HTL Mödling as climate champion
HTL Mödling is the largest school in Austria, has been awarded the Austrian Ecolabel and has been able to reduce energy costs by a remarkable 40 percent by switching to district heating and other measures.
The HTL Mödling in the Technikerstraße in Mödling is the largest school in Austria: 3199 students are taught by 420 teachers in 32 buildings. In addition, around 80 non-educational staff make sure that the school runs smoothly. This large team is led by Director Hannes Sauerzopf.
Responsibility towards the environment. In its mission statement, the large educational institution "acknowledges its great responsibility towards the environment. The current environmental guidelines are observed throughout the school and implemented as comprehensively as possible. In addition, we always strive to work in a way that conserves resources and the environment, and to incorporate environmental considerations into our teaching across all subject areas". The school has its own environmental team to realise these concerns.
Reduction of energy costs. As a result of this ecological commitment - combined with a strict certification process - the Höhere Technische Lehranstalt in Mödling has been allowed to use the Austrian Ecolabel since 2019. One effect of this process was a reduction in energy costs of around 40 %. This considerable percentage was achieved by switching to district heating and new regulations. It is clear that a lot of energy must be used as sparingly as possible, especially for heating the many rooms at the HTL Mödling.
The largest school in Austria, HTL Mödling. Copyright by HTL Mödling
Successful project work. In the school year 2022/23, students of HTL Mödling from the departments "Environmental Engineering", "Building Services Engineering" and "Electrical Engineering" successfully worked on the project „Saving Energy“. The goals of the interdisciplinary teaching activities, the creation of a catalogue of measures for short-, medium- and long-term possibilities for reducing energy consumption and increasing energy efficiency at schools, were achieved. In connection with this project, all pupils of the HTL Mödling were sensitised in class to reconsider their behaviour in the direction of reducing energy costs and to change it if necessary (ventilate; switch off lights; shut down PCs, etc.).
Climate-ready for the future. At HTL Mödling there will also be actions in the future in the context of decarbonisation (installation of a PV system, window replacement; changeover to LED lighting; etc.). This means that Austria's largest school is not only on the right track ecologically!