Tag: Dübendorf

  • Milestone for the second stage of the innovation park

    Milestone for the second stage of the innovation park

    The Zurich Innovation Park combines research, development and aviation utilisation in a unique way. An area for the innovation park and for a research, test and industrial airfield will be created in the south-western part of the Dübendorf airfield. This vision includes not only modern infrastructure, but also publicly accessible green and open spaces. The project is of central importance for the region, the canton of Zurich and Switzerland as a whole.

    Design plan as the basis for sustainable development
    The newly established design plan for sub-area B creates a binding framework. It regulates the utilisation, the location of the building areas as well as design, ecological and traffic requirements. At the same time, the impact on the regional transport network is analysed in depth and green spaces are optimally integrated.

    Progress through participation and planning security
    Following a public consultation phase and the consideration of objections received, the design plan was revised and approved. It will come into force on 22 November 2024 and form the basis for future construction projects. This marks another important step towards the realisation of the Zurich Innovation Park.

  • Successful expansion of the “co-operate” research campus in Dübendorf

    Successful expansion of the “co-operate” research campus in Dübendorf

    The expansion of the research campus in Dübendorf, which took place from 2021 to 2024, includes a state-of-the-art laboratory building, a multifunctional building and a new multi-storey car park. These infrastructure measures are crucial in order to meet the increasing demands of research. The additional 30 laboratories and offices offer researchers an improved working environment that meets the latest technological and environmentally friendly standards.

    Sustainability and innovation go hand in hand
    A special feature of the new campus is its focus on sustainable energy generation and utilisation. A newly developed high-temperature geothermal probe system stores waste heat in summer and uses it to heat the buildings in winter. These and other technological innovations, which come directly from the Empa and Eawag laboratories, will not only be used on the campus, but will also be further researched to optimise their efficiency and environmental compatibility.

    A green and car-free campus
    In order to make the campus site more environmentally friendly and pedestrian-friendly, existing parking spaces were moved to the new multi-storey car park and the site was extensively landscaped. A “green belt” connects the two research institutes and creates an inviting atmosphere for employees and visitors. The new campus square at NEST also offers an attractive open space for socialising and recreation.

    Looking to the future
    With the completion of the “co-operate” project, Empa and Eawag have not only modernised their research infrastructure, but also laid the foundations for future innovations. The combination of state-of-the-art construction, sustainable energy utilisation and an improved working environment promotes cutting-edge research and strengthens Switzerland’s position as a leading location for scientific innovation.

  • Viboo raises 1.5 million Swiss francs

    Viboo raises 1.5 million Swiss francs

    Viboo has successfully completed a seed financing round. A total of 1.5 million was raised from investors High-Tech Gründerfonds, Swisscom Ventures and Rainmaking Impact, the spin-off of the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research (Empa) informs in a statement. “The round was oversubscribed, reflecting the strong investor confidence and interest in the company’s potential to decarbonise buildings,” it says.

    Viboo has developed a platform for optimal energy use in buildings. The predictive-control-as-a-service platform works with self-learning algorithms that use weather and building data, as well as occupant preferences, to optimise indoor energy use. The funds raised in the financing round will be used to commercialise the platform. Here, viboo plans to focus on commercial buildings during the upcoming heating season.

    “The platform and the algorithms are a real revolution for existing and also older buildings,” Gregor Haidl, Senior Investment Manager at High-Tech Gründerfonds, is quoted as saying in the announcement. “The results of the last heating season show that viboo can make a significant contribution to the decarbonisation of buildings.”

  • FRZ Airport Region Zurich invites to the 9th Real Estate Summit

    FRZ Airport Region Zurich invites to the 9th Real Estate Summit

    The Economic and Location Promotion FRZ Airport Region Zurich, based in Glattbrugg, invites you to the 9th Real Estate Summit in Dübendorf. On 4 July, speakers from the construction and real estate industry will deal with new forms of cooperation, sustainability, energy and mobility, according to a media release.

    Accordingly, Ursina Kubli, head of real estate analytics at the Zürcher Kantonalbank, will speak from 1.30 p.m. about the development from abundance to scarcity on the real estate market and how the demand for office space is shaping up in times of home office. Afterwards, Marco Faiss, co-founder at em2, will show new ways of cooperation in construction projects.

    Bernd Hofer, CEO of Freo Switzerland, and Sophie Stigliano, Director at Urban Standards, will address sustainable building and the question of climate-friendly mobility as an integral part in their presentation “Green Only Development and the Leverage of Neighbourhood Mobility”.

    After a coffee break and opportunities for networking, the second part of the programme continues at 4.30 pm. Here Hannes Pichler, Director of Real Estate at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich(ETH), will speak about integrated project management against the background of the circular economy and digitalisation.

    Jens-Uwe Meyer, management mastermind, book author and digital entrepreneur, will address the audience with the last paper of the day, “Reset! Strategies for the Decade of Radical Change”, he looks to the future. The evening will conclude with an aperitif and the opportunity to network.

    Admission to The Hall is from 11 am. Registration for participation is possible online.

  • Innovation at the Dübendorf airfield

    Innovation at the Dübendorf airfield

    The airfield area in Dübendorf is to be developed further. Among other things, a new platform for research, development and innovation is being created here with the Zurich Innovation Park. It is intended to promote cooperation and exchange between science and business – and thus support the implementation of research results in marketable products and services. According to the BAK study, the Zurich Innovation Park should create around 10,000 jobs and an annual added value of around CHF 1.9 billion.

    The Zurich Innovation Park Foundation is responsible for setting up and running it. It was founded in September 2015 by the Canton of Zurich, ETH Zurich and ZKB. The canton of Zurich, the three local communities of Dübendorf, Volketswil and Wangen-Brüttisellen and the federal government are developing the area together.

    The jointly developed synthesis report of the project partners forms the basis for the development of the area. This also shows how the Dübendorf airfield area should be presented overall in the future, which uses are planned and how these are spatially distributed. The area will be divided into four sub-areas:

    A first area is reserved for the Zurich Innovation Park, in which research is to be carried out in particular in the areas of mobility, robotics, aviation, space travel and advanced manufacturing & materials. In the second sub-area, the innovation park and a research, test and works airfield overlap to form an aviation cluster. In the third sub-area, the uses with high security requirements – the federal base of the Air Force and the Skyguide air traffic control center – can be further developed independently. In the fourth sub-area there are further aviation infrastructures. Nature conservation also plays a central role there. A continuous circular route around the airfield will also be created for the general public.

    The government council submitted three proposals to the cantonal council for further planning and implementation work. The cantonal government is requesting 97.45 million francs for the gradual development of the innovation park and 8.2 million francs for the planning of a research, test and works airfield.

    The cantonal council could decide on these templates by 2023. Renovation of the existing buildings is planned from 2023. Then the first building applications should be submitted. The implementation of the first buildings could therefore start from around 2024/2025.

    The Zurich Innovation Park aims to promote cooperation and exchange between science and business.
  • Wooden floor is designed to absorb sound

    Wooden floor is designed to absorb sound

    According to a press release , researchers at the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research ( Empa ) are working on a world first in soundproofing wooden buildings. In particular, it is about reducing footfall noise. The researchers use a physical theory from the 1990s.

    The theory is about so-called acoustic black holes. Parabolic recesses in a material should be able to “swallow” vibrations such as sound. However, this theory has not yet been tested in either timber construction or building acoustics. Stefan Schoenwald, head of Empa’s building acoustics laboratory in Dübendorf, has now carried out precisely such experiments with his team.

    In its experiments, the team has already calculated acoustic spectra on the computer. Then it tested whether the computer model corresponded to reality. In fact, there were only deviations of up to 5 percent, which the researchers explain, among other things, with the natural variation of the wood.

    The researchers now also want to develop a method that can automatically show the best arrangement and shape of the acoustic black holes on any ground size and shape. Then it is necessary to look for industrial partners. During the tests, Empa has already cooperated with the timber construction company Strüby AG in Seewen SZ.

  • Innovationspark Dübendorf is one step further

    Innovationspark Dübendorf is one step further

    The airport area in Dübendorf is to develop into a lively urban quarter in the coming years. A center for innovation, research and jobs is to be created. The aviation infrastructure is to be secured as a strategic reserve.

    The Zurich Government Council has now submitted a synthesis report to the Cantonal Council, as stated in a communication . This was drawn up by the federal government, the canton, the local authorities and other parties involved. It forms the basis for the further development of the area. It is now to be advised first by a special commission set up by the Cantonal Council.

    The government council intends to submit three proposals to the cantonal council by spring 2022. These deal with the creation of planning rights, a revision of the structure plan and a planning loan.

  • Cosmos construction project goes to real estate fund

    Cosmos construction project goes to real estate fund

    Mobimo is selling its building-approved Cosmos project in Dübendorf to a real estate fund managed by Credit Suisse , the Lucerne real estate company informed in apress release . In 2000, Mobimo acquired the corresponding property on Zürichstrasse. Instead of the commercial building that existed at the time, four new buildings with a total of around 170 apartments as well as areas that can be used for offices, businesses or sales are to be built.

    Construction work is scheduled to start this month. In the late summer of 2023, the buildings complying with the Sustainable Building Switzerland Standard (SNBS Gold) and the greenproperty seal of approval should be completed. Among other things, a photovoltaic system and a geothermal probe will be installed, explains Mobimo.

    “We have developed a convincing new building project from an investment property with potential,” Mobimo CEO Daniel Ducrey is quoted in the press release. "Cosmos is a good example of the interaction between active portfolio management and internal development competence."

  • Office floor in NEST is being built so that it can be recycled

    Office floor in NEST is being built so that it can be recycled

    The office unit in NEST called Sprint is intended to set new standards for circular building. The groundbreaking ceremony will take place in mid-April. It should be finished in summer. Sprint is located on the first floor of NEST in Dübendorf. The three-storey modular building is the research and innovation center of the Federal Materials Testing and Research Institute ( Empa ) and the water research institute of the ETH Domain ( Eawag ).

    As stated in a press release by Empa, those involved in the planning concentrated on finding the most general solutions possible for a later dismantling. In doing so, they follow a design approach that facilitates future changes and dismantling to recover systems, components and materials. Today's buildings have to be built in such a way “that their components can be fed back into cycles”, says Kerstin Müller, managing architect at baubüro in situ and managing director of Zirkular GmbH .

    Your colleague Oliver Seidel points out that reusing materials is often associated with lower costs. “But the added value lies in another area: Re-use is more sustainable. And in terms of quality there is no loss. ”On the contrary. For example, the aesthetics of an old wooden parquet floor represent added value.

    "For the first time, Empa is combining the approach of reuse and the market requirements of fast and flexible construction," Enrico Marchesi, innovation manager and project manager at NEST, is quoted as saying. "With the new 'Sprint' unit, we want to show that these needs can be met together."

  • Excellent designs adorn the photovoltaic facade of the NEST

    Excellent designs adorn the photovoltaic facade of the NEST

    Students at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences have made design objects out of photovoltaic modules. They are to be installed on the facade of the NEST research and innovation building on the campus of the Eidgenössische Materialprüfungs- und Forschungsanstalt ( Empa ) in Dübendorf. In a competition, students from the two university departments of Design and Art as well as Technology and Architecture at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU ) were invited to present their designs. The works of art were created as part of a two-week interdisciplinary block event, according to an Empa media release.

    A six-member jury selected the design entitled "Crystal Clear" by Lynn Balli as the winner. Her eight motifs can be seen on the modules that will be installed on the facade of NEST in summer 2021. The design convinced the jury with "the elegant emphasis on the dynamics of glass and the successful implementation with eight individual works of art".

    The jury was made up of executives from Empa, HSLU and Zug Estates . The audience award was won by Florence Schöb's “Vernetzt” project.

    NEST is the joint research and innovation building of Empa and the water research institute Eawag . Construction and energy technologies and materials are tested in the modular building. This is intended to promote the sustainable use of resources and energy.

  • Implenia is building on the Empa campus in Dübendorf

    Implenia is building on the Empa campus in Dübendorf

    Implenia is implementing the first stage of the new Empa campus in Dübendorf. According to its media release , the construction company will build a laboratory building, a multifunctional building and a multi-storey car park for the Federal Water Supply Agency (Eawag) from spring 2021. Completion is planned for autumn 2023. The order volume is around CHF 56 million.

    This winning project by sam architects emerged from a two-stage overall performance competition. In the press release, Implenia describes its architectural language as “functionally elegant and elegantly reserved”. All new buildings are to receive a Minergie-P-Eco certification.

    "We are very pleased that we are able to carry out another interesting project for Empa Eawag with the research campus", Jens Vollmar, Head Division Buildings at Implenia, is quoted in the press release. "We are thus building on the longstanding relationship that we were able to develop, for example, with the successful implementation of the Chriesbach Forum, also in Dübendorf."

  • Agile Wind Power completes unique wind turbine

    Agile Wind Power completes unique wind turbine

    Dübendorfer Agile Wind Power AG has completed the construction of the first Vertical Sky wind turbine on the wind test field in Grevenbroich near Düsseldorf. Vertical Sky is the first wind turbine in the megawatt class with vertically mounted rotor blades. According to a press release, it is quiet, efficient and "unique in the world".

    In the coming weeks, the plant will gradually go into trial operation. During this time, various measurements that are required for certification are carried out. At the same time, electricity is produced. Vertical Sky wind turbines are environmentally friendly and can be installed in locations that are not suitable for conventional systems, such as close to residential areas, according to Agile Wind Power. Therefore, the tower is suitable for decentralized electricity production. In addition, birds and bats would recognize the vertically aligned rotor blades and not fall victim to them.

    The first product type has a nominal output of 750 kilowatts and is 105 meters high. Its rotor diameter is 32 meters. It is characterized by simple logistics concepts. "We are oriented towards the market and want to contribute to ensuring a safe and reliable supply of clean energy in the near future, regardless of finite energy sources", says the founder and CEO, Patrick Richter.

    The vertical sky rotor is going into series production on the former airport site in Lemwerder near Bremen. Access to international ports is an advantage of the location, according to the announcement. However, the Agile Wind Power research and development team will remain in Dübendorf.