Quiet electric excavator

Vienna launches trial for climate-neutral construction site

WKW Vice President Margarete Kriz-Zwittkovits with Climate Councillor Jürgen Czernohorszky

(Bild: Markus Wache)

It is a pilot project with an uncertain outcome: City Hall, the Chamber of Commerce and the construction company Porr want to complete a construction site completely without CO₂ pollution in collaboration with the University of Vienna. However, not only the climate, but also the local residents should benefit from this.

Two 200-metre water pipes in Penzing could make history: Two Wiener Wasser construction sites that have now been set up - on Waldweg and Alpengartenstraße - are serving as a test station for the city hall, the Vienna Chamber of Commerce and the construction company Porr to experiment with a climate-neutral construction site.

Every detail has been worked on
Only electrically powered equipment is used on the construction site itself: an excavator, a roller, an asphalting machine and five other electric vehicles. However, the environmentally friendly construction site planning does not stop there: Although conventionally powered trucks are needed to transport excavation and filling material, they are fueled with climate-friendly HVO100, which emits 90 percent less CO₂ than diesel. Recycled concrete is also used. The construction site containers are supplied with green electricity.

Local residents should be pleased that their construction sites were chosen for the experiment: Exhaust fumes are naturally eliminated with the electrical appliances, but noise pollution is also significantly lower - for City Councillor for the Environment Jürgen Czernohorszky, this is another argument for his credo: "Climate protection is human protection". However, it may still be possible to do good business with it: WKW Vice President Margarete Kriz-Zwittkovits points out that experience with environmentally friendly construction will be a significant market opportunity in the future and will therefore serve to secure the business location.

The construction site is being analyzed down to the smallest detail by the technical university on behalf of the Chamber of Commerce and is intended to provide a basis for the construction industry of the future. The focus is not only on the environmental balance, but also on the construction workers' experiences with the new equipment and its suitability for practical use. The first results are expected to be available at the end of the first construction site in May, while results for the second construction site and the entire trial should be available in August.