Green renovation measures in old buildings

Studies show that air in inner-city and densely built-up areas, in addition to the problem of heat islands, is often heavily polluted. There is a significant correlation between exposure to particulate matter and health effects on humans: from impairments of lung function, the development of Alzheimer’s by (ultra-) fine dust particles that can enter the bloodstream, all the way to deaths due to respiratory and cardiovascular diseases. For these reasons, ventilation systems are used in many buildings. Pre-treating (e.g., filtering) the air prevents pollutant particles from the outside air from entering the interior of the building. In addition to their effects on building physics parameters, building greenery and plants also have an effect on the pollutant particle concentration of the surrounding air.

As part of the ecological renovation of an old building, one of the things being investigated is whether the targeted integration of greening into the building and ventilation technology in the air intake area has a positive effect on air quality in terms of fine dust, temperature, and humidity that can be detected or measured. In addition to air quality, the greening of several parts of the building in combination with PV systems is used to monitor air quality, surface temperature, and energy consumption for cooling, and to simulate changes in the microclimate.

The climate-resilient remediation measures with ecological and healthy materials are led by Professor Azra Korjenic from the TU Wien research unit, Ecological Building Technologies.

This use case provides the interdisciplinary research area with key findings that are particularly relevant in a city like Vienna, with its large stock of Gründerzeit buildings that are so important to the cityscape. Existing buildings and renovation, energy transition, and maintaining and improving quality of life in the coming years and beyond.

Funding amount: EUR 198,000