Start Me up Tuesday: On the Way to Sustainable Neighborhoods of the Future
29 February, 2024
An exciting evening was offered on February 27, 2024 at the UAS Technikum Wien at the Start me up Tuesday: Experts came together to discuss the design of sustainable future districts. With a focus on technology, business models and innovative approaches, various aspects that are crucial for the development of liveable and energy-efficient urban districts were highlighted.
The event began with a warm welcome from moderator Günter Essl, Judith Klamert-Schmid, Head of the Department of Industrial Engineering at FHTW, spoke about the contribution of teaching and research to the development of sustainable neighborhoods. She encouraged the participants to pursue innovative approaches and work towards a future worth living in, describing the establishment of Plus Energy Neighborhoods in Austria as an important goal. Thomas Faast gave an insight into the university’s support for start-ups and presented successful event series such as Start me up Monday. In keeping with the theme of the evening, he presented the ESG-Manager*in (Environment, Social, Government) manager training program at Technikum Wien Academy. Faast also spoke about Austria’s largest technical careers fair and explained the opportunities for companies to present themselves there and recruit specialists.
The path to PlusEnergy districts
The vision of plus-energy districts was presented by Momir Tabakovi (UAS Technikum Wien, Head of the Climate-Fit Buildings and Districts competence field) in the next part of the program. With a focus on renewable energy systems, they strive to generate more energy than they consume and thus make a positive contribution to the environment.
Marlene Würf from Cobee Solutions presented innovative approaches to digitalization in order to optimize processes in the construction and energy industry and thus contribute to a sustainable future. She emphasized the importance of a holistic approach that takes into account not only technical, but also legal and social aspects.
Promoting radical and disruptive innovations in the construction industry
Tanja Spennlingwimmer (Austria Wirtschaftsservice – AWS) then discussed the promotion of innovations in the construction industry and emphasized the need for radical innovations to tackle the challenges of climate change.
Services from Optivice Energy were presented by Aline Leiner (SCHEIBER solutions GmbH), which aim to offer intelligent solutions for optimizing energy flows in urban districts. She emphasized the relevance of these solutions to promote a sustainable energy community and maximize the consumption of regionally generated energy.
Christine Bertl (FHTW Master’s student in Innovation and Technology Management) then presented an innovative concept for the circular economy with a focus on “Material as a Service”, which aims to use resources sparingly and break the linear life cycle of materials. She emphasized the importance of increased cooperation with urban innovation management in order to promote and implement such concepts. “I find the approach here exciting, for example, that you pay for the service of light and not for a light bulb,” said Bertl.
Manuel Lorber from Allplan described an innovative energy concept called “Village im Dritten”. Among other things, it is based on decentralized approaches and the efficient use of heat pumps. He emphasized the importance of holistic building planning, which not only improves energy efficiency but also contributes to the sustainable use of resources.
Johann Kucsera from Schneider Electric presented strategies for the decarbonization of buildings and emphasized the role of digitalization in increasing energy efficiency. He also underlined the need to include historic buildings in sustainability efforts through modernization measures, which can lead to significant energy savings.
Outlook for the climate-conscious building technology course
A representative of the FHTW concluded the event: David Sengl presented the Climate-Responsive Building Technologies course and emphasized the importance of practice-oriented training for future specialists in this field. Through the cooperation of experts from various fields and the promotion of start-ups and research projects, he said, active work is being done on a liveable and energy-efficient future.
At the end of the event, there was plenty of time for discussions between the audience and the experts on all the topics presented, allowing for a lively exchange of ideas and perspectives. Afterwards, the buffet offered participants the opportunity for personal discussions and networking in order to deepen contacts and gain further inspiration. This helped to reflect on the newly acquired knowledge and discuss potential collaborations or projects to further advance the sustainability agenda.
Further links:
Department of Industrial Engineering
Competence field Climate-fit Buildings and Districts
Entrepreneurship – UAS Technikum Wien
Master’s degree program in climate-conscious building technology
Start me up Tuesday: What is a district and when is it considered sustainable?
ESG Manager (Environment, Social, Government)
On the cover (from left):
Momir Tabakovic, Aline Leiner, Marlene Wuerfl, Christine Bertl, Tanja Spennlingwimmer, Manuel Lorber, Thomas Faast, Günter Essl, FH-Prof. Dr. Judith Klamert-Schmid, David Sengl und Johann Kucsera.
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