Pic: OETI - Institute for Ecology, Technology and Innovation
The Institute for Ecology, Technology and Innovation (OETI), a testing institute for textiles, personal protective equipment (PPE) and flooring technology, has shifted its headquarters from Spengergasse in Vienna to a new low-energy building in Liesing in the capital city. The building has been constructed with a focus on sustainability and is CO2-neutral.
OETI was founded around 55 years ago. Headquartered in Vienna, it has 13 other subsidiaries worldwide. OETI is also a founding member of the International Oeko-Tex Association. The International Association for Research and Testing in the Field of Textile and Leather Ecology provides independent certification and product labels. Since 1992, Oeko-Tex has enabled companies along the textile and leather chain and consumers to make responsible choices for products that are safe for health, environmentally friendly and fairly produced.
In keeping with this focus on sustainability, OETI and its parent company, the Swiss company Testex, were keen to build the new OETI headquarters in a low-energy design and to operate it in a CO2-neutral manner. To achieve these goals, the highest levels of thermal insulation and energy-technical optimisation were used, while the CO2-neutral power supply is fed by the in-house photovoltaic system and by domestic renewable energy.
The new headquarter offers space for up to 75 employees. The laboratory areas – the analytical/chemical laboratory and the mechanical laboratory – were also designed according to the latest methods and techniques. This makes OETI, alongside its Swiss parent company Testex, the second fully-fledged laboratory location within the entire, global Testex Group.
In 2017, OETI decided to expand its headquarters in Vienna and acquired a plot of land for the construction of its own business building in Liesing, Vienna's 23rd district. After an intensive planning phase, construction work started in October 2019. Despite the ongoing pandemic, the plans to move-in by mid-March were adhered to, with, at times, around 70 craftsmen working on the construction site.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (SV)
The Institute for Ecology, Technology and Innovation (OETI), a testing institute for textiles, personal protective equipment (PPE) and flooring technology, has shifted its headquarters from Spengergasse in Vienna to a new low-energy building in Liesing in the capital city. The building has been constructed with a focus on sustainability and is CO2-neutral.