Christian Ammer is Managing Director of ista Austria and speaks in the LEADERSNET interview regarding the current energy situation and for which clientele the company’s offer might be interesting.
ista records energy consumption in large-volume residential buildings, assigns them individually and visualizes them. A consumer can see monthly how his heating costs are developing.
Im LEADERSNET-Interview, Ammer shares why creating energy communities can be beneficial and how energy and real estate interact.
LEADERSNET: ista records the energy consumption in the area of large-volume residential construction. What has changed here in recent years – also as part of the Ukraine war and electromobility?
Due to the geopolitical framework, which is unfortunately not easy, the topic of energy consumption – and above all its recording and visualization – has become even more important. Savings of up to 15 percent are possible here. And we offer this optimization to our customers – especially companies, real estate owners and property management companies. What is completely new now is the topic of electromobility and photovoltaics. We have developed a new service dedicated to community generation facilities. This means that, for example, a photovoltaic system is placed on an object and all apartment owners or tenants can benefit from it by offering a billing service for the solar power produced. That means: Once a year, our heat bill also includes the allocation of the self-produced amount of electricity. This makes us the first provider of the so-called solar power service in Austria.
LEADERSNET: That means: If you live in an apartment building that has a photovoltaic system and half of the residents drive an electric car, is that divided up accordingly?
An electric car is a separate matter, but also possible. What is much more interesting, however, is that you can partially cover your household electricity requirements with this system. You need a community power plant. This has been possible since summer 2021 thanks to the Renewable Energy Expansion Act. If you found an energy community for the system on the roof, you not only save on network cost taxes and charges, you can also supply around ten tenants with electricity and have a good overview of how the electricity price is developing. Additionally required electricity can of course be bought at any time, vice versa, too much electricity produced can also be sold. At ista, we are happy to support you in the founding process.
LEADERSNET: In which direction must energy consumption develop so that the future “runs out”? We like to pretend that a full switch to electromobility is enough to leave everything as it is. That probably won’t be the last word, will it?
Basically, it’s good that we’re no longer just discussing electricity as a society, but the entire energy sector. For us at ista, the decisive factor is how real estate and energy interact! Especially in the future, the question will be: How do I calculate the whole thing from the first second so that a tenant can supply an apartment with energy as cheaply and as climate-friendly as possible? With our consumption data monitoring, we also offer a great opportunity to compare energy consumption, including solar power consumption, with previous months, previous years and the average of the property. From this, in turn, measures can be developed to help save energy and costs as efficiently as possible.
LEADERSNET: For which clientele is your offer of energy management particularly interesting?
Internally, we speak of C&I – Commercial-Industrial. There is a legal framework that needs to be followed. For example an EU taxonomy, ESG criteria and that as an entrepreneur you have to know what energy consumption the company has. Here we offer solutions such as ista “MinuteView”, which clearly demonstrate how the CO2-balance sheet of the property and can also visualize their consumption in an easily understandable way.
LEADERSNET: The price of electricity is currently going through the roof. This is not only for rational reasons, but also because of the market and the fact that many people are afraid. In this regard, should we look forward to the future, or should we await it with respect?
We can always look forward to the future. I think that’s very important for us humans. We should have respect for how we deal with resources and always reflect on our own behavior. I think that if we all manage to rethink and become aware of what we’re doing and how, then most of the way is done. (approx)
