Grey energy matter

**Course information is only available in English.**

In the context of buildings, grey energy refers to the total amount of energy expended throughout the entire lifecycle of a building including the energy required for the extraction and processing of building materials, the construction, maintenance and renovation, demolition and disposal or recycling of a building. 

Grey energy has in past years often been overlooked, as it is not directly incurred during a building's period of use, but is embedded in the entire process of production and disposal. Yet grey energy is particularly important to consider when determining the total ecological footprint of a building. 

We are seeking abandoned objects in a rural context that are suitable as case study or “living lab” for dealing with the resource of grey energy. We will focus on dealing with vacant,  unoccupied structures without utilisation but potential for various use cases in the future. 

One particular object will be subject to a thorough analysis and for hands-on buildings practices. 

We begin by measuring and quantifying the object, analysing the socio-economic, historical, and spatial context. We will record the building substance and evaluate the condition of the building, individual parts or even single building materials. Accompanied by questions such as: How much embodied energy is actually bound in the object? Are there potentials for reactivation? What could structural transformation look like? We will form a collective knowledge base, which will serve as the foundation for concepts, design ideas, broad strategies and research ideas of all participants. 

In the first part, participants will be trained in lectures on various aspects and discourses on the topic of grey energy, conversion of abandoned structures in rural areas and
strategies for reactivation. The lectures serve as a basis for the second part on site. In the following five days (partly on site, partly in the course room) various approaches from
different disciplines will be applied, namely concerning constructive and material aspects as well as the spatial context of the industrial landscape and socio-political implications.

NOTE:
This course includes an attendance phase in Weimar from March 14 to March 23, 2024.