On 11 May, Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen received the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, for a visit at the Hofburg. On the agenda were talks on the war in Ukraine, its effects on the international community of states and the joint commitment to peace. They came to the TU Wien to discuss strategies for coping with the climate crisis.

TUW Plus Energy Office Building as a Best Practice for Sustainable Energy Management

"Energy and the environment, opens in new window" has long been a research focus at TU Wien. A highly visible showcase project for the construction, renovation and use of energy-efficient buildings is the Plus-Energie-Bürohochhaus, opens in new window (Plus-Energy Office Tower) on the Getreidemarkt campus, which opened in 2014. The building was a pioneering project and is considered the world's first office tower to produce more energy than it consumes for its operation and use with the help of its façade and roof-integrated photovoltaic system - and that in the middle of Vienna. During his visit to the TU, Secretary General Guterres, who himself studied technology, gained an insight into the construction and functioning of the building and, together with Federal President Van der Bellen, discussed sustainable energy supply as well as the possibilities and opportunities of the energy transition with pupils and TUW students.

Under the title "Accelerating energy transition to combat climate change - best practices and global challenges", not only the plus-energy office tower was presented, but also two other solutions made in Austria: As a recent example of sustainable energy supply, the project "Superblock Geblergasse, opens an external URL in a new window" was presented, which is supplied with energy via a geothermal system. As a third project, the Nobile Group, opens an external URL in a new window energy communities presented their vision of decentralised, participatory energy systems.