THI students develop technical solutions for more sustainability

Students of the bachelor's programme Energy Systems and Renewable Energies show that sustainable living can be much more than just doing without. In the subject "Entrepreneurship and Sustainability" they have developed sustainable technical solutions - in accordance with the principle that sustainability can also be an important driver of innovation.

A group of students programmed an app that balances the personal CO2 footprint on a daily basis and playfully encourages people to further reduce the calculated value in their personal everyday life. To this end, the app provides tips for everyday life, be it for one's own nutritional and consumer behaviour or for the topic areas of housing (heating, electricity etc.) and mobility (bicycle, public transport, car etc.).

Another group of students developed a service tool that helps to turn unused house facades or roofs into "micro power plants" for solar energy production. The tool is a kind of quick check and calculates the energy and economic potential from initial information such as location, orientation or area and, if necessary, puts interested parties in contact with suitable companies for implementation.

Other business ideas included the development of an exercise bike made of used bicycles and recycled materials that generates energy to charge a smartphone, and a business model that brings agricultural products to customers in urban areas in a way that is as climate-neutral as possible.

The students were supervised by Prof. Reinhard Büchl (Director of the Institute for Applied Sustainability), Dr. Michael Tretter (Managing Director of the Institute for Applied Sustainability) and Prof. Dr. Gerd Schwandner (Professor for Product Management, Marketing and Entrepreneurship).

Applications for the Bachelor's programme Energy Systems and Renewable Energies starting in the winter semester 2020/21 can be submitted until 20 August.