Zollverein School has "Active Thermal Insulation"
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 04.13.07
One would think twice about setting a building next to an abandoned mine shaft, but the Zollverein School of Management and Design takes advantage of it. There is a lot of hot water in the mine that used to be dumped into the River Emscher in the Ruhr Valley. Now the 30 degree C (90F) water is pumped up a thousand metres, put through a heat exchanger, and then circulated through pipes cast the concrete walls, which have no insulation inside or out. Why bother when the heat is free? Designed by SANAA architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa, winners of a 2002 international competition. ::Azure Magazine Christine gives tips for visiting the area here
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"Why bother when the heat is free?"
Well unless gravity fairies lift the water a kilometer into the air, I assume not bothering to insulate makes this system less efficient than it could be. Yes, the insulation isn't energy free either, but then neither is the extra pipe required to push out the heat used to warm the air around the building.
I agree with Paul. Some insulation would make the building more efficient. We should be striving toward zero waste in every aspect. This building needlessly wastes heat to outside air.
I don't agree with Paul and houston.
What we have is warm water that will be dumped in the Emscher river anyway. It comes out of this old mine and has to be pumped away in order to prevent the flooding of the tunnels. So if you can make use of its energy to heat some walls before dumping it, it is a good thing.
It doesn't make a difference to the atmosphere if the air around is heated by the building itself or by the river Emscher nearby.
Of course, there are overall savings of energy by not heating the building in a more classic way.
To me, this water insulation is quite smart.
The heat is free, and that's great. But the pumping isn't free, neither in money nor in energy. So here's three cheers and three times three for the cleverness of using the mine-heated water, but only two cheers for the decision not to use any insulation, and really only one cheer for the "why bother when the heat is free?" comment -- we just don't need any more of the free-lunch mentality.
Thermosiphon.