📋 Tender Overview
New "cooling rest" furniture from Wien Energie on the forecourt of the Spittelau waste incineration plant allows Viennese people to experience district cooling directly. The cool urban furniture developed and designed by Bergnerdesign is supplied with pleasantly low temperatures via the return pipes of the Spittelau district cooling plant and offers an oasis of relaxation on hot summer days. Wien Energie does not need any additional cooling power to cool the furniture, but uses the return water from district cooling customers, which is heated to around 15-20 degrees Celsius. "We are working hard to reduce urban overheating and improve the well-being of the Viennese population in the hot summer months. The 'cooling rest' at Spittelau is a creative building block on the way to a climate-fit Vienna," says Peter Hanke, City Councilor for Finance, Economics and Vienna Public Utilities. The furniture is already in place on the forecourt of Spittelau and is currently being connected to the district cooling return line; in a few days, visitors will be able to experience the "cooling rest".
District cooling recycling for “cooling rest”
With an output of 23 megawatts, the Spittelau district cooling center supplies many public buildings - including the AKH - with environmentally friendly cooling. The 5-6 degree Celsius cold water travels from the center to the customers in insulated pipes and ensures that the buildings are pleasantly air-conditioned. After cooling, the water, which has been heated to around 15-20 degrees Celsius but is still cool, is fed back to the center in a closed circuit by the customer, cooling the "cooling rest" furniture in the process. "With the help of heat exchangers, the 'cooling rest' furniture can absorb the still cool temperatures of the return pipes and become a cool place to relax without using any additional energy. The returning district cooling is recycled and reused, so to speak," explains Michael Strebl, Chairman of the Wien Energie Management Board, adding: "The district cooling for this comes from the Spittelau district cooling center, which is one of seven large centers that contributes to the secure supply of district cooling to our city."
The “Kühlruhe” furniture is made from concrete produced regionally in Lower Austria. Concrete is particularly suitable for storing and slowly releasing cold, which is why the design team chose this material.
District cooling for a climate-fit Vienna future
With 30 kilometers of district cooling pipes, Wien Energie is currently cooling around 200 buildings in a climate-friendly way - and the number is constantly growing. By 2030, the district cooling capacity is expected to almost double from around 200 megawatts of cooling capacity to 370 megawatts. This will enable Wien Energie to cool an area of ??7.3 million square meters - more than the entire area of ??the Vienna Prater, for example. The buildings already supplied with district cooling include the University of Vienna, the National Bank, the Vienna General Hospital, the Parliament, the City Hall, the Museum of Applied Arts (MAK), the Austria Campus, the Vienna State Opera and numerous hotels. But several hundred new apartments, for example in the Nordbahnviertel or around the main train station, are already being cooled with district cooling.
How district cooling works
District cooling is generated in the form of cold water in our own central plants using highly efficient refrigeration machines. In addition to electricity, excess heat from waste incineration is also used as the driving energy. The water, cooled to around 5-6 degrees Celsius, is delivered directly to customers via our own district cooling network and is then distributed in the buildings via the company's own cooling systems. The water absorbs the heat from the building on site and transports it away. Recooling is also carried out centrally, for example using river water. This is also good for the environment: compared to conventional air conditioning systems, district cooling saves around 50 percent CO2; it is powered by electricity that comes 100% from renewable sources.
