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Conrad U. Brunner (2002)

Conrad U. Brunner (*18 June 1942 in Zurich) is a Swiss architect, researcher and energy efficiency expert. He developed energy-efficient buildings in the 70s and worked on international standards for buildings and energy-efficient products since 2000.

Life

Conrad U. Brunner decended from a Swiss medical dynasty from Diessenhofen Thurgau (Johann Conrad Brunner, *1653 - 1727), both parents were lawyers. From 1962 he studied architecture at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich in Switzerland, he also took art classes with Hans Ess and received his Architect's Diploma from Alfred Roth in 1967. Subsequently, he studied from 1968 at the University of Pennsylvania USA in the Stuart Weitzman School of Design the master class of Louis I. Kahn. He also studied experimental structures in the class of Robert LeRicolais (*1894 to 1977). He earned his Master of Architecture degree in 1969. At this time he won the design competition for the Schenk Woodman Traveling Scholarship that helped him to continue his work from 1971 to 1972 in Japan.

Professional experience

Following his Master's degree, he worked from 1968 to 1971 as a staff architect with Louis I. Kahn (*1901 to 1974) in the office in Philadelphia, USA. His main assignment was the theater in Fort Wayne Indiana. He also worked with Kahn in the final design phase of the Kimbell Museum in Fort Worth Texas and helped to solve design details with the structural engineer August E. Komendant (*1906 to 1992). He contributed to the second design stage of the the Yale Center for British Art in New Haven Connecticut and developed a skylight gallery on the top floor. In the finishing phase of the Jatia Sangsad Parliament Building in Dhaka Bangladesh, he helped to redesign the main chamber of the parliament after Bangladesh became an independent country with now 350 seats. He then worked from 1971 to 1972 in the office of Fumihiko Maki (*1928) in Tokyo Japan as a staff architect and urban designer on a housing scheme for reclaimed land in Yokohama..

After his return to Switzerland in 1972, he worked with Peter Steiger (*1928) in a research and development group for health, aging and ecological issues. Here in 1973, in an interdisciplinary team with economists, architects and planners, the piononeering working group PLENAR Planning - Energy - Architecture was founded. An early cooperation was sought with Swiss building industry, where Von Roll and Sika joined in the research effort. In 1976 Conrad U. Brunner started his independent practice CUB Architecture - Planning - Energy in Zurich. The early build-up of a network of energy efficiency researchers included also experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology MIT and at the University of California Berkeley.

In 1986 he was nominated by the Swiss Federal Council as energy efficiency expert in the Expert group for energy scenarios (EGES). He continued to work as an energy efficiency expert for the Swiss Energy Perspectives Group until 2007.

From 1987 until 1993 Conrad U. Brunner served as president of the Swiss Energy Foundation. In this period, the referendum for the Nuclear Moratorium was won in 1990 which initiated the subsequent exit of nucear power in Switzerland. In 2010 IEC nominated him until 2022 to the Advisory Committee of Energy Efficiency that supervises the entire body of IEC standards on this subject.

In 2006 he joined the IEC Technical Committee 2 Rotating Machinery as the Swiss representative. IEC in 2017 honored Conrad U. Brunner with the "IEC 1907 Award" in Recognition of his 10 years of outstanding support in the field of energy efficiency of electric motors and power drive systems.

Architecture and urban design

Casa BruLè, Intragna (2003)

From the beginning, the CUB office consisted of two different teams, one for architecture and another one for energy. The practical application on CUB own buildings was an important training ground for the experimental, scientific and theoretical work on the energetic performance of buildings and the behavior of its inhabitants.

A major topic for architecture of CUB was "second life", i.e. upgrading existing buildings within the urban fabric. Also, an ecological approach to use locally available basic and natural materials and straight forward construction principles was applied together with the expanding knowledge for energy efficiency. Every architectural design was considered to be part of its specific urban context and built in an environmentally concious way. Architecture work was mostly in collaboration with partners: Louis Piller, Roland Dreier (*1938 to 2010) and Philip Grossen. During this time, the energetic pioneer building with three houses was built in 1978 - 1981 in Hinteregg near Zurich which in 1986 received the first photovolatic 3 kW plant on a housing development in Switzerland. Subsequently, 1980 - 1985 the Stifelwies development in Hinteregg with 8 houses was built together with Louis Piller. In partnership with Roland W. Dreier, the renovation of the FWC stationery factory in Zurich 1981 - 1987, the complete renovation and extension of the district court building in Zurich in 1990 - 2000 and in 1994 - 1995 the retrofit of a multi-family house from 1890 in Zurich were realised. Later, in 2000 - 2003 the slate covered new construction of the apartment building with 15 apartments at Heliosstrasse in Zurich was built. In collaboration with Philip Grossen, as a conclusion of his architectural work, in 2003 the double house in local gneiss stone from the Cevio quarry Casa BruLè was built in Intragna Ticino, southern Switzerland.

The wide field of ecology

Conrad U. Brunner experienced the first Earth Day in 1970 in Philadelphie. He later worked and lived in Tokyo during when the time the Japanese courts finally identified the pollution of the sea in the Kagoshima Prefecture with Mercury coming from the Chisso factory. The pollution had caused the deadly Minamata disease in local people and fishermen who for decades eat mercury polluted fish.The final court decisions in 1970 to punish the polluter and pay compensation to the victims had lasted over 10 years in court. These two experiences with demonstrations by students and courts deciding on the "Polluter pays principle" sharpened his sense to ecology and stimulated his personal initiatives to contribute to reducing the harms caused by civilisation.

Initial studies in 1972 within the Research & Develoment group with Peter Steiger et al. led to the first insight that 50% of thermal energy in Switzerland is used in residential, commercial as well as public buildings. The reduction of the high consumption of fossil fuels for heating and hot water at the source was then considered the first goal and the most direct way to reduce carbon dioxid emission and local pollution.

Work in the field of ecology and energy was initially carried out with the PLENAR working group. In 1975, the basics on energy-efficient buildings was published under the title PLENAR Planning - Energy - Architecture by Niggli-Verlag. In 1998, with the expansion of the research from buildings to electricity and industry, the Swiss Agency for Energy Efficiency (S.A.F.E.) was launched in order to have a multi-disciplinary team that was able to carry out numerous research and implementation projects in Switzerland, Germany, Austria and UK.

The start for scientific research in the field of energy efficiency in buildings was supported by a grant by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) in 1977. In 1978 a first Overvew of research of energy efficient buildings was published. The research topic was Triggers and side-effects of energy savings in the building sector. An early step of analysis was nation-wide research on specific energy consumption index of buildings for heat and electricity. This was achieved by developping an energy consumption index for buildings (Energiekennzahl). Research for large series of data of commercial and public administration buildings, of schools, swimming pools, hospitals, universities led to a catalogue of typical specific energy performance index. These specific values were later used in building standards by the Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects (SIA) and in legal minimum requirements for comparison of the energy performance of buildings. Various research papers on energy efficient construction methods were published: Thermal bridges, Compendium for energy efficient public buildings, Buildings with highly glazed facades, Buildings for a future with warmer climate.

The energetic refurbishment of the cooperative housing estate (Bolliger, Höngger, Dubach Architects) with 226 apartments at Limmatstrasse in Zurich can be seen as an early pioneering work with scientific supervision by the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology.

S.A.F.E. gave rise to many important works that led 1988 to Energiestadt project with Robert Horbaty and Stefa Frey to empower city governments for energy concepts, 1999 to the Topten project with Eric Bush to research and publish the most energy effcient appliances, lightings systems and cars, Toplicht project with Stefan Gasser with guidance to good lighting with lower electricity consumption and in 2006 to the Topmotors project Rita Werle and Rolf Tieben with a focus on efficient industrial pumps, fans, compressors, electric motors and variable frequency drives (VFD).

The build-up of an international network for energy efficient products was supported by the Swiss government and WWF. The national projects were eventually consolidated in the Topten International Group (TIG) with national subsidiaries for market research and development in 18 European countries, in the USA, in China and currently in four Latin American countries. Conrad U. Brunner served from 2005 to 2021 on the board of Topten International. In 2023, Topten is still operating in Europe and Latin America.

With the start in 1985 of the SNF-funded study of "Reduction of electricity consumption" a shift of the major field of research from thermal problems of buildings to energy efficient electric machines in industry, household appliances and lighting was initiated. From 1998 to 2001 a number of studies for energy efficient railways were undertaken (Enper) with Jürg Nipkow and Renato Gartner. In 2008 the International Energy Agency IEA Technical Cooperation Programme Energy Efficient End-use Equipment 4E was launched. At the same time the Electric Motor Systems Annex (EMSA) was launched and guided by Switzerland with Conrad U. Brunner as Operating Agent until 2014 and Task Leader International Standards until 2019. Between 2007 and 2021 a total of 9 international conferences were held under the name Motor Summit in Zurich Switzerland with renowned speakers from Australia, China, Europe, Japan, Latin America and the USA .

A widely referenced research study in the IEA Energy Efficiency Series was published in 2011 by Paul Waide and Conrad U. Brunner "Energy-Efficiency Policy Opportunities for Electric Motor-Driven Systems".

As of 2016 the successor company Impact-Energy was launched in collaboration with Rita Werle and Rolf Tieben. Conrad U. Brunner served as co-founder and president of the board until 2020.

From national to international standards

Conrad U. Brunner was involved from 1980 in the creation of standards for energy effciency both of buildings, later on electrical appliances and industrial machines on the Swiss national level (SIA), the European (CENELEC, CEN) and the international level (IEC and ISO). Standard work with non-governmental organizations is crucial to advance new knowledge and transport experience quickly to the entire engineering profession, the private, commercial and industrial consumers. International standards allow for quality and performance comparison and build the basic elements for government regulation on mimum requirements.

After extensive basic research together with Miklos Kiss for energy efficient buildings, the first edition of the Swiss building standard SIA 380/1 Thermal Energy in Buildings (Thermische Energie im Hochbau) was published under the chairmanship of Kurt Meier in 1988. It was later integrated and coordinated with EN ISO 13790 Energy Performance of Buildings. It included a new calculation method "heat balance" for heat gains and losses to determine the annual net heating requirements which is now widely accepted as a global standard. It gave target values for a specific energy performance index for heating and domestic hot water based on a standardized user profile for several building categories.

With research from S.A.F.E. and others the basic elements for a Swiss building standard SIA 380/4 Electric Energy Use in Buildings (Elektrische Energie im Hochbau) was published under the chairmanship of Reto Lang in 1995. It included an energy performance index for appliances, lighting, auxiliary, etc.

Both Swiss standards led to the project in SIA to derive a more complete "Efficiency path for buildings" including the building materials (grey energy) and induced mobilty. After a number of preliminary studies under the project leadership of Conrad U. Brunner a first documentation D0216 was issued in 2006. The SIA Swiss Energy Efficiency Path (Effizienzpfad) was first published as SIA Fact Sheet number 2040 in 2011 under the chairmanship of Martin Menard. It included a calculation method set of target values for the energy performance index and CO2 emission factors for housing, offices and schools leading to a net zero economy by 2050. It was also accompanied by the SIA Fact Sheet number 2032 Grey Energy of Buildings from 2010 and the SIA Fact Sheet number 2039 from 2016 on Induced mobility energy for buildings .

Until 2007 the electric motor testing standards were in conflict between between USA standard IEEE 112 Method B and IEC 60034-2. The respective motor efficiency values were not accepted vice versa. With electric motors using some 50% of global electricity consumption the development and the international trade of efficient products was severly hampered. In 2005 Anne Arquit Niederberger and Conrad U. Brunner launched the SEEEM initiative (Standards for Energy Efficiency for Electric Motor Systems) as a worldwide community of practice at the international conference on Energy Efficiency in Motor Driven Systems (EEMODS) Conference in Heidelberg Germany. A number of international motor experts joined the group. In important international meetings on 18 and 19 April 2006 in New York NY of the SEEEM Technical Advisory Group with representatives of senior experts from USA (Austin Bonnett), EU (Anibal de Almeida) and China (Qin He), under the auspices of the International Copper Association (John Mollet), the crucial compromise for a global testing standard for motors was built. Under the chairmanship of Martin Doppelbauer of IEC Technical Committee 2, the new globally coordinated motor testing standard IEC 60034-2-1 was accepted and published in 2007. The new performance standard of electric motors IEC 60034-30 Efficiency classes (IE-code) was published in 2008. With these two basic elements the energy efficiency regulation for the minimum energy performance requirements on IE3 level were accepted later world-wide.

With the support of IEC ACEE and EMSA, Maarten van Werkhoven and Conrad U. Brunner launched the initiative for Coordination & Alignment of IEC and ISO Standards for Energy Efficient Electric Motor Driven Systems (CAISEM) in 2019 in Tokyo Japan. It's goal was to improve system performance in pumps, fans, compressors, etc. In October 2021 IEC and ISO agreed to launch a Joint Advisory Group JAG22 to initiate closer cooperation between electrical (IEC) and mechanical (ISO) standards.

Concrete Art

After the death of his research collaborator and friend Jürg Nänni (*1942 to 2019) Conrad U. Brunner initiated, together with Renato Gartner, the work on the inventory of his computer generated pictures in Concrete Art which shall eventually be exhibited and published under the Title Art & Science. So far over 1000 individual works have been identified and included in the Jürg Nänni Inventory [JNI]. Jürg Nänni cooperated with Hans Knuchel and the blelb group to develop new insights on visual perception.

Since 2023 Conrad U. Brunner serves as member of the Board of Trustees of the Espace de l'Art Concret eac in Mouans-Sartoux, France.

Gallery - buildings

Neuhaus Bonacherweg, Hinteregg Zürich (CUB), group of three houses, 1978 - 1981

Ibach Stiefelwis, Hinteregg Zurich (Brunner & Piller), group of 8 houses, 1980 - 1985

FWC Weberstrasse, Zürich (Brunner & Dreier), retrofit of stationary factory, 1981 - 1987

Bezirksgebäude, Zurich (Brunner & Dreier), retrofit and expansion of district court building, 1990 - 2000

Freiestrasse 27, Zurich (Brunner & Dreier), retrofit and addition 4-family house from 1890, 1994 - 1995

Heliosstrasse 18, Zurich (Brunner & Dreier), 15 city apartments, 2000 - 2003

Intragna (Brunner & Grossen), double stone house, 2002 - 2003

Notes and references

[[Kategorie:Mann]]