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Energy performance Vorarlberg, Austria
Vorarlberg is Austria’s smallest province. It is located west of the country, bordering with Germany, Switzerland and Lichtenstein. Vorarlberg is 2600 km², with a population of 360,000 people, 60 % of whom live in the Rhine Valley. The region’s main economic activities include industry, craft industry and tourism. The unemployment rate is only 3.5%. 70 % of the electricity that is consumed here comes from hydropower. The other sources of renewable energy—wood and solar—represent a share of between 10 and 15%. The province, anxious to achieve energy independence, is implementing several ambitious policies. A wide variety of projects have already been undertaken: the installation of solar panels on the roof of houses; the creation of a 2 hectare photovoltaic power station in the mountains; the development of cogeneration systems which use wood waste as input; and so forth. Wood is an important resource in Vorarlberg. The supply chain is very well organized. The region has many sawmills, and more generally an industry that has found ways to develop cutting-edge methods of production. Many houses are built using wood. Certain components are prebuilt in a factory, and much effort is put into creating houses that use very little energy. Two-thirds of new houses built in Vorarlberg are either low-energy dwellings or passive homes. Those houses that are so-called “passive” mean that they require less than 15 kWh/m² per year for heating. Since 1993, 600 passive houses have already been built in Vorarlberg. Municipalities and businesses are also very much interested in the quality of building construction and in energy savings. The municipality of Ludesch built a multi-functional building that includes the municipality’s administration offices, the post office, a café and a library. It is partially covered in photovoltaic solar panels. The wood that is used for construction comes exclusively from local forests. The centre is heated using wood as well as with a heat pump, which can also be used for air conditioning. The province has set a goal for itself: to reduce by one third the CO2 emissions in the fields of housing, industry and transportation by the year 2010.
For more information: Websites: - Vorarlberg's Institute of Architecture website: http://www.v-a-i.at - The Energy Institute's website: http://www.energieinstitut.at
Purchasing the video: The report on Vorarlberg is available on DVD: Licence 1 (for personal use): $ 23 (Canada) / 15 € (other countries) Licence 2 (for public projections): $ 80 (Canada) / 50 € (other countries) Other uses (exhibitions, festivals, TV broadcasts, etc.): please contact us.
This report is also available in French on the same DVD / Ce reportage est également disponible en français sur le même DVD
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