The town of Getzersdorf in Austria is set to claim its spot among Austria's leading innovation centers for agro-biotechnology with the new Erber Group campus. The new 53,000 square meter headquarters will house the management and administration of the Erber Group and its subsidiaries Biomin Holding, Romer Labs Holding, Sanphar Holding and Bioferm GmbH.
Situated about 75 kilometers west of Vienna, the township of Getzersdorf will house the new headquarters of the Erber AG. A groundbreaking ceremony on November 13 marked the start of construction which is estimated to cost in the range of double-digit million euros.
The first phase of construction will see the completion of office, meeting and recreational spaces for up to 400 people. A conference and training center will complete the project.
The four-story building structure has eight cube-shaped wings branching off a curved central spine and a total of 11,000 square meters of office space. The building design follows the principles of sustainability and optimized life-cycle costs. High insulation capability, groundwater heating and cooling, and heat recovery ventilation have been incorporated in the Campus' architectural blueprint for high performance energy efficiency.
Photovoltaics will supply a large part of the electricity requirements. The energy level of the new headquarters will correspond to the energy consumption of a passive house.
It is the aim that the Erber Group Campus should meet the requirements for a platinum certification under the rating system set by the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC, U.S. Council for environmentally friendly building). The Erber Group Campus will be Austria's first building to be certified with the LEED Platinum rating.
The completion of the new buidling and move from the current premises in Herzogenburg to Getzersdorf are planned for 2015.
