HFT Stuttgart was a partner in the EU INTERREG IIIB project “Virtual Environment Planning Systems” (VEPS). The aim of the VEPS project was to improve the sharing of knowledge in the field of spatial planning and to advance the modernization of the planning process. The primary objective is to improve local planning processes in North-West Europe (NWE). That means the VEPS project directly addresses Objective 3 of Measure 2.2 of INTERREG IIIB: Improving the knowledge base on the potential of Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) for territorial development in North-West Europe. The aims of the project are:
After the three-year project term, the following outcomes were achieved:
In order to meet the objectives of the VEPS project, an application for involving citizens in the urban planning process of the Rosenstein district in Stuttgart was developed at HFT Stuttgart.
The project was distinguished with the Al Gore-initiated Digital Earth 3D Visualization Grand Challenge Award 2007.
POLYCITY (Energy networks in sustainable cities), which coordinated by zafh.net, is an EU project that is supported with around 8 million euros. This project encompasses three large urban development areas in Turin (Italy), Ostfildern (near Stuttgart, Germany) and Cerdanyola del Vallès (near Barcelona, Spain). In these cities exemplary sustainable residential and commercial districts are to be completed by 2010. The goals of the project are to increase the portion of the supply energy that stems from renewable sources (biomass, geothermal, PV), optimize the energy efficiency of the buildings, the cogeneration, solar cooling and innovative communal energy management systems in order to optimize the supply and consumption. Large city planning areas were selected so as to create the largest impact possible: the Arquata district in Turin encompasses 87,000 m², the project in Ostfildern 178,000 m², and in Cerdanyola more than 2 million square meters of residential and industrial areas as well as a science park are being built.
In the Solar Decathlon, 20 select collegiate teams from around the world are challenged to design, build, and operate an exclusively solar-powered house by June 2010. The houses of all teams will then be presented to a wide audience for one week in Madrid, where the ultimate winner will be awarded. Aside from the concept of energy balance and innovation The main aim of the competition is to raise awareness among students and the general public and increase knowledge of the possibilities of energy-efficient building and the use of regenerative energies. It also aims to boost the marketing of innovative solar energy technologies and to provide evidence that energy-efficient building can also go hand-in-hand with an increase in comfort and an improvement in design and living quality. 20 teams of college and university students around the world have qualified for this solar decathlon, including four teams from German universities: Berlin (team of HTW Berlin, Beuth HFT and Berlin UdK); Rosenheim University of Applied Sciences; Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences; Wuppertal University. All four German teams are sponsored by the Federal Ministry for Economics and Technology.
With its master programme Urban Planning, Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences is involved in the project MANDIE – Managing District Centres in North West Europe – that is funded by the INTERREG programme of the European Regional Development Fund. Eleven partners, including communities, associations and universities from Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Great Britain, are developing methods for managing district centres to be put into exemplary action. The aim is to strengthen small district centres that have come under pressure as a result of changing shopping habits, customer expectations and mobility, and also due to competition from shopping centres on the periphery. For the Urban Planning master programme, the plan is to develop an interdisciplinary study model by 2011 that combines the topics of district management, urban renewal and urban development into a single, new profession of “District Manager” in the planning sciences field.
This research project aims at creating the technical and methodical requirements for acoustically optimized installation walls made of plasterboard and the acoustic planning of such walls, and detectivity in the scope of required sound insulation certification. The approach in the design field is a systematic analysis of the structure-borne sound stimulation and transmission, taking into consideration the structural acoustic properties of the sanitary installation. In particular, the intention is to exploit and increase the technical acoustic potential of the wall when using edge strips for structure-borne sound decoupling. For acoustic dimensioning of the installation walls and planning the sound-insulated application, calculation methods are being developed that can also be used for sound insulation certification.