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Research at FHWien der WKW

Students as Researchers

A Racetrack for Sustainable Motorsport in Venice

Students of FHWien der WKW present the model of an energy self-sufficient racetrack as part of an official “collateral event” at the Biennale Architettura 2023.

The only contribution from a German-speaking university in the “Students as Researchers” project shows how energy can be sustainably generated for motorsport infrastructure.

In addition to the theoretical paper, a physical model of a fictitious grandstand was created, which will be shown until November 26, 2023, as part of the “Students as Researchers” exhibition at the Biennale Architettura in Venice.

Contact

Management & Entrepreneurship Study Programs
Währinger Gürtel 97
1180 Vienna

Tel.: +43 (1) 476 77-5744

Project Description

Using the Red Bull Ring as an example, students from the Management & Entrepreneurship Study Programs at FHWien der WKW have drawn up a theoretical cost-benefit calculation for an energy-autonomous infrastructure.

Motorsport and the associated racing world are committed to a sustainable economy. Formula 1, for example, has set itself the goal of reducing the CO2 footprint of its races to zero by 2030 with the “Net Zero Carbon emissions from factory to flag” initiative. In addition, carbon dioxide emissions are also to be reduced to a minimum in the production of vehicles, during travel and at the racetracks.

A model in the context of the Biennale

The project, which was developed as part of the “Strategic Management” lecture, takes an infrastructural approach.

It builds its theoretical model on the existing infrastructure of the Red Bull Ring as well as biomass and wind energy, adding innovative approaches to solar power generation.

Project Results

When creative practice meets university education

Even if only the roof of the main grandstand were used for energy generation, the experimental solar technology could reduce the current construction costs by 40 percent. The possible doubling of electricity generation and an additional halving of electricity production costs would enable the project system to pay for itself three times as quickly as today’s photovoltaic systems.

Even though this type of solar energy generation is still in the experimental stage, the model presentation was the only contribution from a German-speaking university to make it into the “Students as Researchers” project at the Biennale Architettura in Venice. The exhibition under the motto “Creative Practice and University Education” runs until the end of the Biennale on November 26, 2023 at the Centro Studi e Documentazione della Cultura Armena in Venice.