Austrian House

Austria House is on its way

July 23rd was party time in Vorarlberg, Austria, for the send off of Austria House to Canada, where it will become Austria House, for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. - it's a Passive House!

The three companies that form the APG (Austria Passive House Group), Leo Wallner, the head of the ÖOC and their main people were all on hand to witness the send off.
So, here it comes...but we still have to wait a few weeks, till September actually, before the house arrives in Whistler. It takes six containers to "house" the House. The whole of its parts is 120 cubic meters.
It has been built in Austria, now its trucked to Hamburg, in Northern Germany, where it will board a cargo ship and sail across the Atlantic. In Montreal, Quebec, Canada it will catch a train to Vancouver BC, where it will finally be trucked to Whistler.

Everyone in Whistler is anxiously waiting for its arrival as everything is ready for the next step: putting Austria House back together again!

The project coordinator in Austria, Erich Reiner was explaining to Austrian media at the press conference arranged for the loading of the containers, that the average European needs approx 4kw a year of electricity per year , as the average North American requires almost three times that power, that is an enormous at 11kw a year.

The Passive House technology, which requires almost no energy for heating, cooling or ventilation, because of its advanced air circulation, heat exchange, window and wall insulation techniques, will be showcased in this Austria House for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. It is a real solution to energy conservation!