SDG 7 – Affordable and clean energy
Goal 7 seeks to create a world, in which everyone has access to affordable, reliable, modern and sustainable energy. It aims to increase the global percentage of renewable energy and to improve and further develop the international infrastructure for clean and renewable energy.
What we’re doing
Zero-energy balance might not sound all that sexy. Never mind—we still get somebody else in bed every night. Gimme sun. Gimme heat. Gimme light. Energy has always been at the centre of our societal processes. And without energy, there would be no technologization. No advancement. Only stagnation. It’s impossible to conceive what it would be like if it were to suddenly disappear. One reason more why we ourselves produce a large part of the energy we consume. With 93m² of photovoltaic systems, 130m² of solar panelling for our warm water and a groundwater pump, we produce all the energy we need in our passive house—and are thus able to achieve a zero energy balance for the year. In the summer, it’s a bit more, in the winter a bit less. The water heat pump uses well water to generate a large portion of the energy we need for temperature control in the rooms. We use concrete core activation to heat the rooms in the winter and to cool them in the summer. The entire house only uses LED lights and we decided against installing minibars in our rooms out of consideration for the environment. This helps us not only to save on the energy costs we’d need to procure and service the roughly 80 cooling devices, but simply by not having them we are able to cut an additional 21,024kg CO2 every year. It’s a win-win for everyone since guests now simply drop by the lobby for a drink. These spontaneous interactions are something we enjoy—and they often extend much further than the refreshing effect of a cold beer or the warming comfort of a cup of hot tea. We like being heartfelt hosts!
Implementation
SDG 7 comes to life in room 2. In this SDG Room, we wanted to show that all the new purchases we make today need to be done using renewable energies. The headboard is a photovoltaic panel, above which we mounted an actual blade from a wind turbine that was once in use in the Austrian state of Burgenland. The next time you see a wind turbine, take a close look—the blades really are red. The ceiling lamp was once an orb in a large street light and we set it up like it is now to mimic the sun’s ray.
The wooden door on the wall comes from the Sahara and serves to remind us that in countries where the sun is available in abundance, solar energy is far too seldomly used. That’s also why we found it apt to decorate the room in Kelim patterns. The standing lamp was made from an old gas pump from Indonesia, where scooters are still filled with an incredibly harmful mix of gasoline and oil. The wardrobe made from water pipes and a Smatrix electric charger for eMobility remind us of how we can use resources smartly—as does our snowboard, which should invoke memories of the old snow-making machines that fortunately gave way to more innovative solutions. In the adjoining room, you can take your seat in some comfortable chairs that once called the Ronacher Theater home, while behind the door is a wardrobe made out of umbrellas. The small solar panels on the image of New York’s Times Square are there as a kind of warning—all the energy consumed there could be generated from solar power. And how do you like our wall lights made with an old electric meter once in use here in Vienna? Tell us what you think of the room by leaving us a message on the chalkboard above the spare bed!
