In a major brand statement, Audi AG recently opened the Audi Brand Experience Center at Germany’s Munich airport. The 3,580-square-meter Center is a showcase for state-of-the-art building and energy technology. Audi of Gainesville Florida says Audi designed the futuristic center to show that sustainability and ecology do not contradict each other.
Part of a brand initiative
The Audi Brand Experience Center is the newest part of the existing Audi Campus on the premises of the Munich airport. “With our clear focus on sustainability, we are stating very clearly that we are approaching this topic holistically and far beyond the electrification of the vehicle fleet,” says Horst Hanschur, head of Retail Business Development. For example, he explains, among other initiatives, Audi intends to make all Audi production locations worldwide CO2-neutral by 2025. “We are also working together closely with our trade partners on this journey. The Audi Brand Experience Center serves as a field for experimentation and inspiration at the same time.”
Sustainable energy
To start with, the air-conditioning technology in the futuristic-looking Audi Brand Experience Center is entirely based on geothermal energy. The geothermal ground exchanger pipes, the part of the system that supplies “heat,” are buried deep under the center. Inside the Center, the internal heating/cooling is delivered via pipes that are buried in the slabs between the floors of the building.
The glass facades of the center consist of 450 square meters of transparent solar panels with more than 1,650 photo-voltaic cells that deliver roughly 42,000 kilowatt hours of electricity per year. This corresponds to the annual power consumption of 10 average households. The energy generated with solar power panels can be stored temporarily via two battery storage banks that Audi made from second-life batteries.
Not just for the Center
The solar-generated electricity is used not only for the building itself but for charging electric cars in addition. There are a total of six charging points in front of the building, including two 150 kilowatt fast charging points. These charging terminals add to the 78 charging points at Munich airport, making it one of the largest contiguous charging area in all of Europe.
The E-tron Meteorite
In a striking detail, Audi installed a walk-on, stylized “E-tron Meteorite” at the charging terminals in front of the Brand Experience Center. As an electric filling station, the meteorite is also an important element of the “Charge and Fly” campaign. Until December 20, 2019, people who own an electric car or plug-in hybrid can park their car of any brand free of charge here and have it fully charged while they are traveling by airplane. The Audi E-tron Meteorite will remain available as a public charging station after the end of the promotion period and a reasonable fee will be charged for charging.
The Audi Campus
The Audi famous four rings brand has been expanding the Munich airport continuously since 1998. Aside from the Audi Brand Experience Center, the company is represented with the myAudi sphere, the Audi Conference Center, and three other Audi training centers.
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