astronomy

Sonnenschiff

Sonnenschiff is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Sonnenschiff rather than just read about it. In short: Sonnenschiff (lit. 'sun ship') is a large integrated office and retail building in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. It was built in 2004 in the city's Vauban quarter as part of the Solar Settlement at Schlierberg.

Key takeaways

Sonnenschiff belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Sonnenschiff to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Sonnenschiff from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Sonnenschiff (lit. 'sun ship') is a large integrated office and retail building in Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany. It was built in 2004 in the city's Vauban quarter as part of the Solar Settlement at Schlierberg. Sonnenschiff was designed by the architect Rolf Disch (who also built the Heliotrope building) and generates four times more energy than it uses. As a whole this building produces more energy than it consumes per year and utilizes the most up-to-date building technology. Some aspects that make this building distinctive are its vacuum insulated walls, ventilation with 95% heat recovery, triple paned windows and its energy façade. The office spaces are flanked on both the East and West sides with windows to maximize natural lighting and employee views while it minimizes the energy used for artificial lighting. Sonnenschiff includes a supermarket, convenience store and bakery-café on the first floor, offices and work spaces on the 2-4 floors and 9 penthouses on its roof. In addition to the office and retail space, there are two conference rooms.

Design This steel-framed construction is called the "Sun Ship" as its skyline resembles the silhouette of a ship. Its design allows it to naturally stay cool in the summer and to store heat in the winter. The ground floor is used for high-end retail and commercial space. The next three floors are used as office and commercial space, while nine penthouses on its rooftop offer residential space (112 to 300 sq. meters).

Residents Apart from the nine penthouses, Sonnenschiff houses several companies such as the high-end supermarket Alnatura, a DM drug store and such institutions as Ökostrom and the non-profit Öko-Institut.

PlusEnergy PlusEnergy is a term coined by Rolf Disch that indicates a structure’s extreme energy efficiency so that it holds a positive energy balance, actually producing more energy than it uses. With the completion of his private residence, the Heliotrope, in 1994, Disch had created the first PlusEnergy house. His next goal in its development was thus the mass application of the concept to residential, commercial and retail space. As the concept further developed and gained financial backing as well, Disch built several more projects with PlusEnergy certifications. “PlusEnergy is a fundamental environmental imperative,” Disch claimed. Disch believes that passive building is not enough because passive homes still emit CO2 into the atmosphere.

Awards

2008 German Sustainability Award 2007-08 Japanese PEN-Magazine Creativity Award 2006 Germany's most beautiful housing community 2005 Wuppertal Energy and Environment Prize 2003 Global Energy Award 2002 European Solar Prize

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Sonnenschiff

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Sonnenschiff claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Sonnenschiff before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Sonnenschiff ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Sonnenschiff

In research: Sonnenschiff appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Sonnenschiff in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Sonnenschiff is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 2004 establishments in Germany, Buildings and structures in Freiburg im Breisgau, Office buildings completed in 2004, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Sonnenschiff outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Sonnenschiff in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Sonnenschiff means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Sonnenschiff out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Sonnenschiff in simple terms?

Why does Sonnenschiff matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Sonnenschiff?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Sonnenschiff.