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The International Building Exhibition (IBA), which has been held in the borough of Wilhelmsburg since 2007, is reaching its final stages this year. Previously, the district had been known as a hotspot of social tension and instability, but the IBA aims to transform it into a civic and green prototypical neighbourhood. The agenda for the building exhibition extends beyond showcasing new architecture and includes promoting intensive citizen participation, the energy-efficient refurbishment of existing buildings, and the creation of new educational and work opportunities for the residents. Wilhelmsburg’s ecological long-term goals are ambitious: by 2050 the district’s electricity needs are to be completely covered by renewable energy sources; however Wilhelmsburg may be dependent on fossil fuels for a few decades longer heating. All new buildings constructed for the IBA have to undercut the current German energy consumption requirements by 30?%; many are even designed to meet either Passivhaus or ‘positive energy building’ standards. In the future, heating needs for parts of the district will be met by three local heating grids, primarily powered by renewable energy sources. The single building that best represents Wilhelmsburg’s green strategy is probably the ‘Energy Bunker’. This huge concrete structure, originally built in 1943, has been converted by HHS Architects into a power station for the neighbourhood with photovoltaic and solar thermal technology, as well as a biomass-fueled combined heat and power plant. (Jakob Schoof)