Hamburg sets guidelines for placing green infrastructure on heritage buildings

The city has learned a lot from an ongoing project for a solar roof on the Altonaer Museum

This week authorities in Hamburg announced fixed guidelines for placing sustainable infrastructure on buildings listed as architectural heritage. The guidelines include cases like roof gardens, façade installations and solar panels.

Local officials have based the guidelines on a recent project which put solar panels on the roof of the Altonaer Museum. At the same time, the guidelines provide advice for easy cases, while developers of tricker projects should consult with the Office for the Protection of Monuments (Denkmalschutzamt) in the city.

Altering the appearance of a protected building is a tricky subject, but it is far from impossible, according to local officials. In fact, Hamburg wants to encourage adopting energy-saving schemes and involve as many people as possible in the green transition.

Additionally, all changes to heritage buildings must be approved by the Denkmalschutzamt but certain cases are deemed ‘simple’ and get approval much quicker. A simple case, for example, is installing a PV system on a flat roof, that cannot be seen from street level or only insignificantly interfere with the substance of the monument.

The Altona Museum Project

According to a statement by the city, the installation at the Altonaer Museum was one of the more challenging ones, with final development still taking place. Michael Prinz, Managing Director of Hamburger Energiewerke, the company behind the project, explained this was one very special case.

For example, during the installation of the solar roof, contractors had to go constantly go back and forth with specific roof craftsmen to make sure they maintained the integrity of the tiling while securing the PV system.

The museum now hosts 118 modules with an output of 43.66 kilowatts peak, on a surface area of ​​215 square meters. This would generate about 40,000 kilowatts of solar power annually and save around 18,500 kilograms of CO2 emissions. Director Prinz pointed out that around 90% of that energy will power the museum, making it sustainable.