Every year prominent members from the business and scientific communities as well as the media and pioneers for a sustainable future convene during the awards ceremony. The GreenTec Awards is celebrating its tenth year this year. The Smart Green Tower by Frey Architekten, a cooperative project with partners Siemens and the Fraunhofer Institute, has landed a slot in the top 3 in the category ProSieben Galileo Wissenspreis.

Since 2008 the GreenTec Awards has created an international platform to highlight forward-looking solutions for our future. Based on strict criteria such as the level of innovation, ecological compatibility and profitability, an independent, interdisciplinary Jury decides on the winner in each of the 14 categories. An online-voting component and people’s choice award ensure the public’s opinion is also represented. Canada is this year’s patron country.

The Smart Green Tower is characterized by its innovative technologies such as high-performance photovoltaic modules with intelligent building automation, peak-load management for the entire city district by connecting the energy supply with existing buildings in the smart grid, a mega-kilowatt battery storage capacity and aquaponics

„An intelligent building embedded in the smart grid is the kind of flagship project illustrating a new type of infrastructure that planners hope will make cities more robust and sustainable,” writes Siemens. 

“In the Smart Green Tower sustainable architecture and innovative energy management are complemented by the highly modern Desigo room automation system and the management platform Desigo CC supplied by Siemens Building Technologies.“

But the Smart Green Tower is more than just a building with innovative ideas. It also offers a home in which people from diverse backgrounds, ages, professions and physical abilities can live in dignity. For Frey Architekten sustainability also means a high level of social and societal responsibility.

Just as the Smart Green Tower will “communicate” with neighboring and existing buildings, the residents will also engage with one another in their living space. “What makes a good urban space?” asks architect Wolfgang Frey, owner of the architectural firm responsible for the project. “When people claim with conviction, ‘That’s mine!’ When the living space mirrors their individual personalities and people feel a sense of belonging.”

The GreenTec Awards and the Smart Green Tower connect both technology and the people who use it. The flood of applicants from eighteen different countries as well as the strong media attention the awards ceremony itself gets illustrates how important the current discussion about our sustainable future has become worldwide.