Vienna attracts tourists – and Passive House Pioneers

The Austrian capital is increasingly turning to energy efficient construction. 2013 saw the opening of the 20-storey RHW.2 office tower, at the time the world's tallest Passive House building. Vienna is also home to Eurogate, the first residential Passive House estate consisting of 800 apartments. Since then, numerous Passive House neighbourhoods and settlements have been developed. Since 2008, the neighbouring province of Lower Austria, requires public buildings in Passive House Standard, including a courthouse and a jail. The city also has experience with renovation of Wilhelminian-style buildings to the Passive House Standard.

Passive House Standard for every purpose

The commitment to Passive House can be seen in all of Austria. “The universities and educational institutions teach and train students and tradespersons as Passive House experts. For the past 20 years Austria has intensively supported the development of Passive House buildings. Due to this, many of the larger pioneer projects can be found in Vienna,” says Günter Lang of Passivhaus Austria.

Passive House for all

The theme of the 21st International Passive House Conference is "Passive House for all". The conference will therefore highlight the increasing prevalence of Passive House worldwide. The world's first Passive House, built in 1991 in Darmstadt, was a terraced row house. Meanwhile, there are Passive House buildings for all types of use, varying construction methods, for all climates and for all budgets.
2016 attracted over 1,000 participants to the 20th International Conference in Darmstadt. Also in 2017 in Vienna, one of the four major United Nations office sites, many participants from around the world are expected, especially from all of Europe, North America and China. Numerous workshops and excursions will take place around the conference.