?

Yes. Our B building roof consists of photovoltaic panels. Thanks to the placement of these panels, we can produce 13MWh of electrical energy and cover the cost of four months consumptionfor just one building. We also have solar col-lectors that heat water in the building.

Reducing water consumption and protecting water quality are two of our most important objectives. Thats why we capture rainwater in a water tank for further use. Our rainwater harvest-ing and greywater recycling systems along with our water-efficient bathroom fittings and fixtures, such as dual flush toilets and urinal sensors, enable us to use around 40percent less than a typi-cal conventional office building would require.

Water Saving

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Rainwater harvesting means saving water We capture rainwater in a water tank under the terrace so we can use it for watering our gardens and flushing our toilets.

Drinking water for everybody At one time there used to be many public drinking fountains all over Brno city centre. Nowadays you can find no more than ten of themand one of them is right here. Have a drink! Its cheap, safe and environmentally friendly.

Our extraordinary lake

This is not only an educational habitat but also a root-zone treatment area, where wastewater coming out of the building is cleaned. Nature cleans the water by itself, first by filtering the gravel-sand layer and then by the action of bacteria living on the plant roots.

Our well

We capture rainwater for watering the garden and flushing the toilets. But what if the water tank is empty? In this case we use our own well. Thanks to all these measures we save on over 50 percent of our drinking water.

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Would you like sparkling or lightly sparklingwater?

Every single tap in the Open Gardens area uses Watersaverpatented technology that saves water. How? Watersaver aer-ates water and regulates the stream. Thanks to Watersaver we consume only 70 percent of our water!

Rainwater flushing

In this building we use rainwater for toilet flushing. These measures allow us to save and store rainwater in the water tank under the terrace, which means that we consume only 50percent of our drinking water.

9We really want to be a part of nature. Our green roof plays an important role in improving the local microclimate, especially when used in

a highly urbanized area like ours. In addition, roof and wall vegetation can provide habitats for birds and insects, filter airborne pollution and reduce the runoff of storm water. We also have acompost in the garden and bird and bat

booths in the Bbuilding faade.

Natures welcome

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Our larch trellis will be green

Our trellis made of larch wood will be covered by a climbing plant. Together they will cover a permeable layer, protecting the insulation of the building.

Where do bats and swifts sleep?

Check out the B building faade! Do you see the round and oval gaps? They are called bird and bat booths. Bats and swifts have lost places for temporary shelter and nesting op-portunities because of the isolated nature of the building. Our booths help them to survive. For the birds safety we have also stuck predatory bird-shaped stickers on windows.

Your banana peel belongs in the compost

We love our garden plants and flowers. Thats why we offer them fresh humus from our compost. It increases the soils quality and, as a result, plants can better absorb the water from the soil. Do you have some old banana peel? Compost it right here!

The natural roof

Our green roof returns the building to nature. The soil isolates heat and, especially during summer, it helps to protect the building against overheating.

Heating Energy Consumption (MWh per year 2014)

C building16.8 MWh

(53%)

B building14.9 MWh(47%)

C B

C building10.2 MWh

(27%)

B building27.1 MWh(73%)

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17.2 kWh/m2 14.8

kWh/m2

0-5 Zero-energyhouses

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houses

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standards

140-300Houses built

pre-1990

kWh/m2

C B

2014 was the second year of the regular operation of our Open Gardens. This year it consumed vastly less heating energy then it did in 2013. Weexpect that the CBuildings consumption will very soon decrease under 15 kWh/m2, which is the top limit for pas-sive houses.

Heating Energy Consumption

per m2 (in kWh)

Cooling Energy Consumption (MWh per year 2014)

13.9 MWh Energy from the grid consumed by heat pumps.

72.8 MWhActual energy used for heating, cooling and hotwater.

5.2Our coefficient of performanceBecause of our smart technologies we multiply the energy from the grid by more than five times.

Consumption Charts

Buildings share of electric energy (MWh per year 2014)

C Building and garden47.2 MWh

B Building40.1 MWhC B

12 CONSUMPTION CHARTS

Saving Water (m3 per year 2014)

Photovoltaicproduction

11.8 MWh (14%)

Electric grid75.4 MWh (86%)

In 2014 the total electricity con-sumption of the buildings entire area was 87.3 MWh. Thanks to the energy from the photovol-taic panels on the roof of the B building we can produce almost 12 MWh which covers the cost of four months consumption for one building.

Source Share of Electric Energy (MWh per year 2014)

Carbon footprint is a total set of greenhouse gas emissions causedby the building operation.

The Open Garden 48 t CO2 eq. 23.7 t CO2 eq. / m2Ordinary Family House 6.2 t CO2 eq. 41.3 t CO2 eq. / m

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Carbon Footprint

Powered by CI2, o.p.s.

Potable water used in the C Building

and garden220 m3 (28%)

Potable water used in B Building

231 m3 (30%)

Greywater used in the C Building and garden329 m3 (42%)

In the Open Gardens we annually consume 780 m3 (2014) of water in total. By capturing rainwater, cleaning waste water and other measures we save more than 40percent of potable water. Every tap in the area also uses Watersaverpatented technolo-gy that saves usup to 30percent of our potable water.

pilberkpark

OpenGardens

doln 33Obiln trh

Ombudsman

Open Gardensdoln 33, 602 00 Brno

e-mail: otevrenazahrada@nap.czphone: 775 424 702www.otevrenazahrada.cz

Where to find us

Czech Environmental Partnership Foundation (Nadace Partnerstv) is a leading Czech foun-dation supporting sustainable development projects in all regions of the Czech Republic and is also a coordinator of a network of sister foundation called Environmental Partnership As-sociation.

We assist in protection and improvement of their environment. We provide grants, expert knowledge, services and inspiration from abroad. We support tree planting, environmen-tal protection, considerate transport, using renewable energy recources and quality public spaces.

d www.nadacepartnerstvi.cz

In 2012 we turned our Brno headquarters into a green office complex surrounded by Open Gardens, a truly unique space to experience nature, technology and city gardening, serving both as a model and blueprint for smart city development and a hub for nurturing civil soci-ety and environmental innovations

d www.otevrenazahrada.cz

EPA is a consortium of six foundations from Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Ro-mania and Slovakia supporting community based projects whose goal is to protect the envi-ronment and support local communities and society. Over 20 years of its existence, the EPA has supported by foundation contributions more than 10 million Euros in total.

d www.environmentalpartnership.org

Co-funded by the European Union

Photos: Lenka Grossmanov, Zbyek Podhrzsk and Photo archive of the Czech Environmental Partnership Foundation. | Printed on recycled paper.