Rachel Goes to Graduate School: Spring break: The part that follows part 2

I just finished writing my final essay for my Sustainability in Austria class. I am finding it very difficult to switch my brain over the positive psychology so I think I will stay on the Austria track and try to get some more written about the trip. Here are a few more academic visits we took:

-A lecture at the Energy Institute: Here we learned about the history of sustainable energy in Vorarlberg. They started 25 years ago which was ahead of most other countries. We learned about ecological and biological housing. Ecologically, Vorarlberg uses building methods that intervene as little as possible in nature. Biologically, they focus on how the built environment affects humans and the way humans live. Architects and carpenters in this area work closely together, which is not always the case elsewhere. We were told that Vorarlberg plants to reduce energy by 70-80% by 2050, down to only using renewable energy. The goal is to not use any fossil fuel energy. We then learned specifics about passive houses, which are houses that use a maximum of 15 kilowatt hours per square meter per year. Passive houses are achieved through paying great attention to material source, planning and location, interior structure and energy sources of the house. Vorarlberg gives subsidies for low energy houses. One of the notes I took was "The US needs more inventive to encourage sustainable building. It is much more a European thing." Maybe that is what the future will hold!

- Kunsthaus Bregenz: an art museum by a famous Swiss architect named Peter Zumpthor. The photo shows the facade at night. It is a frosted glass facade surrounding inner glass walls. This design supplies a lot of light for the interior exhibits. We got to look around inside but not very much because they were setting up new exhibits and didn't want us to get in the way. Zumpthor used this design to separate art from the surroundings and give artists special, designated places to exhibit their work. The glass walls allow the building to rarely use electricity to provide supplementary lighting.

-A few community houses, two of which were made entirely of wood. Wood is used a lot here because it is local and it holds up well against the elements. It is a very good material in terms of low-transportation cost, energy-saving qualities and good durability. One of the community houses even used sheep wool as insulation. Apparently it is readily available here and it absorbs moistures and toxins that are present in the air. This project was the first one to use sheep wool insulation, but since then the company began offering sheep wool as an option. Very cool. These buildings also incorporated ecologically sound materials (such as avoiding foams and glues with chemicals), energy efficient heating (ground water preheats the air from outside before it goes into the rooms) and solar installations on the roof to help heat water.

Those were our main academic visits. We also got to experience some cultural activities such as a cable car trip up a mountain, swimming in a local stadbad (swimming pool), eating at a local cheese restaurant and spending some time in Liechtenstein and Switzerland. The swimming pool we went to, by the way, had to coolest indoor slide I have ever seen. You walk up these stairs to the top of the slide, which has a large window looking out onto grassy fields and snow-capped mountains. The slide itself is pitch black until you start sliding down it, then orange, yellow and red lights make different designs and patterns on the inside of the slide. There was even a little waterfall you slide under before swooshing out into a shallow pool of water. It was awesome. The one note I wrote in my little diary about it was "Coolest slide ever!"

I think I will just post a few more photos to wrap up my Austria trip for you : ) Enjoy!