Vienna (OTS) – The climate-friendly accommodation for the orange “48er” team, which opened at the beginning of May, plays a pioneering role in circular economy and climate protection. The recyclable building material concrete also makes a significant contribution to this.
At the beginning of May, a modern building for 250 employees of MA 48 – waste management, street cleaning and vehicle fleet – was ceremoniously opened in Vienna-Simmering. The special thing about it: The two-story building is now considered the first public building in the city of Vienna to be built from recycled concrete. The City of Vienna is thus making an important contribution to the use of sustainable building materials in its buildings. “MA 48 has shown what is possible with the city of Vienna’s first building made of recycled concrete. We are thinking ahead when it comes to sustainability and resource conservation and with our new building we want to take a pioneering role in circular economy construction. “In the best case scenario, building rubble and demolished concrete will be processed directly in Vienna or in the surrounding area and used again in Viennese buildings.”
said Andreas Kuba, deputy head of MA 48.
Strict ecological requirements were clearly at the forefront of this construction project: one of these was the use of the recyclable building material concrete. “Concrete is already completely recycled as a building material in Austria. In this way, the industry makes a significant contribution to conserving resources. However, circularity is just one of the many advantages with which concrete as a building material scores points in the long-term ecological balance of buildings. It is also an excellent energy storage device, extremely resilient and long-lasting – making it the logical choice for the construction of a public client whose core competence lies in environmental protection.”
said Christoph Ressler, deputy chairman of Beton Dialog Austria and managing director of the Ready-Mixed Concrete Quality Association.
More than 400 tons of primary raw materials saved
A total of around 1,500 m3 of concrete was used in the building; the average recycling rate was between 15 and 20 percent, depending on the quality of the concrete. This means that a total of around 450 tonnes of recycled material was recycled and recycled as a replacement for the primary raw material. The concrete delivery was also based on sustainability: This was carried out over short transport routes from the local concrete manufacturers Transportbeton GmbH (main supplier) and Wopfinger Transportbeton GmbH. Since the use of recycled concrete celebrated a premiere in this building, it was subjected to strict monitoring by the MA 39 – testing, inspection and certification body. The quality of the concrete was tested both during installation and on the finished structure. For this purpose, samples were taken and examined in the laboratory. The documentation of the accompanying concrete tests serves as a basis for future possible uses of recycled concrete in the City of Vienna’s buildings.
Holistic sustainability approach
Gottfried Baumgartner, managing partner of HD Architekten ZT GmbH, who is responsible for this object, confirms that the holistic sustainability approach is already common practice in the planning and execution of construction projects made of concrete: “Circular economy has long been a practice in construction. Ultimately, it is in the interest of planners, clients and executors to conserve resources and use as little material as possible. But this is just one building block for creating sustainable buildings. Above all, we need to use resources longer and more efficiently by reusing them and keeping them in circulation. Concrete makes this possible – without restricting our creative freedom as planners.”
The resource-saving 48er building not only scores points through the continuous use of recycled concrete: the ecological hot water supply is achieved through the thermal use of groundwater as a heat source in combination with a heat pump. The ventilation system in the house is also equipped with heat recovery. The house has spacious social and sanitary rooms for 250 employees, offices, meeting rooms, cloakrooms, drying rooms as well as technical and ancillary rooms and is supplied with electricity, among other things, by a PV system on the flat roof with an output of 15 kWp. Twelve electric charging stations, each with 22 kW for company vehicles, as well as a large green facade on the east and south sides of the property round off the sustainable character of the new lounge at MA 48 in Vienna-Simmering.
About Beton Dialog Austria
Beton Dialog Österreich (BDÖ) is an interest group of cement, precast concrete and ready-mix concrete manufacturers in Austria. The aim of the BDÖ is to anchor in the public mind the importance of the recyclable building material concrete for environmentally and climate-friendly construction as well as the progress the industry has made so far in CO2 reduction. More information: www.betondialog.at
Questions & Contact:
Nedad Memic
Communications Manager Beton Dialog Austria
0664 547 63 19
memic@betondialog.at
www.betondialog.at
Sandra Holzinger
Media spokesperson “the 48ers”
01 4000 48283
sandra.holzinger@wien.gv.at
www.abfall.wien.at