The result of the Energiesparmesse Wels 2009:
More visitors and increased propensity to invest as well as consolidation as an Austrian HVAC specialist fair

103,195 visitors in total +++ increase by 6 % compared to the previous year +++ 27,317 professional visitors +++ visitors’ propensity to invest sets signals for a positive development of the building and energy industry +++ particular interest of final customers in thermal rehabilitation and switch to modern, renewable heating technology +++ great influx of visitors to the manufacturers of boilers, solar plants and heat pumps +++ strengthening of unique position as a combined specialist and public fair +++ highly frequented at the Professional Visitors’ Days +++ 80 % of the visitors intend to attend the Professional Visitors’ Days in Wels in 2010 +++ award ceremonies, competitions and evening events represented a meeting point for industry, trade and commerce.

In spite of the challenging economic situation the consumers are prepared to invest in energy-saving measures – this was impressively proven at this year’s Energiesparmesse in Wels. The exhibitors succeeded in receiving an unprecedented number of visitors being ready to make investments and this was also exemplified by the positive résumé of the exhibiting companies.

The director of the fair, Mag Robert Schneider, states as follows: ”After both Professional Visitors’ Days and an extraordinarily well-attended Saturday it was already foreseeable that we would break the record of 100,000 visitors and achieve a significant increase of the numbers of visitors in comparison to the preceding year”. After the counting up the final result is now at hand: In total 103,195 visitors as well as an increase by 6 % compared to 2008. Since the fair was founded 25 years ago the Energiesparmesse has evolved from a small regional exhibition into a combined fair for professional visitors and final costumers of international importance. The success story may clearly be deduced from the continuously increasing numbers of visitors: from 6,000 to over 100,000 fair visitors ever since the fair was founded.

In addition to the exhibition the visitors were given an opportunity to inform themselves at over 200 technical lectures and workshops which were held by experts and a large number of interested visitors took advantage of this offer.

A great demand for the topic thermal rehabilitation and new buildings in low-energy- and passive-house-standards as well as for the topic exchange of boilers – in particular the switch to biomass – was observable during the fair.
Many customers are prepared to spend money on this in order to benefit in the future from a great reduction of costs due to energy-saving measures.

As a whole the fair is an indicator for the positive future of the building and energy industry.

Facts concerning the Energiesparmesse 2009:
103,195 visitors
Founded 25 years ago
912 exhibitors
26 fair halls
68.200 m² exhibition space

The first two days of the Energiesparmesse which were reserved for installers, in-house technicians and the building trade for B2B discussions once again turned out to be a great success. 27,317 out of in total 103,195 visitors (an increase of 6 % in comparison to 2008) were professional visitors; this indicates an increase of 3.9% in comparison to the previous year. In the occupational group of the gas engineers, water engineers, heating plumbers and electricians as well as in-house technicians and building services planners the Energiesparmesse Wels recorded 14.369 visitors.

Broad acceptance of the Professional Visitors’ Days
Against an economically difficult background the Energiesparmesse has asserted its position as a leading trade fair for sanitary, heating and air-conditioning technology. In this year the numbers of visitors were marked by a postponement of the HVAC Professional Visitors’ Day (Ash Wednesday) – which was introduced in 2008 – to Thursday; however, as a whole an increase of 3.9% was reported with regard to the specialist audience. According to an independent survey which was carried out among professional visitors by the Institut für statistische Analysen Jaksch & Partner in Linz 79.3% of the questioned persons stated that they intended to visit one of the Professional Visitors’ Days in Wels in the next year whereas only 4.4% of the questioned persons said that they intended to visit another Austrian HVAC fair instead of the Energiesparmesse in 2010. This underlines the outstanding significance of the Energiesparmesse as the meeting point of the installation and building engineering in Austria and challenges the Messe Wels to continue working on its expansion – in particular in the field sanitary and installation technology and to further promote the HVAC Professional Visitors’ Day.

In total the HVAC sector consisted of 455 exhibitors which presented their merchandise and innovations already on Wednesday on a surface of around 30,000 m² distributed over 8 halls. Apart from the manufacturers of boilers and solar plants the sanitary wholesalers which invited the visitors with a variety of promotions and events to their stands observed an increased inflow of visitors. Moreover the professional visitors were enthusiastic about the new hall for heat pumps where the entire professional competence of the heat pump manufacturers was concentrated and in which the visitors to the fair took an absolute interest on both public days.

Top-class side-events turned the Energiesparmesse into a meeting point for industry, trade and commerce
On Wednesday the Upper Austrian state gild of the sanitary, heating and ventilation engineers invited for a press breakfast following the motto “Innovation and subsidies for increased energy efficiency“ and informed about the new Comfort Index which shall in future provide information about a building’s need of rehabilitation and its quality of living conditions. The topic of the demanded scrapping premium for outdated heating boilers as well as the growing call for one-time subsidies for constructions and rehabilitation against the background of the commitments for the reduction of carbon dioxide according to the Kyoto Protocol were discussed with great interest.

The platform of the trade fair in the foyer of the new exhibition centre whose programme was marked by the young plumbers was particularly well received. Together with his partners Vogel & Noot, Holter and Ochsner BA-Bachler presented the competition for apprentices “Plumber calendar” which awarded prizes to the fastest heating engineers. The group of the Upper Austrian plumber apprentices came off as winner.

From a workshop of the Association for the Promotion of thermic solar energy Austria Solar to several incoming missions and networking events of host countries – the unique offer of evening events, meetings, lectures and expert conferences highlighted the Energiesparmesse Wels 2009 in the international comparison of fairs as a fair with added value. More than 850 experts and decision-makers from 53 countries combined the participation in the sustainable energy conference “World Sustainable Energy Days“ of the Upper Austrian Energy-Saving Association with the visit of the Energiesparmesse and the Messe Wels recorded an unprecedented number of registered foreign delegations, amongst others from France, Sweden, Canada, the USA and the Far East.

The next Energiesparmesse takes place from March 3rd – 7th 2010 (March 3rd HVAC Professional Visitors’ Day, March 4th General Professional Visitors’ Day, March 5th – 7th Public Days).

Please find more detailed information in the internet under www.energiesparmesse.at.

If you have any questions, please contact:

Project management
Mag. Erich Haudum
Phone: +43 7242 9392-6674
Fax: +43 7242 9392-496674
e-mail: e.haudum@messe-wels.at

Advertising & PR
Susanne Brunner
Phone: +43 7242 9392-6622
Fax: +43 7242 9392-496622
e-mail: s.brunner@messe-wels.at