Burgenland's largest residential building cooperative: 10,000 heaters outdated!

Burgenland's largest residential building cooperative: 10,000 heaters outdated!

The Oberwarter settlement cooperative (OSG), the largest developer in Burgenland, faces a major challenge: around 10,000 of their residential objects are currently still heated with fossil fuels. This corresponds to more than half of the total of 40,000 apartments and row houses that accommodate about one eighth of the state's population.

Aktuell sind circa 7.300 Wohnungen der OSG mit Gas und fünf Wohnhäuser mit Öl beheizt. There are also around 2,500 apartments that are operated with electricity heating, but without the necessary radiators or lines. In view of the legal requirements, the OSG is prompted to modernize its heating systems and plans to get out of fossil heating completely over the next 15 years. As part of the “Green Way” project, which was started in 2020, all newly built houses will be equipped with air heat pumps or district heating.

new legal requirements come into force

The planned conversions are also in line with the novella of the building energy law (AG), which will come into force from January 1, 2024. These new regulations demand that newly installed heating systems generate at least 65% of the heat from renewable energies. The aim is to reduce the dependence on fossil fuels until 2045. The Federal Minister of Living, Klara Geywitz, confirmed the importance of these measures in order to put climate -friendly heating into the foreground.

innovative projects and funding opportunities

To make it easier to switch to sustainable heating, the OSG supports its tenants with pilot projects, such as the switching of electricity heating to heat pumps in Wolfau. There, heating lines are laid in suspended ceilings to enable both heating and cooling. The estimated total cost of this change is between 30,000 and 35,000 euros per apartment, including a photovoltaic system. In view of the expected savings of around 2,000 euros per apartment and year in operating, maintenance and maintenance costs, this investment is quite attractive.

Furthermore, the OSG plans to use various funding opportunities by the federal and state governments. In addition to the basic funding of 30% for climate -friendly heating, households whose income does not exceed a certain level could benefit from further bonuses.

The challenge of sensitizing a broad population to the need to switch to renewable energies will be one of its greatest projects in the next few years. Only about half of the tenants in existing objects with photovoltaic systems also use the electricity generated, which indicates the still existing potential.

In order to ensure the success of the changeover, a active dialogue with the tenants and a comprehensive information and advisory services is necessary to make the changes in the heating landscape sustainable.

The OSG is therefore faced with the important task of changing both your own residential building and the way of thinking of your tenants and making an active contribution to the reduction of fossil fuels.