the outstanding and already award winning HÄFELE DESIGN CENTER in phuket (thailand) has recently garnered the first gold certification in southeast asia from DGNB (german sustainable building council), one of the most comprehensive certificates for sustainable architecture worldwide.
the project was designed and planned by OIA, following an environmentally conscious concept from the beginning. one of it’s unique features is the thermodynamic roof, which generates a breezy natural airflow throughout the ensemble and collects rain water, demonstrating how a sustainability concept can be put into practice, optimizing the use of natural resources as well as lowering overhead costs.
in the picture from left to right (4th left to 6th left) : elmar kleiner (OIA), michael dax (DGNB) and volker hellstern (HAEFELE),
having met the criteria and requirements according to recently developed and to the tropics adapted DGNB standards, the first gold DGNB certificate was officially handed to mr. volker hellstern, managing director of HÄFELE (thailand) in an event hosted by the GTCC (german-thai chamber of commerce) held at crowne plaza hotel in bangkok on october 29th , 2013.
the DGNB system is a holistic planning and certification process that rates properties in terms of their sustainability based on 6-aspect criteria: ecological, economical, socio-functional, technical, process and site quality. criteria consider the use of resources and energy, life-cycle costs, safety, integrated planning or accessibility.