DESY wins award for green campus buildings

At DESY, it's not just the research results that are sustainable, but also some of its buildings. One of them, Building 36, has witnessed numerous significant scientific and technical advances—and now it's also an award-winning green building. Built in 1977, the building has been part of a pilot project for greening buildings since 2021. With a facade infrastructure that helps climbers and other plants to grow on the sides and roof of the building, it has become a model for how other buildings on campus can be turned green. The aim is to improve the climate control of the buildings themselves and to bring more plants and biodiversity to the campus. The Hamburg Environment Agency honoured the project at a ceremony on 14 October with the “Hamburg Prize for Green Buildings”, which recognises the best greening measures for roofs, facades and interiors in the city. Awarded for the third time this year, the prize highlights the key role that green buildings play in sustainable and climate-resilient urban development.

A total of 39 projects were in the competition, eleven of which received awards. Incidentally, the first prize winner is also located on campus: the roof garden of the extension building of the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter made the biggest impression on the jury. 

Thanks to the Sustainability Unit, the award-winning DESY Hall 36 can boast impressive biodiversity statistics: over 4500 m² of the building – 75 percent of its surface area – are covered with over 25,000 different plant species. These plants provide habitat for a variety of insects and other wildlife on campus. This has also led to a significant cooling effect on the building, which has been confirmed by a study conducted by the Technical University of Berlin. As a result, other buildings on campus are being examined for the possibility of such “greening,” and new buildings such as the DESY Innovation Factory are already being built with this concept in mind.

The exhibition on the Hamburg Prize for Green Buildings can be seen at the ArchitekturSalonHamburg until 5 November; the roof garden and Hall 36 can be visited at any time.