immo!nvest – Die Plattform für Standorte und Immobilien

Tag: Hochschule Luzern

  • Smartconext moves into Suurstoffi Innovation Park

    Smartconext moves into Suurstoffi Innovation Park

    According to a press release , the smartconext Group has decided to relocate its company location from Baar to the Suurstoffi area in Rotkreuz. From August 1st, the Swiss marketplace for construction and real estate information will operate from the Switzerland Innovation Park Central .

    Numerous national and international companies, institutions and start-ups are based in the former industrial area. The Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts also has a campus there. The proximity to well-known tenants from various sectors and the climate-neutral orientation offer plenty of development potential for a built environment worth living in.

    Smartconext expects the relocation of the headquarters to provide impetus and synergies for future tasks in the building and energy sector. The company, which specializes in intelligent, user-friendly and value-added digital products, accepts an offer from Switzerland Innovation to rent space on the campus, which, in accordance with the "Open Innovation" philosophy, focuses on a mix of different industry representatives and groups. With its core competencies in the construction industry, the new tenant can contribute to the goal of solution-oriented innovations. "The smartconext Group stands for digitization and transformation in the construction industry," says Dr. Maximilian Richter, Innovation Manager of the Switzerland Innovation Park Central, quoted.

  • Swisspor is building in Reiden

    Swisspor is building in Reiden

    Swisspor wants to set up a production plant for mineral insulating materials and a service center in Reiden Mehlsecken. The internationally active company based in Stans has secured the area of 200,000 square meters designated by the canton of Lucerne as a strategic work area, according to the Lucerne State Chancellery in a press release . The establishment of a building and environmental technology cluster planned by swisspor is supported by the canton of Lucerne and the municipality of Reiden .

    swisspor will use 145,000 square meters of the total area of the site for its own facilities. The remaining area is reserved for research institutions and other companies active in the field of building and environmental technology. The Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts wants to expand its existing cooperation with swisspor in Reiden Mehlsecken.

    In addition, other industry-related companies and research partners are to be recruited. The coordination for this was taken over by the Switzerland Innovation Park Central , according to the statement. The Federal Materials Testing and Research Institute ( Empa ) was also addressed.

    “We support the creation of a building and environmental technology cluster with swisspor and the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts,” government councilor Fabian Peter is quoted as saying in the statement. The head of the construction, environment and economic department sees a double opportunity for the region and canton: “On the one hand, jobs, innovation and value creation are created and on the other hand, the cluster makes a contribution to achieving our climate goals”.

  • Market for crowdfunding is growing significantly

    Market for crowdfunding is growing significantly

    The market for swarm financing grew significantly last year from CHF 606.6 to 791.8 million. According to a media release in the current crowdfunding monitor of the Institute for Financial Services Zug (IFZ), the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts found that this corresponds to growth of almost a third and represents another record value.

    Accordingly, the market for crowdlending, i.e. the brokering of funds for loans via online platforms to private individuals and companies, increased significantly by 35 percent and rose to CHF 607 million. The market for crowd investing, i.e. the online brokerage of investments in companies and real estate, grew to CHF 147 million. “In particular, investments in loans to real estate companies and direct investments in real estate have driven this growth,” says the press release.

    The volume of digital donations, known as crowddonating, and financial support for creative and cultural projects and campaigns via the internet, known as crowdfunding, on the other hand fell by 16 percent and was only CHF 38 million in 2021. The reason for this is that these two types of crowdfunding had recorded record values in the previous year due to the Corona crisis and several temporarily active crowdfunding platforms. Nevertheless, political campaigns generated significantly more money via crowdfunding in 2021. Here the volume rose from 90,000 to 800,000 francs.

    The authors of the study assume that the total volume of swarm financing on the Internet will increase to more than CHF 1 billion this year.

  • Lucerne young researchers receive Siemens Excellence Award

    Lucerne young researchers receive Siemens Excellence Award

    This year, the national Siemens Excellences Award, worth CHF 10,000, went to two graduates of the building technology course at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts . Patrick Heller and Lorenz Rüegsegger were honored for their bachelor thesis “Optimal control for a new type of decentralized latent storage module in an apartment building”. The two young researchers from Lucerne had developed a system for decentralized domestic hot water treatment in cooperation with BMS Energietechnik AG in Bern. Here, a fresh water station is operated by a decentralized heat pump, which draws its evaporation energy from the heating circuit in winter and from the room heating in summer.

    “The system has a high potential for energy savings and should be used in the long term in new buildings in the residential sector,” explains Siemens Switzerland in the press release. According to her, the development of the young researchers is “not only nationally, but also internationally scalable and therefore also a promising approach from an economic point of view”. It was also important for the jury that the project be continued together with the industrial partner.

    “With the Excellence Award, we want to motivate young people to deal with scientific topics that can be implemented in practice,” Gerd Scheller, Country CEO of Siemens Switzerland, is quoted in the statement. The award is part of Siemens’ Generation 21 educational program, which promotes young talent in the natural sciences and technology.

  • Solar powered RV charges towing vehicle

    Solar powered RV charges towing vehicle

    The Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts ( HSLU ) has designed a practical example of sustainable living without CO2 emissions: a mobile home. The electricity that the Solar Butterfly needs inside is produced by fold-out solar wings. This also charges the electric towing vehicle. According to a press release , students led by Stephen Wittkopf are significantly involved in the implementation of the project. He heads the knowledge and innovation transfer at the Department of Technology & Architecture at the HSLU.

    The Solar Butterfly is currently being built near Lucerne in central Switzerland. Its construction material consists largely of plastic waste that is collected from the sea and then transformed. The motorhome is 10 meters long and 13 meters wide with the sun panel wings up. They offer a total of 80 square meters of space for generating solar power.

    The project was initiated by Swiss environmental pioneer Louis Palmer. 15 years ago he was the first person to circumnavigate the world in a solar-powered car. From May 2022, the Solar Butterfly will travel around the world together with its passengers. On this trip around the world they want to identify 1000 inspiring projects against global warming, record them and then publish them.

  • Second Homes Act affects real estate markets less than expected

    Second Homes Act affects real estate markets less than expected

    On March 12, 2012, the Swiss population accepted the second home initiative. The corresponding Second Homes Act stipulates that no additional holiday homes or houses may be built in communities with more than 20 percent second homes. Experts feared that if the initiative were accepted, the prices for corresponding real estate in the tourist areas would explode.

    Ten years later, these fears have not been confirmed, writes the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts ( HSLU ) in a statement . Researchers at the HSLU have examined the effects of the Second Homes Act in two studies. According to the results, house prices did not increase until 2018, but instead actually decreased.

    “The acceptance of the initiative has led to a panic-like flood of last-minute building applications,” the head of the relevant study, Daniel Steffen, is quoted as saying in the statement. “Ironically, this has caused a temporary oversupply.” It was only with the outbreak of the pandemic that the demand for apartments in the tourist mountain regions increased. “Today, prices are roughly back to the level at which model calculations show they would be even without the second home initiative,” says Steffen.

    The hotel industry and mountain railways also felt only minor consequences of the new regulation, as is further explained in the communication. Only the hotel industry’s model of cross-financing renovations through the construction and sale of second homes is restricted by the Second Homes Act. In the construction industry, however, the researchers identify significant impairments for construction companies active in the affected communities. “In particular, larger, strategically broad-based companies” are already “orientated more towards the valley floor, where orders are not so heavily dependent on the construction of second homes,” the head of the corresponding study, Stefan Lüthi, is quoted in the statement.

    “Looking at all sectors, it can be expected that the effects of the Second Homes Act will only be noticeable in the coming years,” the HSLU researchers state.

  • Researchers mix concrete on the ISS

    Researchers mix concrete on the ISS

    Experiments on the ISS (International Space Station) should help to better understand the hardening of concrete under conditions of weightlessness. Ultimately, they could help to develop more environmentally friendly compositions of the material without detracting from its positive properties. This is a joint project of the BIOTESC competence center at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Hergiswil, the German Aerospace Center , the University of Duisburg-Essen and the University of Cologne .

    BIOTESC works on behalf of the European Space Agency ESA . This so-called User Support and Operations Center is one of four such centers at ESA. It supports researchers in conducting experiments in the infrastructure of the ISS.

    The research design for the experiments on the ISS also comes from Hergiswil. The 64 small test containers prepared there, each with different mixtures and injectable liquid, were tested, filled and packaged by the BIOTESC. Since there are plans for permanent presences on the Moon and Mars, some of them also contain moon dust, according to a press release from the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. The BIOTESC containers were checked for space standards at the ESA logistics center in Turin. Then they were flown to Cape Canavaral, from where they were rocketed to the ISS.

    The experiment was conducted on February 1st. The concrete samples will not return to Earth until the next flight in July. In the meantime, the containers developed by the BIOTESC have already been patented in Germany. According to BIOTESC research group leader Dr. Bernd Rattenbacher: “All material that has a solid and a liquid component can be mixed in it.”

  • Lucerne University of Applied Sciences offers training in digital construction

    Lucerne University of Applied Sciences offers training in digital construction

    From March 2022, the Techik & Architektur department at HSLU will be offering modular advanced training courses in digital construction. According to a media release , she wants to close the skills gap of numerous specialists in whose training digitization has not yet played a role.

    The HSLU starts with two Certificate of Advanced Studies (CAS): Digital Construction – Ordering & Development and Digital Construction – Design & Planning. In the following semesters, the modules Management & Collaboration, Fabrication & Creation and Operation & Maintenance are to be added. The expansion to Diploma of Advanced Studies (DAS) and Master of Advanced Studies (MAS) is in preparation. Those who take part in the further training will become "a professional in digital ordering, planning, building and operation and will receive an in-depth overall view of the digital value chain and the lifecycle data management of tomorrow".

    As the HSLU notes, there is a lot of catching up to do in the construction industry when it comes to the application of digitally based processes, methods and technologies. Hundreds of corresponding advertisements can already be found on job portals. The curriculum is based on specific practical tasks and international requirements. "In this way, the participants create the best conditions for positions at home and abroad," says co-program director Markus Weber.

  • Artwork produces solar power

    Artwork produces solar power

    Solar cells can also decorate buildings as objects of art. This is shown by a project that has now been implemented at the NEST research building of the Eidgenössische Materialprüfungs- und Forschungsanstalt ( Empa ) and the EAWAG water research institute. The facades of the building have been fitted with photovoltaic modules, which together result in a work of art.

    To this end, Empa implemented the project called Glasklar, on which it worked together with Zug Estates and students and lecturers from the two departments of Design & Art and Technology & Architecture at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. The latter designed photovoltaic modules in a two-week block event, which visually match the NEST building as design objects. The design was implemented by textile design student Lynn Balli. It was selected for use in the NEST building in an interdisciplinary design competition.

    “If we can arouse the interest of designers in the design of building-integrated photovoltaic modules, we will make an important contribution to greater acceptance of photovoltaic facades and thus promote the expansion of renewable electricity production in Switzerland,” says Björn Niesen, NEST innovation manager Message from Empa quoted.

  • Foreign real estate is becoming more attractive

    Foreign real estate is becoming more attractive

    The majority of the companies active in the real estate market did not allow their risk behavior to be adversely affected by the coronavirus pandemic, writes EY Switzerland in a report on the current “ Asset Management Survey ”. For the study, EY Switzerland and the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts examined the activities of 52 Swiss real estate investors and pension funds. According to the results, most of the respondents intend to continue investing in domestic and increasingly also in foreign real estate in the future.

    "The pandemic has hardly any noticeable impact on the general demand from investors for real estate investments that remain without alternative in the low interest rate environment and especially in uncertain times," Karl Frank Meinzer, Head of Real Estate at EY Switzerland, is quoted in the press release. According to Casper Studer, however, the focus of investments has shifted to more pandemic-resistant properties. "This is particularly true of properties that are used for living and logistics," explains the real estate expert at EY Switzerland. According to the surveys of the analysts, around seven out of ten respondents also play a medium to large role in investment decisions.

    The concentration on residential and logistics real estate goes hand in hand with the increasing attractiveness of foreign real estate. More than six out of ten companies surveyed are planning to increase investments in foreign residential real estate; the figure for domestic residential real estate is 51 percent, according to the press release. 46 percent are interested in logistics properties abroad, and a third of those surveyed want to invest more in domestic logistics properties. On the other hand, 36 and 27 percent of those surveyed want to reduce their portfolio of retail properties in Germany and abroad.

  • Switzerland is looking for sustainable tourism projects

    Switzerland is looking for sustainable tourism projects

    The innovation generator 2.0 is intended to help ensure that the upcoming change in Swiss tourism is sustainable. The Innotour project, supported by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs ( SECO ), aims to trigger sustainable innovations for the tourism industry. Together with the project sponsors, the best ideas should be financed, professionally supported and further developed until they are ready for implementation. The sponsors include various tourism associations as well as the tourism institutes of the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts and the Western Switzerland University of Applied Sciences .

    According to a media release from one of the project sponsors, the Swiss Tourism Association, interested parties can benefit from various support offers. The two universities will be offering two workshops each from May 2021. Ideas should be concretized and the project input prepared in the innovation generator. In addition, individual coaching is offered by experienced specialists.

    The first deadline for submission on the innovation generator's website is July 15th. A jury of experts then selects the most original and sustainable ideas. In the subsequent second project phase, implementation steps are planned, including a cost and financing plan. At the end, the jury will vote for the most promising project plans.

  • Uri adopts digitization strategy

    Uri adopts digitization strategy

    According to a press release , the Uri government council has passed its digitization strategy. This defines the general direction that the canton wants to take in the area of digitization. It also serves as an orientation framework for implementing strategic projects over the next five to ten years. Overall, the strategy should give the attractiveness of the residential and business location Uri a positive boost, it is said.

    Digitization could "become a real development driver for the canton of Uri and significantly strengthen Uri's positioning", the government council stated in the government program for 2020 to 2024. For this, the “social peculiarities of Uris as well as the special opportunities Uris as an economic and home office location with a quality of retreat” must be taken into account.

    The Canton of Uri was also supported by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences ( HSLU ) in developing the digitization strategy. As project manager Stephan Käppeli points out in a communication from the HSLU in February, the canton is suitable “in various ways as a model region for digitization”.

  • Energy Lab aims to deliver innovations for the energy transition

    Energy Lab aims to deliver innovations for the energy transition

    The NTN Innovation Booster Energy Lab will officially start its work in January 2021. However, such a dynamic has already emerged that the first of a total of 50 planned projects have already been launched, writes the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences in a media release . They should lead to innovations in the efficient generation, storage and use of renewable energies that are also marketable.

    The consortium of over 200 members is strategically managed by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts. In addition to the Central Switzerland Innovation Park and NEST – the research and innovation platform of the Federal Materials Testing and Research Institute and the water research institute of the ETH Domain – numerous other institutions, all Swiss universities of applied sciences and ETH Zurich . The Energy Lab is being funded by the Swiss innovation agency Innosuisse with CHF 1.5 million for an initial period of four years.

    More than 200 companies are already connected via the Central Switzerland Innovation Park, "and the trend is increasing", the message goes on to say: "Because the Energy Lab is an open network in which interested parties can contribute at any time."

    "The challenges are so complex that they can no longer be resolved with individual measures, but only in large-scale cooperation between industry, politics, science and society," the project manager and professor at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences, Ludger Fischer, is quoted in the communication . "The solutions will offer concrete added value for the economy and can therefore be implemented!"