Yearly Archive: 2014

The German-French agency for renewable energies (DFBEE) organized its PV conference in Lyon in the Chamber of Industry and Commerce on December 2, 2014 on the topic: “What contribution can solar energy make to the implementation of the German and French energy efficiency goals?”

The building sector is responsible for a substantial share of energy consumption in Germany and France. This sector is therefore an important field of action for the implementation of the energy turnaround.

At Shanghai’s Tongji University, Wolfgang Frey gave a lecture before an audience of international students on sustainable architecture and the Smart Green Tower. Tongji University is known throughout the world and is one of the main research centers of the PRC.

The German-Chinese exchange has great significance for the Tongji University. In 1998, the Chinese-German College for Postgraduate Studies (CDHK) was founded. It is a joint project with the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD).

On 19.11.2014, Wolfgang Frey met Franz Untersteller (Alliance ‘90/The Greens), Representative in the Assembly and State Minister for Environment, Climate and Energy Commerce in Stuttgart. The political dialog focused on introducing the innovative energy concept of the Smart Green Tower and the Freiburg model as Green City.

Along with Dr. Thomas Aigle of Siemens AG, Wolfgang Frey introduced the concept of the so-called Smart Green Tower (former Green City Tower) at the Econstra – Technical Fair and Convention for Engineering Construction, Architecture and Building Conservation in Freiburg. Smart Green Tower is a 51-meter high residential and trade center planned in the Güterbahnhofareal in North Freiburg. It is a noteworthy structure primarily for its innovative energy management system.

Wolfgang Frey had the great privilege of personally meeting Sultan bin Mohamed al-Qassimi III at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Sultan bin Mohammed al-Qassimi took out the time while releasing the book “Green City Freiburg” to speak with Wolfgang Frey about sustainable construction and environmentally friendly use of resources.

Sultan bin Mohammed al-Qassimi visited the 2014 Frankfurt Book Fair as he did in previous years. This time, he released the fourth edition of his autobiography Culture, Education and Change – 1987 to 2004“. He talked about his memoirs to the people during a signing.

Wolfgang Frey and Qiu Baoxing, Vice Construction Minister of China until September 2014 and now the President of the Chinese Society for Urban Studies, met on 9/23/2014 at technical discussion during the ninth “Conference on Urban Development and Planning” in Tianjin, Beijing.

Both the experts agreed that the aim of sustainable urban space development should be to design such living spaces that respect the traditional living habits of the people and enable social interaction. Complete focus on innovative technologies, however, will not offer any perspective in meeting with the challenges of future urban development.

For the ninth time already, on 9/23/2014, the city of Tianjin (China) is holding the “Conference on Urban Development and Planning”, which will be focusing completely in the topic “Eco-City” this year. Over two days, an international audience will be listening to experts from all over the world in Tianjin near Beijing, as they describe the experiences so far with so-called eco-cities in practice and what politicians, planners and implementers can learn for the future from it.

At the request of the Innovation Academy of Freiburg, today Wolfgang Frey presented the innovative architecture and energy management concept of the Smart Green Tower to a Taiwanese delegation.

Among the guests was a group of 30 visitors consisting of high-ranking officials of the central administration of Taipei. The participants, who among other things have held various offices in the Ministries for Tourism, Transport Planning and Development, Energy and Administration as well as the Ministry of the Interior, visited the summer school at the University of Konstanz as part of a career training program. An excursion also led them to Freiburg.

On 7/14/2014, a delegation from China – consisting of high-ranking guests from a Chinese real estate company – were invited by the sto company to its headquarters in Weizen. The guests’ visit was concluded with a reception by Frey Architekten in Freiburg.

sto is a leading international manufacturer of paints, cleaners and lacquers, as well as facades, coatings and composite thermal insulation systems. Frey Architekten has been working with sto for many years.

Gernot Erler (SPD, Member of the German Bundestag since 1987) and Wolfgang Frey met on 14.07.2014 during a talk on social responsibility in the construction and real estate industry. Since these social issues concern every country, Wolfgang Frey was honored to benefit from the Expertise of Gernot Erler, who has been the coordinator of inter-society collaboration with Russia, Central Asia and countries under the eastern partnership of the German federal government since January 2014.