COUNTRY: Austria and Italy

PROGRAM NAME: Austrian Adventures in Passive House Design, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

PROGRAM TRAVEL DATES: Tentative Dates: June 30 - July 17, 2012

PROGRAM COST: $3990 (summer tuition not included)

PROGRAM COURSES: TEC 3538-145: Energy in Europe (3 credits)
                                           TEC 3539-145: Sustainable Energy Efficiency and Passive Haus Design (3 credits)

PROGRAM COURSE PRE-REQUISITES: None

PROGRAM LEADERS CONTACT INFORMATION:
Dr. Jeff Tiller, TEC, tillerjs@appstate.edu or 262-6351
Dr. James Russell, TEC, russellja@appstate.edu or 262-7708

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:
What is so appealing about city life in Europe? How can modern Europeans use so much less energy than we do? Why are they ahead of us in the quest to reduce energy consumption and develop renewable energy technologies?

Learn the answers to these questions and many more in the Austrian Adventures in Biofuels and Energy Efficiency Study Abroad Program. The program will be conducted jointly with Appalachian State, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and universities in Austria, such as Graz University of Technology and the University of Natural Resources in Vienna. In addition to classroom education, there will be a wide variety of field excursions to sites including the following:

• Biomass to energy plant near Vienna;
• Visit to electric power plant using waste material for fuel;
• Energiepark Bruck with large scale wind energy, wood waste boiler for district heating, biogas production plant that
  uses local crops and waste products such as feedstocks;
• Gussing – with innovative biogas plants and other biofuels facilities;
• Energy efficient Passive Haus building development project; and
• Visits to Passive Haus developments.

In addition, you will see many of the incredible historical and cultural sites of Vienna such as:
Pedestrian plazas, Belvedere Palace; Charles Church (Karlskirche); St. Stephens Cathedral; Prater amusement park; Naschmarkt with foods from around the world; Art Museums; walks along the Danube River; lots of music as well as the wonders of Venice, Italy and Graz, Austria.

The goals of the program are:
(1) to learn about Passive Haus technology and design and other energy efficient approaches to construction;
(2) to see a wide variety of renewable energy and energy efficient projects in practice;
(3) to find out about energy modeling and sketching skills;
(4) to witness the commitment of European countries to a sustainable energy future:
(5) to see how a major European city works with mass transit and pedestrian-oriented development patterns;
(6) to learn about the historical past of Vienna and Graz, Austria and Venice, Italy;
(7) to have joint inter-cultural experiences with students from Europe;
(8) to explore the culture of Austria and Italy;
(9) to visit smaller towns in Austria and learn about their cultural heritage and economic development;
(10) to learn basic German phrases;
(11) to conduct a research/ design project and prepare and conduct a presentation; and
(12) to conduct physical activities such as hiking and biking in Austria and Italy.
If you would like more programmatic information not included in this standardized description, please contact the program leaders directly.

PRE-TRAVEL CLASS MEETINGS:
Biweekly beginning in February; 4 hours per day June 25-29, 2012.

Please E-mail the trip leaders above; for more details go to the WebSite:

http://international.appstate.edu/education/aoep/Austria_TEC_S12