Landsea, BASF and Partners Build First Passive House in China's Yangtze River Delta Region

CHANGXING, CHINA – August 14, 2014 – Today, the Passive House "Bruck" (architect: Peter Ruge Architekten) built by Landsea Group at its Green Building Research and Development Center in Changxing, Zhejiang Province, China was inaugurated and certified by the Passive House Institute of Germany. This is the first Passive House built by a Chinese developer for the hot summer / cold winter climate of the Yangtze River Delta region. BASF, the world's leading chemical company, provided insulation solutions for Bruck. A Passive House can reduce the need for active energy and the building ownership cost while improving the environmental friendliness of the building from a life cycle perspective. Bruck will serve as a boutique hotel.

"BASF is proud to have taken part in the Bruck project to help Landsea to overcome the extreme climate conditions while fulfilling the high standards of a certified Passive House. With energy-efficient construction being a future trend, BASF is committed to helping its customers to achieve sustainable development with the broad range of cutting-edge solutions." said Dr. Zheng Daqing, Senior Vice President, Business and Market Development, Greater China, BASF.

"Building energy efficiency is regarded as an important contributor to both energy saving and pollution control in China. With China's great efforts in green buildings, passive houses are positioned to contribute to the highest comfort at the lowest energy cost. At Landsea, we collaborate with international leaders such as BASF in formulating joint projects, introducing and adopting advanced techniques and concepts from Passive Houses in Germany as well as acquiring the know-how to develop Passive House design and construction and acceptance reports. The project, customized for the Yangtze Delta area, will become a benchmark for design and construction in areas which are hot in the summer and cold in the winter," said Tian Ming, Chairman of Landsea Group "As the market leader in green building construction, Passive Houses will be launched as Landsea's next-generation products in the near future."

Architect: Peter Ruge Architekten.

First passive house built by Chinese developer for hot summer/cold winter climate of Yangtze River Delta region..

"Passive houses allow for space heating and cooling related energy savings of up to 90% compared with traditional building blocks and over 75% compared to average new buildings – substantially less than common 'low-energy' buildings," said Dr. Wolfgang Feist, scientific director of the Passive House Institute. "Passive Houses make efficient use of the sun, internal heat sources and heat recovery, rendering conventional heating systems unnecessary throughout even the coldest of winters. During warmer months, Passive Houses make use of passive cooling techniques such as strategic shading to keep comfortably cool. Special windows and a building envelope consisting of a highly insulated roof and floor slab as well as highly insulated exterior walls keep the desired warmth in the house – or undesirable heat out. A ventilation system imperceptibly supplies constant fresh air, making for superior air quality without unpleasant draughts."

The Passive House Bruck was built under a partnership between Landsea, the Passive House Institute of Germany and dena (the German Energy Agency), utilizing advanced Passive House techniques from Europe, with a space of around 2500 m² simulation results show that Bruck has surpassed the standard for a Passive House in hot summer/cold winter climate zone. Bruck maintained an energy consumption level of only 69kWh(m²a), with the roof heat transfer coefficient at less than 0.1 W/m²K and exterior wall heat transfer coefficient at less than 0.15W/m²K.

BASF provided a range of high performance products and solutions for Bruck, including Elastospray® CH spray polyurethane foam for the roof, and Neopor® innovative foam insulation solution for exterior walls. Elastospray® CH is an integrated solution for insulation and waterproofing. Neopor® foam enhances insulation performance by 20% with 20% less in thickness, compared with conventional EPS panels, with the help of graphite particles. With the help of Neopor®, the use of raw material can also be reduced by 50%, reducing cost and carbon emissions even further.

Landsea has developed more than 40 residential areas featuring green technologies with a total development space of 7.43 millio m², providing comfortable, healthy and energy efficient buildings, as well as property service to over 100,000 residents. BASF has contributed to Landsea's projects in various cities such as Shanghai, Wuxi, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Shaoxing, Chengdu and Wuhan.

As a leader of construction chemicals in the world, BASF provides comprehensive solutions based on a broad product portfolio and extensive project experience such as the renovation projects at Ludwigshafen in Germany, where BASF's global headquarters is located, as well as low-energy construction projects across Europe, North America and Asia. In China, BASF has also contributed to various construction projects such as the Hamburg House at Expo 2010 in Shanghai and Mofan Road Technology Innovation Park (MRTIP) project in Gulou District, Nanjing.

About BASF Greater China: BASF has been a committed partner to Greater China since 1885. With major investments in Nanjing, Shanghai and Chongqing, BASF is one of the largest foreign investors in the Chinese chemical industry, and maintains the BASF Asia Pacific Innovation Campus in Shanghai as a research and development hub for the Asia Pacific region. In Greater China, BASF posted sales of over €5.48 billion in 2013 and employed 7,606 people as of the end of that year. For further information, please visit the link provided below.

About BASF: BASF is the world's leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics, performance products and crop protection products to oil and gas. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. Through science and innovation, we enable our customers in nearly every industry to meet the current and future needs of society. Our products and solutions contribute to conserving resources, ensuring nutrition and improving quality of life. We have summed up this contribution in our corporate purpose: We create chemistry for a sustainable future. BASF had sales of about €74 billion in 2013 and over 112,000 employees as of the end of the year. Further information on BASF is available on the Internet via the link provided below.