Energy concept - efficiency through innovation

Geothermal energy
ENERGYbase meets its total energy requirements for heating and cooling purposes from renewable energies – primarily heat extracted from the ground. 

Solar cooling
Solar cooling refers to applying solar energy to drive a cooling process. The solar sorption supported climatization represents an innovative climate control system, which is being applied in Austria to this extent for the very first time. The primary advantage is that the solar thermal energy facility generates the maximum quantity of energy during the summer months, when the demand for cooling is at its peak. In winter, the energy stored in the solar thermal collectors is supplied to a buffer energy storage unit to support the heating system.

Green ventilation
For the first time, plants are being integrated into an office complex as a so-called green buffer zone. During the winter months, they ensure a particularly pleasant room climate through the ecological, controlled humidification of the air being supplied. The four-storey high buffer rooms, designed by pos architects of Vienna, contain 500 Cyperus Grass type plants specially bred for humidification purposes. Humidifying the air in winter and during transition periods between seasons, these plants represent a truly innovative approach. They function as closed moisture generating systems which, for the first time, can be integrated as adjustable, precisely controlled and calculable units into building engineering systems. 

The sun as a power station
ENERGYbase uses the power of the sun in a two-fold manner, namely actively and passively. An approximately 400m² photovoltaic facility (about 50 kWpeak) located on the south facade supplies roughly 42,000 kWh of solar electricity. Some 300m² of solar thermal collectors supply the solar cooling system with energy in the summertime, whereas the thermal energy is used to support the heating system during the winter season.  The passive use of solar energy is made possible by the special shape of the south façade, which only allows direct solar radiation into the building during the winter.  

Intelligent lighting
The layout of ENERGYbase and the south facade concept makes it possible to supply the entire building with daylight, which helps minimize the need for artificial light. In comparison, conventional offices require 40% artificial lighting. In addition to these measures, special light directing blinds also channel daylight into the depths of the rooms, which in turn ensures more intense room brightness.