The World Sustainable Energy Days conference, or WSED, is a conference held annually in Austria, usually in early March. The focus of the conference is on creating and maintaining sustainable energy models around the world, and reducing the world’s dependency on fossil fuels and other non-replenishable energy sources.

History of the WSED

The WSED was started in 1992, when the world first started to become generally aware of the need to protect the environment from the damage being caused to it by the industrial world. It is typically held at the same time as a trade show and exhibition that focuses on heating products that are designed and produced with energy efficiency in mind.

The WSED typically attracts approximately 1,000 participants each year. These attendees come from all over the globe, though the focus is typically on European developments in sustainable energy, given its location.

Topics of the WSED

One of the recurring topics in the WSED is the need to develop standards on sustainable energy programs and energy efficiency within the European Union. In past meetings, representatives from Energy Efficiency Watch 2 have provided status updates on getting the member states of the EU to agree to standards in these fields.

Another focus of the conference is in new commercial development, ensuring that buildings under construction are being built with some thought being given to energy efficiency. One topic of a recent conference was on Near Zero Energy Buildings, new construction that is built with features like solar panels and wastewater recycling that result in very low energy requirements for the building to operate.

In addition to these topics, the WSED conference also gives awards to people and organizations that have assisted in the cause of raising awareness of the need for sustainable energy. It also provides education for young people interested in learning more.