What is innovative about this project?

  • Project planning and management: Temporary accommodation for tenants during renovation period
  • Project planning and management: Ensuring cost-neutrality for residents after the renovation operation.
  • Technical: Ensuring a combination of purposes possible through spatial planning and urban planning approaches.

Wir inHAUSer project can be described as remarkable in terms of its comprehensive (award-winning) concept to minimise carbon footprint through energy use, where the innovative mobility approach assumed a pioneering role. The aim was to reduce the use of private cars to a minimum through alternative means of transportation. Another feature was the management of temporary accommodation for tenants who had to move out for one and a half years during renovation works. The relocation process was facilitated by the cooperation of the five social housing providers in Salzburg who make available their stock for temporary needs. Tenants were given a say in the planning and the renovation investment was not reflected on a rent hike. The cost of the refurbishment was funded with the national social housing system in Austria, where rents are calculated based on the cost of the refurbishment

Local Partnership

  • Company: Energy Consulting Austria (ECA); MO.Point (e-mobility sharing services); FAMILY OF POWER e-Carsharing; BERGFREUND GmbH SMART CITY PRODUCTS
  • Municipality: City of Salzburg
  • Housing provider: Heimat Österreich (project leader)
  • Other: Salzburger Institut für Raumordnung&Wohnen (SIR); Fachhochschule Salzburg, Applied Sciences University; Stadt Land Berg (Sociology expert); Klima- und Energiefonds..

The buildings are property of the Salzburg municipality. They were leased to developer Heimat Österreich for 100 years at a below-market rate under the condition of renovating the district. The Salzburg regional authority facilitated the grant through a regional subsidy mechanism specific to housing. A collaborative planning process was organised. The Salzburg University of Applied Sciences and the Salzburg Institute for Regional Planning and Housing (SIR) – financed by the Climate and Energy Fund as part of its “Smart Cities Initiative” – developed a comprehensive renovation concept for the project. SIR is a competence centre for sustainable neighbourhoods. Based on two research projects, “ZeCaRe” (Zero Carbon Refurbishment) and “ZeCaMo” (Zero Carbon Mobility), they explored the question of how existing residential buildings could be upgraded with innovative mobility services with minimal negative ecological impact. Residents completed a survey to help identify issues and needs in the area and were given a say in the design of the floors. A multi-partner steering group was established to agree on common targets and goals for a successful renovation process. A quality agreement was reached, to ensure quality standards in the various aspects of the project.
In Austria, the system of limited-profit-housing associations often has SMEs as subsidiaries attached to the building company itself. In this case a general contractor was hired. They worked with Energy Consulting Austria (ECA), who designed the heating and power supply system for the project, and MO.Point (e-mobility sharing services), who designed the mobility point and the mobility-concept as a whole. The ‘mobility point’ was created and run (and is still being run) by FAMILY OF POWER e-Carsharing, who at the same time subcontract the non-Carsharing options to other companies (bike-sharing, cargo-bike-sharing, etc.).

Key Facts

  • Year of construction: 1980s
  • Renovation period: 2020-2022
  • Area of intervention (m²): 6,745 m²
  • Number of dwellings (before/after): Before: 75 After: 99
  • Housing typology: multi-apartment buildings
  • Housing tenure: Social (non-for-profit) rental housing
  • Number of residents: 200
  • Shared facilities: Room Pick-Up Box for Postal Service(s); Shared Mobility Point with Sharing-Options; Shared Rooftops

Financial information

  • Funding sources: Land of Salzburg housing subsidy scheme, of which limited-profit-housing associations are able to access (regional)
    Klima-und Energiefonds: extra funding for innovative process as well as innovative parts of the investment costs.
    EU funding (Horizon2020) – syn.ikia project: monitoring, data assessment
  • Total cost of renovation (€): 19,000,000 €
  • Subsidies received (€): 10,500,000 € (Region of Salzburg housing subsidy system: 60% loan, 40% grant)
    Klima-und EnergieFonds: 100,000€ (pre-concept), 500,000€ (concept, planning and construction), 50,000€ (mobility in practice with focus on mobility point), 50,000€ (monitoring phase for 1,5 years after construction) 10,500,000 € from EU funding (Horizon2020) – syn.Wikia project
  • Rent before and after renovation (€/month): Before: 9.50€ per square meter (2020) After: 10.50€ (2022)
  • Energy bill (€/month): N/A

Context

The residential housing complex in Inhauserstraße was built in 1985 by the social housing provider “Heimat Österreich”. The complex is situated in a wealthier part of Salzburg, but it accommodates mostly low-middle income residents. The housing estate was only around 30 years old, but its condition already reflected the low insulation standards at the time of construction. This problem was leading to untenable heating costs and moulding. Other problems required urgent attention: the buildings were not accessible to people with disabilities, lacked natural lighting, balconies and roofs were poorly designed, the sound insulation on the west side of the complex facing the train tracks was poor, indoor air quality was increasingly inadequate and there was an overall need of wide repairs.

Goals

  • Reduce carbon emissions to a minimum with a focus on carbon-neutral construction and mobility.
  • Contribute to inner-city densification (from 75 to 99 dwellings).
  • Guarantee housing affordability in the Inhauserstraße area.

Interventions

  • Insulation of the exterior of the building with cellulose. An extra floor was constructed with hybrid material (wood and concrete). The architect made the decision to keep the original wooden structure and shape of the building.
  • Refurbishing of the heating system of the complex. Natural gas was switched to a heat pump which derives 45% of its energy from wastewater, 30% from waste air, and 25% from biomass pellets and photovoltaic panels on the roof with very low temperatures.
  • Support to tenants during the duration of the renovation (one and a half years). The temporary accommodation of the tenants was ensured by five other social housing providers in the city, who offered their dwellings for the temporary need.
  • Offer of the “Mobility Point”: a room of approx. 25 m² (accessible to all residents using their own key), comprising sharing products (mobility modules): bicycle basket trailers, bicycle child trailers, e-scooters and e-bikes, an e-cargo pedelec and an e-car. The charging stations for the e-mobility modules are located directly in or in front of the Mobility Point. In contrast the number of parking spots was reduced compared to the usual number.
  • Set up of a parcel room to save unnecessary journeys and related CO₂ emissions. It contains the MYFLEXBOX, an intelligently networked and flexibly usable locker system in which parcels and other items can be safely deposited and picked up around the clock.
  • Use of the Klimaaktiv building certification as a standard to guarantee the quality assurance of buildings and neighbourhoods through the construction process.
  • Monitoring of the project (two-years) carried out to check whether the goals could be achieved (EU project Syn.ikia).

Impact

  • Wir InHAUSer has received multiple awards for their collaborative planning and design process as well as the carbon-neutral approach in construction and innovative mobility strategy. Notably, the project was recognised as klimaaktiv: GOLD award – quality mark for sustainable residential and service buildings for achieving 929 out of a possible 1000 points.
  • The project had positive externalities on the housing sector in Salzburg, having encouraged both social and private housing providers to adopt a similar heating system and mobility management strategy.

Advice to future “Lighthouse Districts”

  • To form a planning team right from the outset of the project. Having a cooperative planning process helped in creating team-spirit amongst stakeholders, minimising objections and creating a shared innovation pathway, outside of conventional renovation practices.
  • Guarantee dedicated funding to pay for the collaborative process. In Salzburg this was instrumental given the extensive time and resources required to foster local engagement. The relationship to the neighbours, future inhabitants and companies was ever improving.
  • Ensure the planning process is collaborative. In Wir inHAUSer this process was complex from the outset as three different groups were objecting to it early on. The planning team managed to involve them, and manage their expectations, which resulted in their and other residents buy-in.
  • Bear in mind that costs need to be kept at a minimum, even in ground-breaking projects. In Austria limited-profit housing sector rents must be cost-based. So, if the costs of the project rise due to an innovative but costly approach, the rents are meant to follow suit. In Wir inHAUSer, achieving cost-neutrality was only possible thanks to the municipality’s wish to extend the lease of the property.
  • Collaborate or involve Academia or other experts. Participating in an EU-funded project with multiple expert organisations uncovered urban planning practices at an international level which ended up informing the successful approach of Wir inHAUSer.
  • Involve stakeholders that at first do not seem obvious. The solution to accommodate tenants was facilitated by the extensive network that the sociologist who managed this part of the process had with other social housing companies in Salzburg. It was a lengthy process that involved additional costs that were not properly covered with the available funding.
  • Favour partnerships with known organisations. The reliability of the additional subcontractors (mobility, etc.) was key as the building company would not have the capacity to provide the added mobility amenities.