Madison's older, greener sister

October 29, 4:11 PMMadison Green Living ExaminerShelly Rothman

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The McDonald's kind of takes away from the tram, guys....

kaffeeeinstein

Wednesday night Madison had a visitor, Meinhard Hansen, a green architect from Freiburg, Germany, Madison’s sister city. He came to UW’s campus to tell us a little about his town. This is what Madison wants to be when we grow up. They even take bicycling to a new level. Try to imagine.

It started back in 1975 when a new nuclear plant was about to be built on the nearby Rhine river. Citizens revolted and kept away not only that plant but every other in Germany since. This started an idea of sustainability which continues to this day. And what’s most important is that the citizens are still behind each step of the way.

Freiburg had the foundation for a green city already. In the sixties, many German towns discarded their rail systems for the automobile, but this town never did. When the sustainable movement cam, they updated and expanded the old tram system and the new one is now preferred over automobiles.

This makes sense since some parts of town are closed to cars altogether. You have to park your car outside the district and walk yourself home. There is no parking on the streets. “The streets are for living now” said Mr. Hansen.

Some areas of town are for pedestrians only and bike paths are everywhere. You can even bike yourself to the train station and park it there in a garage just for bikes. Cars are becoming obsolete.

The city is known as the solar capital of the EU. Solar panels are now normal, and all the cool people have them. You can even sell generated electricity that your house doesn’t use back to the electric company. Wind turbines dot the hills around town as well.

But Freiburg knows solar panels won’t solve everything. A decrease in energy consumption has to play a part too. And like the U.S., the biggest single consumer was heating homes in the winter. The solution was what Hansen really came to talk about.

The Passivhaus. You don’t need to know German to know what it’s all about. It’s an everyday house with some serious insulation. Energy consumption is down 90%. Windows are the weak point but with two panes and three lines of insulation defense they are better than most. These houses stay so warm that Hansen’s wife no longer needs a blanket to keep warm while sitting around in the evenings and they need only their summer blanket while sleeping. And summers stay cool, without the air conditioning.

The idea is also meant to be affordable for everyone so a new house is not necessary, only some additions to the old one. Keeping prices down also means using plastic, which they admit uses oil, but far less than what is consumed with normal household energy systems. Madison Environmental Group will soon be offering a version of their own called Casa Kit Homes, which is said to be constructed of natural materials, such as cellulose, rather than plastic.

Freiburg knows it has some work still to do to be completely sustainable. But “the perfect town”, they say, “will be a town that gives to the environment as much as it takes.”