High-rise office achieves Passivhaus standard
The first high-rise office building to achieve the Passivhaus standard is in Vienna. The building is almost 80 m high and has a glazed facade. It houses 900 employees of the Austrian Raiffeisen-Holding Group. Prof. Dr Wolfgang Feist, director of the Passivhaus Institut, says, ‘This building proves once again that the Passivhaus standard and good architecture are perfectly compatible.’
The building has a solarPV system and a combined heating, cooling and power plant. Waste heat from the data centre is re-used, and cooling uses a nearby canal.
The decisive factor for achieving the Passivhaus standard was the radically increased efficiency of the facade, the mechanical systems and, even, the coffee machine — in combination with optimised shading equipment. Heating and cooling demand is 80% less than conventional high-rise buildings.