District cooling uses waste heat from thermal waste utilisation or electricity generation in a closed cooling water system for building air conditioning. Due to its highly efficient generation mix, district cooling in Vienna makes a significant contribution to CO2 reduction and is considerably more cost-effective than conventional cooling methods.
The Schottenring district cooling station officially began operating in the first half of 2013. Along with a number of other companies, the Ringturm headquarters of Vienna Insurance Group and Wiener Städtische were also connected to the Schottenring district cooling network. In addition to the benefits mentioned above, district cooling is also a space-saving alternative compared to conventional air conditioning systems. Using cooling supplied by a central cooling station allows valuable space to be saved for office and other uses.