Taxonomy Advisory
22.02.2024, Reading time: 2 minute(s)
ÖGNI verification of Vienna’s historic Ringturm
Following the ÖGNI verification of the VIG tower, Austria’s first EU taxonomy-compliant historical building, we have now also successfully accompanied the historic Vienna Ringturm in the process of confirming its EU Taxonomy. The striking post-war building from the 1950s demonstrates that historical built substance and modern sustainability requirements do not have to be a contradiction.
As EU Taxonomy Advisors, our core role is to constructively accompany our clients and indicate the measures that make most sense in both ecological and economic terms.
The path to successful verification
In order to ensure the successful investigation and verification of the Vienna Ringturm in line with the EU Taxonomy Regulation 2020/852, the EU Taxonomy Advisors of ATP sustain drew up an expert report, which it submitted to the Austrian Council for Sustainable Buildings (ÖGNI) for verification.
Independent third-party checking and verification by the ÖGNI increases the resilience of the evidence and confirms the quality of the building.
A decisive factor for the taxonomy compliance of the Ringturm is its resilience against climate risks. The materiality of the building envelope makes a major contribution to the protection of its economic activities against climate threats – both the dominant threats of today and those that are expected in the future. This underlines the importance to the real estate sector of comprehensively addressing not just environmental issues in general but, in particular, the major transformations being driven by climate change.
Conclusion
The Ringturm clearly demonstrates how the proactive and responsible actions of owners can enable existing buildings to make an important contribution to protecting the environment. Continuous adaptation and improvement, especially of the energy supply to buildings, have significantly helped them to address the challenging environmental targets of “protecting the climate” and “adapting to climate change.” In addition to this, an accompanying energy audit defined measures for fulfilling refurbishment requirements that will also prepare the tower to meet future challenges.
Targeted measures and proactive management can ensure that even older buildings such as Vienna’s Ringturm are able to make a significant contribution to the meeting of the EU’s climate targets. The successful integration of sustainability aspects into the maintenance of existing buildings sets a new benchmark for the real estate sector and acts as an example of how historic buildings can play an effective role in the future.
The EU Taxonomy Regulation 2020/852 is a groundbreaking classification system for a wide range of different areas of the economy. It aims to ensure that investment capital is steered in the direction of sustainability. For the building sector, it defines specific requirements vis-à-vis six environmental targets: climate protection, climate change adaptation, the sustainable use and protection of water, the transition to a circular economy, pollution prevention, and the protection of biodiversity and ecosystems. In addition to this, it defines minimum requirements such as adherence to OECD Guidelines and the UN Guiding Principles. These criteria can be used as the basis for rating a building as “in need of transformation” or “taxonomy-compliant” – a classification that is particularly significant for Austria’s huge stock of existing buildings.
Sebastian Krautzer, ÖGNI Auditor and EU Taxonomy Advisor, ATP sustainSebastian Krautzer is an architect and the holder of a master’s degree in building physics. He has worked since 2020 as an ÖGNI Auditor and EU Taxonomy Advisor at ATP sustain in Vienna, where he addresses the issues of building physics, building certification, and the synergies between ÖGNI/DGNB requirements and EU Taxonomy.