The largest passive house development in the world is about to open in Heidelberg, as the epicenter of a new experimental district in the German city, Bahnstadt, where all buildings must meet the Passivhaus standard. The Heidelberg Village, created by Frey Group, will consist of 162 apartments of different sizes that are expected to be delivered to its inhabitants in 2017 to create a multigenerational and heterogeneous community with access to green areas and social interaction.

Bahnstadt, as recounted by Inhabitat , is an ambitious project to convert an old freight train terminal in this southwestern German city into a 116-hectare campus of housing powered by renewable energy, 2,000 efficient homes that retain energy. The five-story blocks of Heidelberg Village will be its maximum exponent, covered with facades with vertical gardens, as well as walkable green roofs. In addition to improving the aesthetics of buildings, vertical gardens will insulate against heat and cold, eliminating the need for heating and air conditioning, and purify the air in the city. The facades will also have solar panels with the dual function of producing energy and contributing to the thermal insulation of the homes in summer. The houses will have sensors that will start the ventilation systems automatically when the air quality is below the determined threshold.

On a social level, the future residents of the houses will be selected from among different demographic and social layers to try to create a heterogeneous community in which everyone knows each other, according to those responsible for the project. The homes will be 100% accessible to people with functional diversity and will integrate care services for the elderly and children, however reduced rents will be offered to young people if they spend time caring for people with disabilities or children of single mothers.