As part of the Kyoto agreement signed by Austria, the so-called “flexible mechanisms” are intended to achieve a cost-effective reduction in greenhouse gas emissions at the international level. In the course of the project, decision-making bases for the development of more favorable framework conditions for the participation of Styrian companies in projects in Eastern European countries and in developing countries were developed.

In the project IFZ is partner of ICLEI (International Council for Local Environmental Initiative which coordinates DEEP. The project aims to assist public procurers in improving energy efficiency through high environmental standards of public buildings.

The aim of the project was to examine the possibility and success factors for regional application of ‘leitbilder’ (models) on the way towards sustainable energy systems in an exemplary learning process of selected ‘energy regions’. The analysis and reflection of the case studies led to adapted communication and network strategies, which were examined for transferable elements.

Knowledge transfer of the results from "Building of Tomorrow" to existing traineeships  

The research project will include the exemplary implementation and subsequently the improvement of two methods especially designed for user-involvement in technological innovation, namely 'Constructive Technology Assessment' and the 'Lead-User approach'.

The project aims at investigating the growing role and diversification of intermediate organisations (and the related functions of intermediation) in processes of innovation and technological change with a special emphasis on the issue of sustainable development.

The purpose of ISEES was to examine the rationality behind the consumers’ choices and the influence of the individual user behaviour on the energy demand in social housing.

The “Factory of Tomorrow” aims at zero-waste, zero-emission production, and produces and provides products and services of tomorrow using materials of tomorrow to meet tomorrow's needs.

The project focuses on transforming the established contacts between Austrian scientists and their colleagues in South-Eastern Europe into real cooperation and creation of network of researchers in the field of science and technology studies.

Both the framework conditions for the cooperation between Austrian grid operators and decentralised plant operators and practical cooperation experiences will be analysed, focusing on decentralised renewables.

The CLEAN-E project will accompany the establishment of new and the improvement of existing green electricity product labels in selected EU Member States.

It is the aim of this project to deal with open questions of a user-friendly design and market introduction of CHP-systems and assess potential impacts on the energy system.

Aims of the Study: The mentioned examples were analysed as special forms of heterogeneous cooperations with a strong focus on the transferability of the models to other regions.

Energy efficiency is one of the most important topics of the future. Almost 40 percent of the whole energy consumption in Styria is needed for room heating and hot water.

Models for Inclusion of Dwellers in Sustainable Refurbishment of Buildings  

Development of a consultancy model to promote ecologic and economic sustainable building solutions within the planning process. Analysis of the efficiency of guided (integral) meetings with architects, planners, and experts for different items.

The aim of this study is to identify innovative research programmes on sustainable buildings (and possibly research areas not organised in programmes) in central, eastern and southern European countries and thereby to create an information basis for a closer international cooperation of „Building of Tomorrow“ with these countries.

Promoting the Public Perception of Bioenergy

Building on empirical investigations and an analysis of existing research, the project identifies specific socio-cultural and technological conditions for the success of user participation.

User-centred Scenarios for Information Technology Use in Sustainable Buildings  

Energetic and ecological aspects hardly play a role in renovation of municipal and private residential buildings. Aim of the project was to raise the share of ecological optimised buildings in the City of Graz.

The main goal of this project was the development of a comprehensive evaluation method for heating systems for buildings insulated according to passivehouse criteria.

Conventional design processes for residential and office buildings are not able to fulfil the complex requirement profiles of innovative building projects. As a consequence, design processes are inefficient: risk of error is high, as well as co-ordination effort. Therefore new strategies are needed: Close co-operation within the design team very early in the design process, starting as soon as possible, enables the development of cost-efficient and innovative design solutions.