Redevelopment residential building Große Neugasse

Buildings from the 1970s, such as the one in Große Neugasse in Vienna's 4th district, are numerous. At that time, people built quickly and did not pay much attention to the thermal qualities of the buildings. It had to be done quickly, and many apartments were needed. For Sozialbau, one of Austria's largest non-profit developers, refurbishment is the biggest ecological lever in older housing stock. Almost all of Sozialbau's older housing complexes have already been thermally refurbished, making a significant contribution to CO2 savings. To date, a total of 233 residential buildings with over 17,000 apartments have been thermally renovated - this corresponds to an average reduction in heating requirements of 70 kWh per square meter per year. In addition, the thermal improvement of existing buildings results in an annual reduction of CO2 emissions by 34,188 tons.

But for Ernst Bach, board member and director of home management at Sozialbau, this is not enough. He discovered so-called external component activation as the best achievement for supplying older residential buildings with fossil-free energy.
Bach's flair for novelties and his enthusiasm for unusual solutions are well known in the industry. Without further ado, he confronted his team with his idea of not messing around, but simply milling open the facades, laying pipes in the ducts and thus heating and cooling the building - with the help of external component activation. After a few milling attempts, a suitable milling machine was found ... a milling robot was ordered in China for the next facades. The buildings of Große Neugasse could thus be adapted without the residents having to move out. In the spring, the nine ground probes will be drilled in the courtyard of the neighboring building, heat pumps and the photovoltaic system will be installed on the roof. After the milling work, the pipes will be plastered and thermal insulation will be applied.

(Text: Gisela Gary; Z+B magazine; in shortened form)