The former military camp “Martinek-Kaserne” south of Baden has been out of use by the Austrian Armed Forces since 2014. The vast property with an area of 40 hectares with buildings protected by cultural heritage dating from the 1930s has been subject of several development plans over the years. Plans to sell the property to an investor were up to now unsuccessful, since the conditions of the buildings and the sheer size of the project has proven as a too big challenge even for the most ambitious investors. Over the last years the main stakeholders, i.e. the Federal Ministry of Defence as property owner, the City of Baden, and the Federal Monument Protection Agency, have discussed several options for the future use.
The aim of the SANBA project is to develop a so-called anergy or low-temperature heating and cooling system (< 30 °C) for the future use of the "Martinek-Kaserne", using the heat from the wastewater of the neighbouring NÖM dairy plant as one heat source, as well as refurbishment and retrofitting concepts for the protected buildings. In a first step and as a core content of this industrial research project, after a comprehensive investigation of the site, new and communicating simulation tools will be developed to cope with the complex situation of the area, consisting of different heat sources, protected and potential new buildings, different temperature levels and times of energy demand, different uses of the buildings, etc. The concept of the anergy grid will comprise (I) the heat recovery from the wastewater of the neighbouring NÖM dairy plant, (II) integration of locally available renewable energy sources, (III) energy storage aspects, (IV) the special challenge of different building standards of the old protected buildings vs. newly built buildings with different usages (living, commercial, education), and therefore different supply temperatures and demand characteristics, and (V) moderate cooling via Free Cooling. The project results will support the stakeholders in the decision, whether the concept of an anergy grid at the area of the Martinek-Kaserne is technically and economically feasible and whether this concept should be pursued further.

The project SANBA is part of the NEFI thematic model region that positions energy intensive and manufacturing industries and their decarbonization in the center of a long-term innovation process to boost technological development. SANBA contributes to the NEFI-innovation fields Energy Efficiency & New Processes and Renewable Energy & Storage & DSM.