Austrian Experts Seek Cooling Without Air Conditioning

Gunther Graupner of the Zukunftsagentur Bau in Austria states that about 90 percent of people’s time is spent indoors, making indoor climate control increasingly important. Rising temperatures are challenging building design, and solutions should be integrated from the start. Building component activation—cooling through floors, ceilings, and walls—is an effective method for energy-efficient cooling in both new construction and renovations.

Architect Christoph Treberspurg suggests hybrid construction with wooden walls and lightweight concrete ceilings offers a particularly low-carbon approach, reminiscent of early 20th-century building techniques reversed. Research at the ZAB Zukunftsagentur Bau in Salzburg used two test houses with over 200 sensors to study automated night ventilation, finding that combining it with shading and solid construction kept buildings cool even during heat waves.

However, effective cooling relies on a functioning building envelope with insulation and strategically placed windows, and the ideal system—like an earth-source heat pump—can cost around 6,000 euros to install. Further research is needed to optimize these systems for different building types and climates.