Blueprint for the Future

Brain City Berlin

How can a neighbourhood such as the Adlershof Science and Technology Park be made climate-resilient and thus future-proof? WISTA Management GmbH is currently researching this in Brain City Berlin in an interdisciplinary consortium with the Technische Universität of Berlin (TU Berlin), the Hochschule Neubrandenburg University of Applied Sciences, the Reiner Lemoine Institute and the local energy supplier BTB. The "TransformResQ” project cluster comprises two research projects that are being funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) with a total of 2.8 million euros. By the end of 2027, a practical ‘master plan for a climate-resistant technology district’ is to be developed that can also be transferred to other locations.

Record-breaking heat in summer, heavy rain flooding streets and basements, hurricane-force winds and droughts that leave plants and trees parched. Climate change is also leaving its mark on Berlin. The Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) already determined in 2016 in a study commissioned by the Senate Department for Urban Development and the Environment that the German capital must actively adapt to rapidly changing climatic conditions. According to PIK calculations, Berlin will be about as warm as Toulouse in 2100. A recent evaluation of climate data for the Berlin-Adlershof location also clearly shows that the average temperature in the capital is rising every year. “The five hottest years since weather records began have occurred in the last six years,’ explains Dr.-Ing. Stefan Bschorer from the Innovation Team at WISA Management GmbH. ‘The analysis of the climate scenarios of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) also clearly shows that extreme weather events such as heat, drought and heavy rain will occur more frequently in Adlershof. While the total annual precipitation will hardly change, it is expected to rain less frequently but more heavily.”

Since 2010, WISTA, as the operator of the Science and Technology Park, has been initiating and coordinating various research projects aimed at making Adlershof more energy-efficient and climate-resilient and preparing it for the consequences of climate change. Two projects were officially launched in March this year. The two projects, “Transformation to a Climate-Resilient Technology Quarter (TransformResQ)” and “Resilient Energy System for Technology Quarters (ResQEnergy)”, which are funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) with a total of 2.8 million euros, aim to adapt Adlershof to the consequences of climate change. ‘To this end, a transferable master plan is being developed that integrates climate protection and climate adaptation, identifies innovative solutions for technology districts and establishes Adlershof as a model and reference location,’ says Bschorer.

The future location of Adlershof is thus set to become a kind of blueprint for other technology quarters in terms of climate resilience. As Europe's largest technology park and a kind of ‘city within a city,’ Adlershof is ideally suited for this: more than 1,300 companies, eleven non-university research institutions and seven university research institutes have settled here on an area of 4.6 square kilometres. Around 35,000 people work and study at the site, and another 6,000 people live in Adlershof. This mixed use of residential, research, production and development makes the location special, but also vulnerable to the effects of climate change. “The Berlin Adlershof Science and Technology Park is a prime example of the challenges that current climate change and the necessary climate impact adaptations pose for existing technology quarters,” says Stefan Bschorer. It therefore made sense to use this district as a basis for developing a practical “Master Plan for a Climate-Resilient Technology Quarter” – as an international benchmark that highlights innovative solutions for dealing with climate change.

Two cluster projects with the overall goal of a master plan

The “Master Plan for a Climate-Resilient Technology Quarter” is being developed as part of the ‘TransformResQ”project. As a transferable matrix, it is intended to identify feasible measures and prioritise them according to their climate impact, costs and feasibility in terms of time. “On this basis, concrete planning for climate adaptation measures can begin,” explains Bschorer. “In addition, a model process will be defined that outlines which stakeholders are to be involved in the work or decisions and when, what framework conditions must be in place, and what project logistics must be adhered to in order to achieve usable results within the planned timeframe.”

The “ResQEnergy” project, on the other hand, focuses on designing a resilient system for the future energy supply of technolog quarters. This is because the demands on energy systems are increasing as a result of advancing climate change. The project will identify energy demand scenarios and the potential of renewable energies and waste heat, and model the supply of electricity, heating and cooling. The results will then be integrated into Adlershof's existing digital twin, which can be used to collect and process energy and environmental data from buildings in real time.

Innovative solutions with an interdisciplinary approach

Four research partners are involved in both projects on an interdisciplinary basis: TU Berlin is primarily supporting the development of the “Master Plan for a Climate-Resilient Technology Quarter” with its expertise in “Urban Planning and Urban Regeneration” and “Climatology”. The main tasks of the scientists from the field of Urban Planning and Urban Regeneration are to establish a framework for action and to develop evaluation factors for resilience measures. Climatology, on the other hand, is primarily responsible for the design and implementation of a monitoring network that records climate-induced disturbances such as heat waves, droughts and heavy rainfall and quantifies their effects on urban areas. The Department of Landscape Sciences and Geomatics at the Hochschule e Neubrandenburg analyses resilience measures at the site in particular, but also develops research-based measures, including in the field of blue-green infrastructure. Their effectiveness is tested in collaboration with the Department of Climatology at the TU Berlin using simulations.

The task of the Reiner Lemoine Institute (RLI), based in Adlershof, is to create a climate-resilient open-source energy system model for the Berlin Adlershof Science and Technology Park as part of the “ResQEnergy” project, which can be used to examine various future scenarios for Adlershof's energy supply. The RLI is also further developing the digital twin for Adlershof's energy system at the building level in order to compare and optimise neighbourhood scenarios. The role of the local energy supplier BTB in the project “ResQEnergy” project is also exciting. With the “GeoSpeicherBerlin” project, BTB is already researching at the Adlershof site to what extent water-bearing layers of the subsoil, known as “aquifers”, can be used as a climate-neutral heat source and storage facility. For “ResQEnergy”, BTB is providing data and evaluating future scenarios, among other things.

The “Master Plan for a Climate-Resilient Technology Quarter” is scheduled to be completed by the end of 2027. From 2028 onwards, measures for heat protection, rainwater management and climate adaptation in the quarter will then be implemented. “The transformation to a climate-neutral science and technology park that is adapted to climate change is a prerequisite for future viability,” says Stefan Bschorer. And this transformation can no longer be postponed. Because one thing is crystal clear: the effects of climate change will also be felt more and more strongly in Berlin in the future.

Author: Ernestine von der Osten-Sacken