Together with our owner BIG, we installed an automatic irrigation system in 2021 to ensure the adequate irrigation of the green spaces and the trees, especially during the summer months when there is little rain. The irrigation system also helps to supply water to the seedlings and saplings during dry periods.

The tree population on campus is maintained and, if necessary, extended through replacement plantings. The potential cooling effects on buildings from tree shade are also considered when planting new trees, which could significantly contribute to keeping building interiors cool.

Saving energy is an important matter for Vetmeduni, and the campus is converting to LED lighting on an ongoing basis.
The library in Building BA and the riding arena in Building PD have already been fully converted to LED lighting.
The library windows have also been coated with a transparent film to achieve a cooling effect by reducing the amount of solar energy that enters a building.
The field stations – for example, the cattle barn at VetFarm – are also transitioning to LED lighting. 

The material from the old Vetmeduni flags and banners was reused as part of an upcycling project and turned into purses, pencils, gym bags, etc. in collaboration with Viennese bag designer Anne Hermine.

Vetmeduni offers staff and students over 400 bicycle parking spaces distributed around the campus. More spaces are continuously in development. Covered bicycle parking is also being planned.

In response to a special student request, a bicycle repair station was set up in the parking deck where cyclists can perform minor repairs on their bicycles themselves and make sure they have sufficient air in their tyres for the well-deserved ride home.

The Vetmeduni library has joined Libraries4future, which aims at helping libraries and their staff, students and trainees position themselves as agents of climate protection and resource conservation in library practice and research worldwide.

The library has also come up with an ideal solution for scanning documents and books. In combination with a mobile phone app, it is now possible to hold a book with both hands and scan it using a smartphone without the need to press a button. The app automatically takes a picture of the next page as soon as the page is turned and stops when the same page remains in front of the camera.

Building physics

Durability was given priority in the selection of materials. The energy requirements for the building were reduced by optimising the thermal insulation, which also decreases the reliance on fossil fuels. Environmentally friendly solutions such as the improved thermal insulation, in connection with energetically optimised building technologies using geothermal energy, help to cut operating costs.

The greening of the inner courtyards and of the roof have a positive cooling effect. As the building requires a great deal of energy for cooling, the decision was made to install solar shading structures in the form of mechanically adjustable slats. This reduces the cooling load due to the lower level of solar radiation, which also results in lower energy costs.

HVAC system

The building’s heating and cooling is achieved through the continued use of district heating on the one hand and the newly installed reversible heat pump. The extraction of thermal energy for heating and the return of waste heat for cooling are each carried out via two wells for groundwater extraction and injection. This covers approximately 50% of the heating needs and approximately 65% of the required cooling. To optimise operating costs, the heat pump is operated as a primary energy source.

Electrical engineering

The lights in the corridors and the sanitary rooms are switched on via motion detectors and in some rooms are regulated depending on the amount of daylight. This makes it possible to optimise energy consumption by providing illumination only as needed. Operating costs are also decreased through the use of LED lighting instead of fluorescent lamps, as this reduces the total installed electrical light output per square metre.

The Green Labs Austria initiative aims to make laboratories in Austria more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

Plastic waste that accumulates in the daily laboratory work – for example, tips, tubes and syringes – are collected and regularly picked up to be recycled.

Researchers from several institutes at Vetmeduni support the initiative. At the time of the first pick-up, an incredible 42 kg of plastic waste could be recycled.