ᐅ Is Summer Thermal Insulation Mandatory for New Construction?

Created on: 21 Jun 2019 21:30
C
crion
Good evening everyone!

We are currently about to submit the building notification in Bovenden, just north of the city boundary of Göttingen (Lower Saxony), and we just had our architectural meeting with the architect from our home builder FIBAV.

During the meeting, the topic of roller shutters briefly came up, and we said that we do not want any.
The response was that we should or must consider an alternative type of sun protection.
For us, the issue was settled: we currently live in a rental apartment owned by a Göttingen housing cooperative, first occupied in 10/2014, without roller shutters.

However, afterwards I felt somewhat concerned and asked by email.
The very quick reply was:
“Summer heat protection according to DIN 4108 Part 2 is mandatory and is calculated by [...].
This shows which rooms must be equipped with shading.

Provisions for possible later shading systems can be integrated into the façade either before or after construction.
Please discuss this with your construction manager. He can then coordinate it with the trades.”

It’s good to know that summer heat protection according to the standard is mandatory—also to prevent the majority of people from retrofitting energy-intensive air conditioning later, no question.
But is summer heat protection also a legal or otherwise mandatory requirement, or can we omit it without facing any sanctions—worst case, a forced retrofit?

If summer heat protection is somehow a sanctionable obligation: does it have to be an external shading system?
My wife cannot live without curtains, so we already have some form of interior sun protection—of course less effective than external shading, but present.
We will not install an air conditioning system later...

Regardless of whether it is mandatory: What are the most cost-effective options for reasonably effective heat protection?
Or is that already provided by curtains?

Best regards,
Christian
H
haydee
14 Jul 2019 06:53
Light should come from above. How do you shade the windows?
H
hampshire
14 Jul 2019 10:50
haydee schrieb:

Light should come from above. How do you shade the windows?
The upper windows have electric shutters (if needed), with an all-around roof overhang; the two west-facing windows are structurally unshaded.
H
haydee
14 Jul 2019 12:19
Oh, you need to be careful. With the recent heat, the children's room with a small west-facing window heated up tremendously within two hours.
H
hampshire
14 Jul 2019 12:37
Thanks for your "concern." Here is the west side with three windows to our living area – the small one in the foreground is above the toilet, which is not located inside the living space (you can sometimes take radical ideas a bit too far...).

Wooden house on a hillside with a tiled roof, view of fields and a stone bridge in the background.
H
haydee
14 Jul 2019 13:01
What, isn’t that in the living area?

You seem to prefer warmth more than my daughter and me. We obviously have some Swedish roots in our family.
It dropped 4 degrees Celsius (7°F) in less than 2 hours, and that was in the evening after 6 pm.
I found that quite extreme, and it meant having a guest in the bedroom.