First Algae-Powered Building Debuts in Germany

HAMBURG, Germany — On March 23, the world’s first algae-powered building was unveiled at Hamburg’s International Building Exhibition. The five-story Bio Intelligence Quotient (BIQ) house features a bioreactor façade that will generate enough heat to warm the building’s 15 apartments.

International design firm Arup, located in Berlin, worked with Germany’s SSC Strategic Science Consultants and Austria-based Splitterwerk Architects on the construction project.

The sides of the building that face the sun have a second outer shell that is set into the façade. Microalgae — tiny plants, most of which are no larger than bacteria — are produced within the shell, allowing the house to supply its own energy. The algae are continuously supplied with liquid nutrients and carbon dioxide via a separate water circuit running through the façade, and with the aid of sunlight, the algae can grow through photosynthesis.

According to an Arup press release, “The façade concept is designed so that algae in the bioreactor façade grow faster in sunlight to provide more internal shading. The bioreactors not only produce biomass that can subsequently be harvested but they also capture solar thermal heat; both energy sources can be used to power the building.”

The façade collects energy by absorbing the light that is not used by the algae and generating heat, which is then either used directly for hot water or heating. If too much heat is generated, the energy can be stored in buffers for later use or sold back to the local grid.

“To use bio-chemical processes for adaptive shading is a really innovative and sustainable solution, so it is great to see it being tested in a real-life scenario. As well as generating renewable energy and providing shade to keep the inside of the building cooler on sunny days, it also creates a visually interesting look that architects and building owners will like,” said Arup’s Europe Research Leader Jan Wurm in a statement.

The façade still serves the conventional purposes of insulating the building from sound, heat and cold, and provides shade in bright sunlight. The greenness of the façade’s demonstrated photosynthesis is visible from outside the building, which was an intentional part of the architectural concept.

The building cost about $4.5 million (€3.4 million).