immo!nvest – Die Plattform für Standorte und Immobilien

Tag: bfe

  • Building program paid out record sum

    Building program paid out record sum

    According to a press release from the Swiss Federal Office of Energy ( SFOE ), around 361 million francs in subsidies for energy-efficient building refurbishment were approved by the federal government and the cantons in 2021. This is the highest amount that has been invested in renovation and new construction projects since the program was launched. Compared to 2020, the funding amount has increased by CHF 62 million.

    Thermal insulation projects, which were funded with CHF 126 million, received the largest amount. The highest increase of 70 percent compared to 2020 was achieved by building services projects, which received CHF 106 million in grants. The commitments for energy-related measures that will be implemented over the next five years have reached a new high of CHF 490 million.

    The high demand for subsidies can be attributed to the broad approval of owners for energy-efficient renovation of their properties or new builds. According to calculations, the measures approved in the year under review will lead to a reduction in energy consumption in buildings throughout Switzerland by 6.5 billion kilowatt hours and lower CO2 emissions by around 1.8 million tonnes over their lifetime.

    According to the statement, the building program has proven to be an effective instrument of Swiss energy and climate policy. A total of around CHF 2.7 billion has been paid out under the funding program since its introduction in 2010. The building program also has a positive effect on the economy. In 2021, 2,300 full-time jobs and around CHF 97 million in additional domestic value were created.

  • Consolidation in the Swiss label market

    Consolidation in the Swiss label market

    The handling of the Ecobau requirements, which sometimes formed the basis for the Minergie ECO label, has apparently not yet been finally clarified. As is well known, they have largely been included in the SNBS (Swiss Sustainable Building Standard), as they include topics that will become even more important in the future, namely the circular economy, gray energy, etc. – sustainable buildings are not just buildings that have been optimized in terms of operational energy .

    And yet, this consolidation creates clarity in the market and is also a clear commitment to the SNBS, as a key benchmark in the Swiss construction and real estate market and an important instrument for implementing the Energy Strategy 2050.

    Click here for the media release from the Swiss Federal Office of Energy

  • Minergie and SNBS adopt labels for 2000-watt areas

    Minergie and SNBS adopt labels for 2000-watt areas

    The label for 2000-watt areas will disappear at the end of 2023. According to a statement from the Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), the suppliers of labels for sustainable buildings in Switzerland have agreed on this. The label was previously offered by the SFOE Swiss Energy program.

    In return, the Minergie association will in future also offer a Minergie area label for areas that comply with climate protection. The Swiss Sustainable Building Network , as the sponsor of the Swiss Sustainable Building Standard (SNBS), will create the SNBS-Areal label for the sustainability of sites in all their dimensions.

    At the building label level, there will also be the cantonal building energy certificate (GEAK), the various Minergie categories and the SNBS.

    The bearers of the various labels want to achieve a greater impact by pooling resources. “Sustainable real estate makes a major contribution to climate protection. The trend is positive, but the potential is far from being exhausted,” Marc Mächler, District President of the Canton of St.Gallen and President of the Minergie Association, is quoted as saying in the statement. “The labels complement each other, are better coordinated with each other and builders and planners can find out more easily which label meets their needs.”

  • Buildings should become power plants

    Buildings should become power plants

    The Swiss Federal Office of Energy ( SFOE ) has published its vision for the Swiss building stock by 2050 in a document . By then, the majority of buildings should be able to meet their own electricity needs from sustainable energy sources. The excess electricity is to be used for electric mobility.

    At the same time, the electricity requirements of buildings are to be reduced. Overall, the final energy consumption of the Swiss building stock by 2050 should be around 65 instead of 90 terawatt hours.

    With a few exceptions, there should no longer be any heating oil, natural gas or electricity for direct consumption for heating. Oil and natural gas heaters and stationary electrical resistance heaters are to be replaced by renewable energy sources. Energetic operational optimization should be mandatory for all buildings by 2030.

  • Subsidies result in record expansion at solar

    Subsidies result in record expansion at solar

    According to a media release by the Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), the federal funds for photovoltaic systems are having an effect: The record construction of photovoltaic systems from 2020 will probably be exceeded this year.

    According to the information, more than 18,000 photovoltaic systems with a total output of 360 megawatts were registered for one-off remuneration from January to the end of October 2021. That is around 25 percent more than in the same period last year. In the third quarter, their number even increased by 40 percent.

    All system operators who have submitted their complete application to Pronovo AG on time could expect a payment. A total of CHF 150 million would be paid out as a one-off payment for 26,000 small photovoltaic systems. 500 applications have been received for large photovoltaic systems. As confirmed by the SFOE, the planned funding amounts could be paid out to all applicants who correctly submit their application by the respective deadline in the coming year.

    No further systems were added to the feed-in tariff system in 2021. After completion, 19 photovoltaic, 79 hydropower, 422 wind energy and 42 biomass projects would have received funding approval.

    The investment contributions made available for small and large hydropower plants were only partially called up in 2021. New requests could be processed immediately without a waiting list.

    No applications have been received for an investment contribution in favor of electricity-producing sewage gas and waste incineration plants, wood power plants or geothermal projects. New ones could be processed immediately.

  • Map helps with the restructuring of the energy system

    Map helps with the restructuring of the energy system

    For the first time, progress in the expansion of renewable energies can be publicly viewed and checked. For this purpose, according to a press release , the Swiss Federal Office of Energy ( SFOE ) is making its geospatial base data available online for all around 110,000 electricity production plants in Switzerland. More than 100,000 of them are currently photovoltaic systems.

    All systems are displayed transparently on the Internet on an interactive map and updated monthly. According to the SFOE, this would enable the municipality and cantons to monitor the local expansion and, if necessary, take measures to accelerate it.

    In addition to the location of the system, the data also shows its output in kilowatts and the date on which it was commissioned. All systems with an output of more than 30 kilovolt amperes and small systems with more than 2 kilowatts that have been voluntarily registered are included. The database also contains systems that are funded through a feed-in or one-off payment, additional cost financing or an investment contribution.

  • Portal documents the development of charging stations

    Portal documents the development of charging stations

    More than a third of energy consumption occurs in traffic, writes the Federal Office of Energy ( SFOE ) in a press release . The increased use of electric cars is intended to increase efficiency here. The communication names the expansion of the corresponding charging infrastructure as an important factor in promoting e-mobility.

    In order to be able to document the development of the charging infrastructure, providers of charging stations and the SFOE have set up a joint data infrastructure, the SFOE explains further in the communication. With their help, the availability of public charging stations in Switzerland is displayed in real time on the www.ich-tanke-strom.ch portal. This data is used by the SFOE to generate key figures for the public charging infrastructure. They are made available on the portal as data visualization. The SFOE makes the underlying data available as open data on the opendata.swiss portal.

    20 providers are now taking part in the project to document the development of the public charging infrastructure, including the largest charging networks in Switzerland, evpass, MOVE, swisscharge and Plug'n Roll. Interested providers of public charging stations are invited to join the project.

  • Switzerland must accelerate the energy transition

    Switzerland must accelerate the energy transition

    Switzerland has set itself less ambitious goals for the energy transition up to 2020 and is likely to achieve them. This is shown by the third monitoring report by the Federal Office of Energy ( SFOE ). After that, the new renewable energies achieved an electricity production of 4186 gigawatt hours in 2019. The SFOE writes in a press release that the target of 4400 gigawatt hours in 2020 is within reach. But if the guideline value of 11,400 gigawatt hours is to be achieved in 2035, the annual additions must amount to an average of 451 gigawatt hours, one and a half times as much as in the past decade.

    The final energy consumption per capita is similar: the reduction target of minus 16 percent by 2020 compared to 2000 was already achieved in 2016. By 2019, minus 19.1 percent was achieved. But if the benchmark for 2035 of minus 43 percent is to be achieved, then the average annual decline would have to be minus 2.2 percent. In the past decade it was only minus 1.4 percent.

    The Energy Perspectives 2050+ published at the same time by the SFOE came to the conclusion that if Switzerland continued with the existing practice, it would fall far short of its climate target in the long term. Switzerland has committed itself to reducing its CO2 emissions to net zero by 2050. But with a “keep it up” it comes to a reduction in CO2 emissions of 30 percent compared to 2020.

    However, the Energy Perspectives 2050+ assume that Switzerland can achieve its climate target with the technologies that are already available or currently being developed. The investment requirement would be only 8 percent higher than a continuation of the previous practice, according to a BFE announcement . If the current practice were retained, a total of CHF 1,400 billion would have to be invested in energy infrastructure, systems, devices and vehicles by 2050. If the net zero climate target is to be achieved, it would be a good 1,500 billion Swiss francs.

  • Switzerland signs international declaration for e-mobility

    Switzerland signs international declaration for e-mobility

    According to a press release by the Federal Office of Energy ( SFOE ), Switzerland signed an international declaration for the zero-emissions target in transport on Thursday as part of the Global e-Mobility Forum 2020 . This declaration is entitled " Katowice Partnership for E-Mobility ". She was born in December 2018 at the World Climate Conference in Katowice, Poland. Today it consists of 44 states and around three dozen sub-national administrative units, city associations and non-governmental organizations.

    According to the organizers, 38 countries from five continents as well as organizations and alliances had already joined this declaration, as well as 1,500 cities and regions and 1,200 companies. Overall, they represented over a third of the world's population. Switzerland did not sign the declaration at the time because of the “pending legislative and political work”, according to the SFOE in the communication.

    However, in December 2018, the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications ( DETEC ) and “numerous Swiss players” launched the Electromobility Roadmap 2022 “very successfully”. The aim of this roadmap is to increase the share of electric vehicles in new registrations to 15 percent by 2022. "Nothing stands in the way of signing the 'Katowice Partnership for E-Mobility'."

    It brings "no rights and obligations" with it. But the undersigned countries and organizations should promote zero-emission vehicles, set fleet targets and work together internationally. Further goals are the promotion of green public transport, the expansion of an intelligent infrastructure, the improvement of air quality as well as research and development in these areas.

  • New building for ASTRA and BFE is ready for occupancy

    New building for ASTRA and BFE is ready for occupancy

    Around 600 employees from ASTRA and BFE will be able to move into the new seven-story building in Ittigen this month. The federal administrative center on the DETEC campus has housed various offices of the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communication (DETEC) since 2006. The new building takes into account the space requirements that have increased since then and brings together previously scattered departments.

    According to a press release , the wood-concrete hybrid construction by the Zurich architects Berrel Berrel Kräutler , which is certified according to the Swiss Sustainable Building Standards (SNBS), relies on the potential available on site. For example, the waste heat from a nearby data center is used to heat the building, and spring water is used for cooling. The project, originally named “Fitzcarraldo” by the architects, uses 100 percent renewable energies and does not cause any CO2 emissions.

    In this modern administration building on the DETEC campus, we can bring together departments that were previously located in two locations in Bern, ”says ASTRA Director Jürg Röthlisberger. "That will simplify the collaboration, improve the team spirit and it can accelerate processes."

    The municipality of Ittigen wants to do everything possible in the future so that the federal government feels at home there, emphasizes municipality president Marco Rupp. In Ittigen they are proud to be able to host most of the DETEC offices.