Graz is fully engaged in becoming a Smart City

This will attract more people to the second largest city in Austria

Graz is the provincial capital of Styria in Austria. It is fully engaged in becoming a Smart City, as the life/work/leisure balance of the inhabitants has always been at the core of the identity of the city. This aim includes energy efficiency, low emissions and resource-saving. This will guarantee the highest quality of life, healthy environment and more people to the second largest city in Austria. Graz is a pioneer in the transport and mobility sector as it values pedestrian zones and cycling routes.

The “Smart City Project Graz Mitte” strives to make the city center Zero Emissions by implementing urban technologies based on renewable energy and other integrated urban development initiatives with the vision to become a sustainable, liveable and intelligent city by 2050. The specific targets are the lowest possible emissions and low resource consumption, using sustainable energy.

With a height of 60m and building surface of approx. 2.500m2, the so-called Science Tower is “Research Building for Urban and Green Technologies”, innovatively designed to simultaneously be an urban landmark. The building boasts avant-garde construction elements such as:

- A smart lift;
- A battery store for the production and supply of decentralized energy at the Science Tower functions as a zero-emission energy generator;
- A geothermal buffer in the sub terrain;
- Bio-energy booster for the energy network ‘Smart Grid’;
- Transparent energy glass for biosphere, generating electrical energy by converting sunlight.

One of the most spectacular features of the Science Tower is possibly the smart urban gardening and farming at the 13th floor, on the rooftop.

Source: Smart City Graz