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We work at the interface of Research, Public administration and Business consulting, in order to promote innovation for a sustainable future. SERA’s knowledge base is our active participation in research projects and our constant collaboration with universities.

We are creative, solution oriented, reliable, and flexible in terms of timing. We work for companies and public institutions and develop the best solution together with our clients.

Fields of Work

Efficient use of energy and natural resources in buildings, industry, and agriculture

Sustainable site development, smart cities and energy in spatial planning

Climate change and migration

SERA has been teaming up with proven experts to provide tailor-made solutions for our clients.

Founder

Dr. Susanne Geissler is the owner and managing director of the company. SERA global GmbH is the successor organization to SERA energy & resources e.U., operating from August 2012 until July 2019, also owned and managed by Dr. Susanne Geissler. Changing the organizational structure became necessary due to the expansion of business activities.

Dr. Susanne Geissler has been active since 1991, as expert and in leading management positions, such as member of the executive board and head of department Resources and Risk Research of the Austrian Institute of Ecology, head of unit Renewable Energy and Natural Resources of the University of Applied Sciences Wiener Neustadt, head of department Buildings and Heating of the Austrian Energy Agency, managing director of the Austrian Sustainable Building Council, owner and managing director of the consulting engineers office SERA energy & resources e.U.

She holds university degrees in the area of Natural Science and Technology from the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, Vienna / Institute of Structural Engineering (Dr.nat.techn.), Graz University of Technology (Diploma in Environmental Engineering), University of Graz (Mag.rer.nat.), and Danube University Krems (European Law, MLS Master of Legal Studies). Photovoltaic Planner, EXAA Electricity Exchange Trader Certificate, continuing education in Economics, Science Journalism, and Didactics.

News - Learning from BBCDC - A unique training centre - click on the link below and watch the video

Network
Research + Development
Danube University Krems

The Danube University Krems is the leading university of continuingeducation. The University specifically focuses on interdisciplinary and future oriented fields of specialization.

Universities of Applied Sciences
Partners
Green Energy Lab
Energy Services Companies Austria

Activities

We support Public administration in implementing European law, as well as Businesses with strategic decisions how to improve the efficiency of utilizing energy and natural resources. In International cooperation and development, SERA’s work focuses on the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. Collaboration with universities generates cutting-edge input for our work.

Services

We support in the implementation of European law. With a holistic view, we are able to identify synergies and make use of them in order to actually achieve the goals of the Energy Union and tap the full potential of positive effects without placing an additional burden on the administration.

We assist public administration in achieving real improvements in terms of energy efficiency and user comfort, CO2 reduction, and reduction of environmental loadings in general. Therefore, creating or improving a sound data basis and checking procedures are always an important part of our work.

References:
  • Salzburg Provincial Government, Department Energy management and consulting
  • City of Vienna, Department Energy planning
  • NECP for Albania and Montenegro (integrated National Energy and Climate Plan according to Governance Regulation)

We assist with strategic decisions in the area of energy and natural resources, for example by tackling the following questions together with companies interested in making truly sustainable decisions, for the own company and beyond:

  • What is technically feasible, but is currently failing economically due to the general conditions?

  • What is legally possible, but fails due to lack of will and misinformation?

  • What is economically successful, but has negative social and ecological impacts locally and/or abroad?

  • Where is there medium-term economic potential due to changing framework conditions?

Together we will find the right balance for your company and the path to a sustainable future.

We certainly get the best out of your team. Even for very well running projects, there is usually room for improvement. Reviews and evaluations by uninvolved third parties support you in continuously improving your performance.

References:
  • Project reviews and project evaluations: e.g. SOLTRAIN (SADC)
  • Evaluations of project proposals: e.g. H2020

Our work focuses on Sustainable Development Goal 11 (SDG11) Sustainable Cities and Communities, and Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG7) aiming at ensuring access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. Both have a key role in achieving other Sustainable Development Goals.

References:
  • Energy Support Program (Nigeria): Energy efficiency and renewable energy technologies in buildings, more information
  • Energy Efficiency Reform Project (Ukraine): Energy efficiency in public buildings

We assist public administration, planning teams, and PPP developers increating low-CO2 livable districts and cities. African cities face multiple challenges due to migration and population growth, in particular with regard to affordable, uninterrupted, and low-carbon electricity supply for all the services needed for housing, education, health care, recreation, business, and transport. We use the bioclimatic approach: it enables sustainable solutions in terms of energy efficiency and CO2 savings, job creation for the local economy and affordable housing.

References:
  • Heritage City site development, Abia State, Nigeria
  • Water Resources Road site development, Effurun/Warri, Delta State, Nigeria

Applied research and market development

Teaching

Products

Sustainable Energy and Resources Availability - This is how it can be made a reality: People understand what is at stake and support politics. Policy makers and administrations act transparently on the basis of reliable data. To this end, we offer explanatory videos, apps for data analysis and visualization, and navigation guides.

Short videos (approx. 5 minutes) explain complex issues and contexts in an easily understandable way. The Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations form the thematic framework of the SERA videos. Central are the topics of economic models, energy, raw materials, climate change and related phenomena.

You can see an example here: The "Integrated National Climate and Energy Plan" briefly explained.

Bespoke

We create explanatory videos tailored to your needs. With regard to graphic realisation and animation, various styles are possible. Please contact us if you would like more information at office@sera.global.

Data analysis and visualization are important for decision-making in project development, for the evaluation of policies and the unerring development of effective new policy instruments. We are specialised in climate, energy and buildings and deliver GDPR compliant solutions.

You can see an example here: "Evaluation and visualization of the purchase price collection of Viennese real estate".

SERA App

SERA App

Bespoke

We create tools for data analysis and visualisation tailored to your needs. Please contact us if you would like more information at office@sera.global.

The framework conditions and requirements in the field of climate, energy and raw materials are changing rapidly and the complexity is increasing. SERA guides are short virtual training units (approx. 20 min) that help navigate through complex topics and focus on the essentials. They are created based on our experience from numerous consulting and research projects.

You can see an example here: "Energy Performance Certificate, Governance Regulation and Sustainable Financing". (Coming soon)

Bespoke

We create SERA guides tailored to your needs. Please contact us if you would like more information at office@sera.global.

With transFORMAT to plus-energy neighbourhood: The transFORMAT Analyser (transFORMAT-A) presents selected information of the spatial planning laws of the Austrian provinces in a comparative way. It supports the identification of possible approaches to increase energy and resource efficiency as well as to reduce environmental impacts, especially with regard to the necessary transformation process at municipal level. transFORMAT-A is available here.

Are we getting closer to Sustainable Energy and Resources Availability? Here we assess the state of play in our areas of work, this time focusing on land use and the decarbonization of Austrian municipalities.

Efficient use of energy
— within reach

Solar energy is converted into usable energy by means of collectors. Collectors need space. Availability of land is limited. The efficiency of solar energy use is therefore also determined by the efficiency of land use. The goal is the multiple use of surfaces, such as the covering of noise barriers and the roofing of car parks in front of shopping centres with photovoltaic modules. Good examples are available.

A current example is the legally required sealing of the Müllnern landfill near Villach in the province of Carinthia, which is achieved by means of a solar electricity generation plant. The Müllnern photovoltaic plant is to be designed in such a way that it simultaneously acts as a roofing and final sealing of the landfill. At 35,000 square metres, the plant will be one of the largest in the province of Carinthia. This project is the first of its kind in Austria; there is already good experience with such projects in Germany.

Sustainable settlement development
— put on track

Sustainable settlement development must be resource-efficient, favour the use of renewable energy sources and ensure a high quality of life even in times of climate change. Although concepts and methods have been the focus of research for many years, and informational materials, planning principles, and assessment tools are available, implementation efforts lag behind.

Based on the available information the Austrian Conference on Spatial Planning (ÖROK - Österreichische Raumordnungskonferenz) develops guidelines that can then be adopted by the provinces in their spatial planning laws. The spatial planning laws specify the legal scope that the municipalities have in drawing up zoning plans, development plans and local development concepts. The legal frameworks of the provinces differ considerably in some cases. In practice, however, the legal scope at the municipal level for optimizing energy and resource efficiency is often not used due to a lack of capacity, and for political reasons.

Dealing with climate change and migration
— put on track

Climate change and migration are also taking place in Austria and require a fundamental rethinking of land use. There are prolonged hot spells with temperatures above 30°C in Vienna, parts of Lower Austria and Burgenland, among other places. At the same time, there is out-migration from certain communities and in-migration to other ones. This makes it necessary to completely rethink planning, building and renovation, and initiatives are needed to support the transformation process at neighbourhod level.

Green spaces, ventilation and climate-friendly cooling concepts are in demand. Initiatives to plant greenery on buildings are a step in the right direction, but it must not stop there. Bold steps are needed to optimise land use in transformational areas with vacant and outdated building stock: It is imperative to take advantage of opportunities to redesign and redevelop neighborhoods by applying plus-energy criteria.

Projects

Project type:
European Project Research and consulting
Project area:
Europe
Client:
This project has received funding from the European LIFE Programme for Research and Innovation under grant agreement no 101077169.
Period:
11/2022-10/2025

easySRI aims to enable a smooth and extendable web platform that offers services for the automated calculation of the SRI according to the Final report on the technical support to the development of a smart readiness indicator for buildings accomplished under the authority of the European Commission DG Energy ENER that will act as a basis for an effective implementation of the SRI and allow further testing at Member State level. easySRI aims to introduce additional parameters that address energy efficiency and financial dimensions in view of making the acquired information more understandable and quantitative for the user of the building. Furthermore, easySRI will support the implementation of a number of ML services (i.e. ML-based core engine and wizard tool for performance and smartness upgrades and SRT interventions), which will assist the evaluation and assessment of the building system’s performance and smartness in more than one normalised metrics as per the SRI framework, and provide customised recommendations for upgrades, considering the cost of investment. Furthermore, novel business strategies will promote adoption and engage stakeholders towards evaluating and upgrading smartness in their facilities, while dedicated workshops and training material will facilitate deployment. Finally, the project aspires the update of current standards as well as the inclusion of its outcomes in new or future standards and will investigate links with other EU initiatives such as EPCs, B-Logs and renovation passports in order to maximize the use of SRI concept in EU policies in the fields of energy and buildings.

Funded by EU LIFE Programme, easySRI project has started in November 2022 and will end in October 2025.

Website: https://www.easysri.eu/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/easysri
Twitter: https://twitter.com/sri_easy
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@easysri2022

The project partners:

ETHNIKO KENTRO EREVNAS KAI TECHNOLOGIKIS ANAPTYXIS, Greece (Coordinator)
FREDERICK UNIVERSITY FU, Cyprus
ENERGY@WORK SOCIETA' COOPERATIVA A R.L., Italy
SGS TECNOS, Spain
SERA GLOBAL GMBH, Austria
CENTRO DI RICERCHE EUROPEO DI TECNOLOGIE DESIGN E MATERIALI, Italy
WAIDE STRATEGIC EFFICIENCY EUROPE LIMITED, Ireland
DEMO CONSULTANTS BV, Netherlands
AUSTRIAN STANDARDS INTERNATIONAL, Austria
CENTRE FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES AND SAVING FONDATION, Greece


Project type:
Research and consulting
Project area:
Austria
Client:
Klima- und Energiefonds, ACRP – 14th Call, 2022
Period:
10/2022-03/2024

The objective of the transFORMAT-Link project is to create a catalogue of minimum requirements and criteria in the municipal development concept. This should simplify planning and reporting with regard to the NECP. Case studies should serve as examples for the development and achievement of municipalities own goals.

Our partners in this project:

TU Wien (Research Unit of Regional Planning and Regional Development) https://www.tuwien.at/en/ar/re...
Kleboth und Dollnig ZT GmbH https://www.klebothdollnig.com...

Project type:
European Project
Project area:
Europe
Client:
HORIZON 2020 - The next-generation of Energy Performance Assessment and Certification
Period:
07/2021-06/2024

TIMEPAC aims at improving the processes of energy certification of buildings. Among other things, the existing static energy performance certificate will be integrated into the overall BIM system and further developed into building renovation passports.

In Austria, SERA global works with the province of Salzburg. In close cooperation with the Department of Energy Management and Consulting, existing residential buildings are analysed and the necessary interfaces for expanding the ZEUS energy performance certificate database are developed.

More information: https://timepac.eu/

The european Partners:

SERA GLOBAL GMBH (SERA) Austria
FUNDACIO PRIVADA UNIVERSITAT I TECNOLOGIA (FUNITEC) Spain
INSTITUT CATALA D'ENERGIA (ICAEN) Spain
CYPE SOFT SL (CYPE) Spain
INSTITUT JOZEF STEFAN (JSI Slovenia) Slovenia
MINISTRSTVO ZA INFRASTRUKTURO (MzI) Slovenia
GORISKA LOKALNA ENERGETSKA AGENCIJA (Golea) Slovenia
ENERGETSKI INSTITUT HRVOJE POZAR (EIHP) Croatia
POLITECNICO DI TORINO (POLITO) Italy
EDILCLIMA SRL (Edilclima) Italy
REGIONE PIEMONTE (PIEMONTE) Italy
EUROPEAN SCIENCE COMMUNICATION INSTITUTE (ESCI) Germany
OMOSPONDIA ERGODOTON & VIOMICHANONKYPROU (ΟΕΒ) Cyprus

Project type:
Market development
Project area:
Europe
Client:
Horizon 2020, funded in the Call H2020-EE-2015-3-Market Uptake, under Grant Agreement No 695873
Period:
02/2016-04/2019

ENERFUND was a project funded by Horizon 2020 and has been developing the ENERFUND tool to assess and compare opportunities for extensive renovation ("deep renovation") in terms of their prospects of success.

The ENERFUND tool provides the basis for decision-making for

  • Companies: investment strategies and development of energy services
  • Municipalities: targeted regional development and promotion instruments
  • Public authorities: development of policy instruments

The underlying method was developed in the project:

  • Data availability: usable data sources and the conditions for them
  • Aggregation of data required to comply with data protection regulations
  • Permissible aggregation of data to provide a basis for decision-making
  • Data evaluation: types of data and combined evaluability of data

Data sources include energy performance certificates, directories of certified craftsmen, information on subsidy programs and tax regulations.
The ENERFUND tool has been filled with data and tested with stakeholders during the project. It is generally accessible. Operation is already ensured for the period after the end of the funded project. More information: http://www.enerfund.eu/

Project team: 15 partners from 12 Member States: Two universities (CUT/Cyprus, Aalborg University/Denmark), two companies specialized in databases, geocoding, data analysis and presentation (ENERMAP/Cyprus and Energy Action/Ireland), Ministry of Regional Development / Romania, ten energy agencies, NGOs, SMEs: Centre for Energy Performance of Buildings (Romania), Cyprus Energy Agency (Cyprus), SERA energy & resources e.U. (Austria), Energy Centre Bratislava (Slovak Republic), Centre for Renewable Energy Sources and Saving (Greece), Severn Wye Energy Agency (UK), Valencia Institute of Building (Spain), Sustainable Energy Development Agency (Bulgaria), Jozef Stefan Institute (Slovenia), ENERGIES 2050 (France)

ENERFUND News1 ENERFUND News2 ENERFUND News3 ENERFUND News4 ENERFUND News5 ENERFUND News6
Project type:
Research and consulting
Project area:
Austria
Client:
ASCR
Period:
09/2014-12/2018

Vienna´s Urban Lake Side stands for one of the largest urban development projects in Europe and also for one of the largest smart city demonstration projects in Austria. Supported by the Climate and Energy Fund, Aspern Smart City Research GmbH (ASCR) as consortium leader and the project partners have created a test area on three building plots - kindergarten/classroom, student dormitory and residential building - in which questions about the future of energy efficiency are answered.

ASCR leads a research team consisting of several organizations developing new services and products in the field of sustainable building energy supply. It is the objective to contribute to the Smart City of the future with secure, reliable, and affordable state of the art technology.

A central component of the flagship project Smart City Demo Aspern was the involvement of residents and users. Only with them can the optimal use of energy and the potential savings in CO2 emissions be further developed.

We have worked together with the users of selected buildings in Seestadt Aspern to better understand consumer habits and users’ requirements and expectations regarding products and services related with energy efficiency and renewable energy use in buildings. Based on our findings, we have provided input for technical research and development as well as input for the development of sustainable energy-related services for the future.

Living research in the Smart City demo project of the Climate and Energy Fund:

https://www.klimafonds.gv.at/press/seestadt-aspern-gelebte-forschung-im-smart-city-demoprojekt-des-klima-und-energiefonds/

Project type:
Research and consulting
Project area:
Austria
Client:
FFG
Period:
07/2012-06/2014

Energy savings can also be achieved through behavioural changes. The more differentiated the users, their motives and options for action are known, the better this potential can be tapped. In the development of the Plus energy building, users will become active prosumers who not only consume electricity but also supply electricity to the grid. By using the building accordingly, they can play a decisive role in balancing energy consumption.

The study examined the influence of user behaviour on the operation of low-energy and plus-energy buildings, differentiated according to social, societal and intercultural aspects as well as gender aspects in particular. This resulted in more tailor-made solutions for product development and communication as well as for the planningprocess.

A broad spectrum of building typologies was investigated (large volume residential buildings, office and administration buildings, school buildings, kindergartens, educational campuses), which have been newly built in the last five years to the passive/plus energy house standard or renovated to the lowest energy standard. The entire process, from the start of planning to the current operation, was taken into account.

From this, findings for planning and construction as well as for product development were derived: During planning and construction, conclusions are drawn on the timely involvement of users in the run-up to the project and on adequate advice and information for operation and use. With regard to input for product development, the focus was on building services equipment and control engineering.

The results of the two year project were prepared for different target groups in order to make the highlights interesting for the respective group easily accessible.

1 GINGER Factsheets Planung 2 GINGER Factsheets Wohnbau 3 GINGER Factsheets Produktentwicklung 4 GINGER Factsheets Energieberatung 5 GINGER Factsheets Schule 6 GINGER Factsheets Büro
Downloads
Publications
Recent Open Access Articles in peer reviewed journals

Susanne Geissler, Doris Österreicher and Ene Macharm

Sustainability 2018, 10(8), 2620

QUALICHeCK publications

Erhorn H., Erhorn-Kluttig H., Geissler S., Wouters P.

Brussels 2016

Concerted Action EPBD publications
Other online publications

Ipser C., Geissler S., Radinger G., Winkler M., Floegl, H.

Berichte aus Energie- und Umweltforschung 15/2015, Bundesministerium für Verkehr, Innovation und Technologie

Ipser C., Floegl H., Mötzl H., Huemer-Kals V., Radosch U., Geissler S.

Berichte aus Energie- und Umweltforschung 49/2014, Bundesministerium für Verkehr, Innovation und Technologie

SERA Working Paper
March 2019 - Publicly accessible EPC data and GDPR

Abstract: This article deals with the public accessibility of georeferenced Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) data in Austria and in particular with the protection of personal rights in the context of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). A proposal is presented on how georeferenced EPC data can be used to increase the renovation rate.

Contact

Zeleborgasse 13/2
1120 Vienna
Austria
T
0043 (0) 1 358 058 9
M
0043 (0) 699 10027427
E
office@sera.global