"Institute for Business Development" goes for geothermal energy, July 2006

In Dornbirn (Western Austria) an additional building for the Austrian "Institute for Business Development" (WIFI) is under construction. The building itself will be founded on SOB piles. 248 of these piles (with a length of 16 m) and also a wall of the excavation pit are used to extract geothermal energy from the soil.

Therefore, a pipe system of about 40 km will be laid into the ground. The excavation pit for the building is located in the city centre of Dornbirn and special safety precautions are needed because it is the deepest excavation pit in the region at the moment.

The enercret system will not only cover the energy the demand for heating and cooling the new building, it will also contribute energy to the already existing building of the Institute.

The building was planned by the architects "Caramel" from Vienna and the energy concept was developed by "Energieberatung & Haustechnik Müllner" from Dornbirn.