A New Thermal Shell for Old Houses

TU Graz highlights new features in the Smart City project "STELA". Instead of relying on high tech for the thermal refurbishment of existing multi-storey buildings, social compatibility returns to the centre stage of the project. Anna has now got more room. A wheelchair user, she lives on the ground floor of an 11-storey house in Leoben. In the framework of the Smart City "STELA" project, the prototype of a thermal shell was installed on Anna's apartment in March 2017: a habitable steel-wooden shell with glass and photovoltaic elements. In summer the new 30-m² space serves as a terrace; in winter as a conservatory. Due to this envelope, thermal energy demand has been lowered by three quarters, and as a consequence CO₂ emissions reduced by almost 60%.