Timo Leukefeld: This is why low-tech is the high-tech of the future
At an event by Mitsubishi Motors, we had the opportunity to drive the Eclipse Cross as a plug-in hybrid, and in the evening, we listened to Dipl. Ing. and Professor Timo Leukefeld, who thinks refreshingly unconventional about the future. He began his career as a tinsmith and thus knows in practice what he is talking about – and even today, he sometimes likes to pick up the welding torch himself, to teach his son this art or to make the seam as he sees fit. However, his passion is more efficient houses and apartments.
Per se a perennial topic, for which Leukefeld, however, created a completely new approach that breaks with many systems and rules. That’s why the energy expert believes:
“Disruption means interruption of the familiar and redirection. We must have the courage to think anew and dare to question much-vaunted techniques.”
His radical approach: Instead of installing more and more complex, expensive, and maintenance-intensive technology, there should be less. Because a future problem will be the maintenance and repair costs. For this, Leukefeld predicts hourly wages of 200 to 300 euros due to the shortage of skilled tradespeople, which are already sometimes a reality in some places thanks to various sometimes outrageous "holding and travel allowances"! Here, Leukefeld sees a third cost block coming toward tenants and landlords, alongside rent and energy costs.
Therefore, he has developed a new generation of low-tech, energy self-sufficient apartment buildings together with other experts. Of the usual technologies - boilers, heat pumps, underfloor heating or radiators, centralized ventilation systems with heat recovery, water heaters or BUS systems – nothing is found in these houses! Instead, the new buildings are tech minimalists. Heat is supplied only by a modern infrared radiant heating system. This also prepares the hot water decentrally and electrically.
Heating and cooling cost (too) much energy today
An efficient building shell also ensures a very low heating energy requirement with a lot of storage mass – below 20 kWh per square meter per year. Thanks to photovoltaics and batteries, such houses achieve a degree of self-sufficiency of over 60 percent. They provide themselves with energy for heat, electricity, and for e-mobility for most of the year. The remaining required energy is sourced from green energy providers, making the entire house truly CO2-free. Here, Leukefeld has also brought the old idea of thick walls back into play: If one were to build a 90 cm thick wall with natural materials, the indoor temperature in optimized houses would never drop below 20 degrees in winter, while in summer it would never rise above 26 degrees, without the need for energy-intensive heating or cooling! And there would be no recycling problem with the Styrofoam insulation of the exterior walls.
Energy suppliers: Away from large power plants, into the region and the individual property
The construction of energy self-sufficient low-tech houses thus not only provides new approaches for low-emission, affordable living, but also for interdisciplinary, networked solutions to challenges in other societal areas. For instance, an energy supplier can also become a partner of the builder and install the solar power system and battery themselves. Optionally, of course, with a modern wall box for the tenant’s e-mobility. An ideal approach to make better use of e-mobility in the future – by using the energy generated at home, one can drive not only emission-free but also completely cost-free with minimal effort. Prof. Leukefeld demonstrated how this form of mobility can look several years ago when he showed with electric pioneer Mitsubishi EV and his energy-optimized house how networked thinking can find surprising solutions.
The lifespan of products is getting shorter – and that’s partly intentional!
The low-tech approach, which in reality hides a special form of high-tech, not only brings ecological advantages but also cost benefits. Even today, in many households, it is not the cold rent, also called the "first rent," that is the real problem, but the additional costs, often described as the "second rent," including for heat and electricity. New laws and regulations are intended to keep these costs in check for new construction. But extensive energy-saving technology not only requires high initial investments but also opens the door for a "third rent," namely the steadily increasing costs for maintenance and repair.
Not only is the technology itself maintenance-intensive, but predetermined breaking points also ensure, according to Timo Leukefeld, that the lifespan of the technology increasingly shortens. While a heating boiler from the previous century was good for 50 years, today it often gives up after half that time. Additional features like timer-controlled lighting, presence detectors, sun protection automation, and irrigation systems add to the cost. The numerous devices, motors, controllers, and apparatus make the costs explode. Not to mention, the novelty of the technology often wears off after a short time.
Leukefeld plans a flat rent that won't increase over ten years!
Then there is the issue of follow-up costs, as the complex technology requires extensive maintenance, from which the service companies profit well. The prevailing shortage of skilled workers in this and many other sectors further leads to problems with appointment scheduling and consequently high prices for the services rendered. The de-technologization of buildings propagated by Leukefeld, who also serves as an energy ambassador for the federal government, could be a key for cheaper living. According to his calculations, constructing such an energy-autonomous low-tech house is only marginally more expensive than building a conventional house of the same standard. However, there are hardly any costs for maintenance and upkeep afterward.
When future operating costs are included in the investment costs, completely new rental models can arise. For instance, landlords could offer flat rate rents over a period of 10 or 15 years. In such a case, all costs for heating, electricity, and e-mobility would be covered over the entire period as a "flatrate." The tenant benefits from predictable long-term rental costs, and the landlord enjoys loyal tenants.
What does that mean?
Leukefeld is among those people who can think radically without having to reinvent the world – it is enough to completely recombine existing elements or rethink old techniques. The idea of a flat rent that includes energy costs and e-mobility is a very strong aspect, especially if it can be guaranteed and fixed for ten years due to the newfound autonomy of the buildings!
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