Academic Training for Students and Professionals about Sustainable Architecture in the Heart of Vienna

The “Green.Building.Solutions.” Summer University (GBS, 7 ECTS) is an academic training, specializing on first-hand ecological knowledge and engineering expertise. Up to 60 participants from all over the world and various academic backgrounds deepen their knowledge in passive house planning, sustainable urban development, new energy technologies, innovative architecture and ecological design approaches together with local experts in workshops, excursions and lectures.


The program includes workshops, lectures, discussions and excursions to Vienna’s best-practice buildings in energyefficient building. This is what you will learn about:

In Week 1, you learn about ongoing global challenges and the role of buildings within. You gain in-depth knowledge on how architecture becomes more sustainable - including topics such as green and regenerative building design, alternative strategies and the passive house standard.

Week 2 provides you with insights into material flows and circular economy in the building sector, ecological construction materials, reuse and energy concepts. In building modelling and simulation workshops you learn how to calculate energy use and demand with appropriate tools.

Week 3 is dedicated to a group design project: Students get to put theory into practice while dealing with a real-life object in the City of Vienna. This allows to immediately apply the relevant knowledge in a small interdisciplinary team of students - supervised by experts. The outcomes are presented along with a PowerPoint and a poster on the last day of GBS, which is followed by a public graduation ceremony inlcuding the handover of the certificates and final celebrations.

Along with this, the program is enriched by free social, sports and cultural events, which gives you the opportunity to get to know a bunch of like-minded and enthusiastic people, while over 30 different experts and lecturers contribute to the academic part!

Accommodation in a passive house guesthouse of the OeAD student housing for the entire duration of the summer program is included. This gives you the chance, to experience living in a passive house on your own! After the program, you have the chance to stay one extra week free of charge.

Course leader

GBS is organized by OeAD student housing together with over 60 international partners, mainly the BOKU Vienna, TU Vienna, University of Vienna, Danube University, FH Technikum Vienna, AIT, Marcello Turrini ZT and Reinberg Architekten ZT.

Target group

The target groups of the summer program are architects, urban and energy planners, constructors, building and civil engineers as well as students and professionals from similar fields in the construction environment. We also invite people with fields of study such as resource planning, ecology, and landscape planning to apply. The focus lies on academics and professionals; we welcome everybody, who wants to learn in an intercultural and multidisciplinary field of like-minded people in the great environment of the City of Vienna!

Course aim

GBS aims at increasing knowledge in sustainable construction worldwide to counteract climate change and resource scarcity. It was initiated to pass on Austrian knowledge about passive house planning, ecological building and sustainable design strategies to the next generation of green builders. The program adds on to the participants’ qualifications and they gain great benefits for their career. Finally, they act as ambassadors in their home country, locally applying and multiplying the knowledge.

Credits info

7 EC
Students who apply before April are eligible for a university certificate, that is worth 7 ECTS (BOKU University). all participants receive a participation certificate showing modules and signatures from the main organizers.

Fee info

EUR 2000: Regular participation fee:
For students: EUR 2.000, -
For professionals: EUR 2.490, -

Included in your participation fee:
• Certificate showing 7 ECTS after a successful completion* and participation certificate
• All costs for the lectures and lecture-related activities (field trips and excursions)
• All costs related to extra-curricular activities as shown in the program
• Catered evening events (opening and closing ceremony, traditional wine tavern dinner)
• Public transport tickets for the duration of the summer university
• Realization of a real-life case study through project work and guidance by experts
• Fully furnished accommodation in an OeAD-Passive House student guesthouse with the option to extend the stay for an additional week at no extra cost


* Students need to apply until June 15, 2023, to receive an official university certificate on 7 ECTS-credits from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna (BOKU). All students additionally receive a participation certificate.
More information on course-website.

Scholarships

For outstanding and highly qualified students with financial needs, we provide scholarships. The reduced fee for scholarship holders is EUR 490,-.
More information on course page.