The automotive industry is celebrating its 125th birthday

focus sustainable
24 compact 2/2011
Biomass heating plant is a real eye-catcher
Steel is attractive
The new biomass heating plant in Upper Austria is an all-round
flagship project: environmentally friendly, sustainable and attractive.
It is designed to produce environmentally friendly energy
and is cooperating closely with the foil producer located there.
The heating plant was given its distinctive “look” by components
made by Hoesch Bausysteme of ThyssenKrupp Steel Europe.
The durable and maintenance-free steel elements, in turn,
represent sustainable construction.
The new biomass heating plant is located in
the Baumgartenberg industrial park, where it
is producing environmentally friendly thermal
energy with biomass from the region. The
heating plant is therefore reducing emissions
by up to 1,600 metric tons of CO 2 a year. It is
also making possible a synergy with the
foil producer located there: the heating plant
supplies water at a temperature of 220
degrees for the production of industrial foils,
and the foil producer feeds the unused waste
heat from its plant into the regional heat grid.
According to the operator of the heating
plant, the waste heat is sufficient to meet
the heating needs of the 2,000 inhabitants
of the village during the summer months.
It is already planned to connect other large
consumers such as the nearby Baumgartenberg
monastery.
The project is also exceptional visually. The
architect Gerald Anton Steiner designed the
facade such that it takes account of the CO 2
circulation during the combustion of renewable
raw materials. Accordingly, the elements
of the facade symbolize the characteristics
of a tree. “The windows represent the vistas
which can be seen through treetops,” explains
Steiner, “the attached black steel
sheet elements running across the facade
in the form of stripes indicate the leaves.”
Integrated white LED lamps ensure that the
viewer can identify the light beam beneath