Tag: immoNews

  • Ceneri Base Tunnel receives the green light

    Ceneri Base Tunnel receives the green light

    The New Railway-Alpen-Transversale ( NEAT ) is largely completed. The Federal Office of Transport ( FOT ) has issued the permit for the scheduled operation of the Ceneri base tunnel, it writes in a message . This means that the tunnel will be available for scheduled passenger and freight trains from the timetable change on December 13th.

    The Ceneri Base Tunnel was inaugurated on September 4th. Since then, around 5,800 commercial passenger and freight trains have been run through the tunnel in a trial run.

    The 15 kilometer long tunnel is the third of the three large base tunnels that were built as part of the NEAT. It also enables direct connections between Lugano and Locarno. These form a central element of the Ticino S-Bahn.

    The Lötschberg Base Tunnel with a length of 35 kilometers was the first of the three large tunnels to go into operation in 2007, the Gotthard Base Tunnel with a length of 57 kilometers followed in 2016. The almost 20 kilometers long Simplon Tunnel has been in operation since 1906. Switzerland now has two flat rail routes through the Alps.

  • New large storage system should help stabilize the network

    New large storage system should help stabilize the network

    CKW and Axpo are responding to the expansion of volatile renewable energies. In 2021 you will be implementing a battery storage system in Rathausen which, according to a CKW announcement , can be used for three different markets at the same time for the first time. On the one hand, the system can provide electricity when it is needed, thereby breaking the peak loads. On the other hand, it should help Swissgrid to keep the voltage in the grid stable. Ultimately, it helps to quickly balance out differences between the supply of electricity and demand at any time.

    The system consists of two large batteries, each weighing 50 tons, and each housed in a 12 meter long container. It has an output of 6.25 megawatts. That is enough to supply 15,000 households with electricity for one hour.

    The system will be installed from mid-2021 and integrated into CKW's medium-voltage network.

  • 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.

  • The first free space solar system from EKZ is on the grid

    The first free space solar system from EKZ is on the grid

    EKZ 's Algibicos solar power plant near the southern Spanish city of Murcia started operations on Tuesday, according to a media release . This means that the Zurich-based energy company's first large open-space solar power plant has gone online.

    On an area of 85 hectares, it will produce a little over 90 gigawatt hours of electricity per year. This corresponds to the annual consumption of more than 20,000 households. With over 300 days of fine weather, the area was one of the sunniest in all of Europe. In addition, the yield is increased by movable solar panels that are oriented towards the sun.

    "Compared to Swiss systems, around twice as much electrical energy can be generated," said Jean-Marc Degen, senior project manager at EKZ Renewables, in the press release. In addition, plants of this size are hardly feasible in Switzerland. The meanwhile low production costs and the sunny location enabled profitable operation, even without state feed-in tariffs.

  • Single-family houses are becoming more expensive

    Single-family houses are becoming more expensive

    According to a report from the Federal Statistical Office ( FSO ), the Swiss residential property price index (IMPI), which was determined for the first time, closed at 100.8 points in the third quarter of 2020. Compared to the previous quarter, this corresponds to growth of 0.2 percent. In a year-on-year comparison, the analysts of the FSO measured an increase in prices of 2.6 percent. The base value of the index was set at 100 points in the fourth quarter of 2019.

    With regard to the changes compared to the previous quarter, the analysts identify opposing developments in single-family homes and condominiums in the quarter under review. The prices for single-family homes had risen by 1.1 percent in a quarterly comparison. By contrast, prices for condominiums were 0.6 percent lower in the quarter under review than in the previous quarter.

    The analysts had observed particularly significant increases in the prices for single-family houses of 2.6 and 2.2 percent in the urban communities of the large agglomerations and the rural communities. The most significant declines in prices for condominiums were registered in the intermediate and rual communities, each with minus 1.1 percent.

  • Emmi tests hydrogen trucks

    Emmi tests hydrogen trucks

    Emmi has put two hydrogen trucks from Hyundai Hydrogen Mobility into operation, according to a press release . The company will now test this in logistics. It works together with the Association for the Promotion of Hydrogen Mobility Switzerland .

    Emmi transports around 8,000 pallets from A to B every day to supply its customers in Switzerland with fresh dairy products. The company currently has 140 vehicles in use for this, which cover 9.3 million kilometers annually. Emmi has shifted some of its transports to rail. However, this environmentally friendly means of transport is limited in various ways. On the other hand, Emmi sees great potential in the switch to hydrogen trucks.

    Compared to conventional diesel trucks, the hydrogen trucks can save around 70 to 80 tons of CO2 per year, the company states in the press release. Instead of CO2, these vehicles emit water vapor.

    Emmi will refuel the two hydrogen trucks at the H2 filling station network of the Hydrospider company from Opfikon, which is currently being expanded in Switzerland. This provides 100 percent emission-free hydrogen. According to the information, one tank of fuel is sufficient for a range of up to 400 kilometers. The environmentally friendly fuel also enables auxiliary units such as the cold room to be operated.

  • Film about the Knonauer Amt energy region celebrates its premiere

    Film about the Knonauer Amt energy region celebrates its premiere

    The Knonau office is “ten years ahead of its time”, said Government Councilor Dr. Martin Neukom in August on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Knonauer Amt energy region. “A driving force for the energy transition,” said Andrew Darrell, a member of the New York Sustainability Advisory Board. He thought that the world should find out about this pilot project, writes the “Affolter Anzeiger”. Together with the Swiss Pro Evolution Foundation and WWF Switzerland , he initiated a film about the exemplary work of the Knonauer Amt energy region. It premiered on Thursday. Its title: ” Full of energy into the future – a region relies on renewables “.

    The film reports on the initiatives that the 14 communities in this region in the canton of Zurich have undertaken and are undertaking to curb climate change: the energy-saving house in Stallikon, where children can experience energy in a playful way, the planned solar power plant above the A4, the Circular economy of the biogas plant in Rickenbach, the above-average number of CO2-neutral wood district heating plants. In 2010 the municipalities integrated the key project Energy Region Knonauer Amt into the location promotion. Their goal is to generate 80 percent of their energy needs by 2050 themselves and with renewable energies.

    Numerous experts have their say in the film, including Andreas Fischlin, member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) and professor at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich ( ETH ). “We have the same CO2 concentration as 3.5 million years ago,” he warns. At that time, there was a tropical flora and fauna in Switzerland. ETH professor Anton Gunzinger advocates greater use of local energies. That ensures more independence and that more money stays in the regional cycle: “We need more tax offices in Switzerland!”

  • Vebego joins forces with the ETH spin-off

    Vebego joins forces with the ETH spin-off

    Vebego Schweiz Holding AG offers various solutions in the real estate industry. The Zurich-based company is now teaming up with Archilyse , a spin-off from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich ( ETH ).

    Archilyse has developed real estate analysis software. This can create virtual models of real estate, which are integrated into a model of the environment. For example, Archilyse can calculate how much sunlight flows into the rooms or what the view is. The analyzes are offered, for example, to project developers, architects or real estate companies who can market them.

    The goal of the partnership between Vebego and Archilyse is to be “at the forefront of the market” and to market real estate technologies internationally, according to a media release . Archilyse will work with the Vebego subsidiary Move Consultants , among others.

    "The cooperation with Move Consultants as the actual 'Master of Floor Plan and Areas' takes Archilyse and its business model to a new level", Matthias Standfest, founder and CEO of Archilyse, is quoted in the press release. "On the one hand, Move is number one when it comes to the digital processing of real estate data and, on the other hand, Move's numerous customers can benefit from the extensive Archilyse analyzes without any great effort".

  • Crowdlitoken launches platform in Europe

    Crowdlitoken launches platform in Europe

    Crowdlitoken has launched its platform for real estate investments in Europe. According to a press release , the company is playing a global pioneering role. Investors can use the platform to purchase digital bonds on real estate and put together their own portfolio.

    Investors can, for example, participate in a commercial property in Switzerland, with which Crowdlitoken decided to work together in October. The property is located in Oensingen SO and has a market value of 9.15 million francs. Investors can use the platform to participate in real estate from CHF 100.

    "A great day. With this platform we are finally keeping our promise to investors, ”Domenic Kurt, CEO of Crowdlitoken, is quoted in the press release. "At this point, many thanks to the trust and patience of the investors from the very beginning."

    Crowdlitoken is currently preparing the second financing round. To this end, it has only recently brought new personalities to the Board of Directors .

  • EKZ supplies the Limmat Valley with a further 80 megawatts

    EKZ supplies the Limmat Valley with a further 80 megawatts

    With the facility in Oberengstringen, the electricity works of the canton of Zurich (EKZ) put their third substation in Limmat Valley into operation. The Limmattal is now supplied by the three substations Schlieren, Dietikon and Oberengstringen. The new substation with an output of 80 megawatts will gradually be put into operation by next February.

    "This means that we are very well prepared for the steadily growing energy demand in the region", Hans-Peter Häberli, Head of Construction and Systems at EKZ, is quoted in an interview . The economic upswing in the Limmattal with the settlement of new companies, a large data center and the Limmattalbahn is causing the demand for electricity to rise sharply. Häberli: “We have generally seen strong increases in load in the Limmat Valley over the past few years. In the future, the energy demand will be driven by the Limmattalbahn and the establishment of a data center in the region. The Schlieren substation, which previously supplied the region with energy, must therefore be relieved. Its capacity would soon no longer be sufficient. "

    The electrical energy is converted in the new substation. In the case of Oberengstringen, EKZ takes over the electricity with a voltage of 110 kilovolts from the Axpo high-voltage network. The energy is converted to 16 kilovolts with two 40-megawatt transformers, according to the EKZ website. After that, the electricity would be further stepped down until it is fed into the grid for end users such as housing estates.

    The connection of the new plant is to take place gradually by February. According to Häberli, Oberengstringen will then be fully connected to the Axpo high-voltage network. The communities of Ober- and Unterengstringen, Weiningen and parts of Schlieren are then supplied.

  • Fehlmann-Areal gets photovoltaic facades

    Fehlmann-Areal gets photovoltaic facades

    Around ten years ago, BGP built six pavilion-like residential buildings in various sizes on the Fehlmann site in Winterthur. The Zurich architecture office informs in a message that the area development has now been completed with two more buildings. From a distance, the new buildings are indistinguishable from the old superstructures.

    On closer inspection, however, an important difference becomes clear, explains BGP. The facades of the buildings erected in 2010 were made of black enameled glass panels. Instead, electricity-producing photovoltaic modules were installed in the new buildings. This means that the facade can take on “a multitude of tasks”, according to the announcement. Specifically, protection, climate regulation, representation and identification are mentioned there.

    Before building the development, BGP had measured the electricity demand in the existing buildings. According to the announcement, it had the distribution to be expected for a residential development with peaks in the morning and in the evening. These peaks could be better covered with modules integrated into the facade than with a system installed on the roof, explains the architecture office. In addition, a photovoltaic system was installed on the building roofs. The building complex is also equipped with charging stations for electric cars.

  • EWA – energieUri receives quality label

    EWA – energieUri receives quality label

    The association has developed the quality label vsas-certified.swiss in order to promote the profitability, product quality, specialist knowledge and safety of its member companies, writes the Association of Switchgear and Automatic Systems Switzerland ( VSAS ) on its Internet portal. EWA – energieUri has successfully passed the extensive audit to award the certification. This means that the Uri energy supplier is the first company in Switzerland to be awarded certification, writes EWA – energieUri in a press release.

    "We build switchgears of all sizes for customers all over Switzerland", Kilian Huwyler, Head of Switchgear Construction and Automation at EWA, is quoted in the press release. "The spectrum ranges from house panels to complex switchgear for industry." This year, the Uri-based energy service provider looks back on the company's 125th anniversary.

  • 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”.

  • The rental agreement is digitally signed for the first time

    The rental agreement is digitally signed for the first time

    According to a press release , Flatfox , Verit Immobilien AG and Skribble have reached a milestone in the digitization of rental agreements: their jointly developed electronic rental agreement has now been signed with legally binding effect in Zurich. This was the first time that a rental process was handled digitally in Switzerland.

    With the electronic signature made possible by Skribble, prospective tenants and landlords can now sign a rental agreement “simply and securely” on their smartphone, computer or tablet. This means that rental contracts no longer have to be printed out and then time-consuming to be sent back and forth by post.

    “I'm a fan of online things,” said the first tenant to ever sign a rental agreement electronically in Switzerland. “I think it's great to sign a rental agreement at the push of a button. The concept enables me to file my rental agreement digitally. "

    According to the announcement, the Zurich manager of Verit Immobilien AG, who countersigned this contract, particularly appreciated the user-friendliness and the time saved. The successfully launched pilot project is to be fully integrated into the first and re-letting process of Verit Immobilien AG in the future.

  • Lidl halves footprint

    Lidl halves footprint

    Lidl has exceeded a self-imposed environmental target. By 2020, the company wanted to reduce its relative CO2 emissions by 35 percent compared to 2013, Lidl Switzerland explains in a press release . Ultimately, however, the CO2 emissions were reduced by 53 percent. Lidl emphasizes a change in its own transport area as a particularly effective measure. Here, the company plans to only use trucks powered by bio-liquefied petroleum gas by 2030.

    Lidl Switzerland has introduced a CO2 management system in which the company’s annual CO2 emissions are recorded, the communication further explains. Building on this, the company derives measures to reduce emissions. The remaining emissions are offset.

    This is the fifth time that Lidl Switzerland has met the conditions for certification with the Swiss Climate Label CO2-neutral, according to the announcement. According to her, Lidl Switzerland is the first company of its kind in Switzerland whose branches and goods distribution centers are all certified according to the ISO 50001 energy efficiency standard.

  • 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!"

  • Algorithms help manage power loads

    Algorithms help manage power loads

    The simultaneous activation of many electrical devices creates enormous network loads. Since up to 60 percent of the grid usage costs for the energy supply companies are calculated from these load peaks, they have a vital interest in avoiding or at least smoothing them out as far as possible. The Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts ( HSLU ) has now found a solution together with partners, according to a press release.

    What is needed is “an intelligent and efficient energy and load management, with the help of which energy can be shifted”, Andrew Paice is quoted in this communication . He is the head of the HSLU Building Intelligence Research Center called iHomeLab . His team developed the prototype of such a system together with the HSLU Competence Center for Thermal Energy Storage, the Vilters-Wangs electricity company and business partners Asgal Informatik and Semax . The Swiss Agency for Innovation Promotion Innosuisse supports the project.

    The artificial intelligence developed by the teams and its algorithms use the data from intelligent electricity reading devices, so-called smart meters. The researchers used it to calculate thermal models of buildings. The algorithms “identify power-consuming devices such as heat pumps, boilers or e-mobiles and power-producing devices such as photovoltaic systems,” explains Paice. Then maximum power consumption, switch-on and switch-off times and energy consumption per day are combined with temperature and weather forecasts. This enabled precise predictions to be made.

    With these project results, the two companies involved in the project could now offer energy suppliers a service that would help them save costs – without the need for additional investments in their distribution networks.

  • 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.

  • Private individuals can participate in large solar systems

    Private individuals can participate in large solar systems

    Romande Energie customers can invest in their own solar systems without having their own roof. The Vaudois energy supplier wants to build a solar system totaling 1,700 square meters on Bertrand Pittet’s Petite Chamberonne farm in Etagnières, he writes in a press release . He enables his customers to participate. In return, the corresponding share of the production of solar power on the farm would be deducted from their private electricity bills.

    Romande Energie wants to attract a sufficiently large number of investors for its Jardin Solaire – sun garden – project by spring 2021. The plant should go into operation before summer.

    The Vaudois energy supplier launched a similar project in Mont-sur-Rolle in December 2019. There 37 private customers took part in the Jardin Solaire.

  • Innovative distillery goes into operation

    Innovative distillery goes into operation

    The new building in Amlikon-Bissegg is, among other things, the "most modern distillery in Switzerland", as it is called in a media release by Macardo Swiss Distillery GmbH . The barrel store is even the most innovative in Europe, the company from the St.GallenBodenseeArea continues. Two-day celebrations with a corresponding program were planned for the opening, but this was prevented by the Corona crisis. “Nevertheless, we will open on November 28, 2020 and start operating the distillery, the premium B&B, the event location and the honesty bar with cigar lounge. Countless people have worked intensively towards this in the last few months, ”Martina Bössow, owner of Macardo Swiss Distillery GmbH, is quoted in the press release.

    At the opening, the shop, which is also integrated in the new building, will be available to visitors. Fine brandies, Macardo disinfectants and a “world first for all whiskey fans”, as von Bössow put it, are offered there. And from November 30th, small groups of six people will be offered free guided tours for which registration is required.

    The new building was built around a cheese factory that is more than 100 years old. At the distillery, the focus is on craftsmanship, which is underlined by a sustainable process. Modern technology is also used in the drum store, which ensures an optimal room climate for the 400 barrels. In addition to the bar and lounge, shop and the event room, ten rooms and two apartments with a bed-and-breakfast offer (B&B) are also available for visitors.

  • Zürich erhält Goldauszeichnung als Energiestadt

    Zürich erhält Goldauszeichnung als Energiestadt

    Zürich ist im Rahmen des Hackathons Climathon Zürich erneut mit dem Energiestadt-Label in Gold ausgezeichnet worden. Damit fördert der Trägerverein Energiestadt die Umstellung auf erneuerbare Energien und Energieeffizienz. Laut einer Medienmitteilung der Stadt hätten der Ausbau der Photovoltaikanlagen auf stadteigenen Liegenschaften zu dieser Anerkennung ebenso beigetragen wie die Realisierung des Energieverbunds Altstetten und Höngg. Auch die neue Tramlinie Hardbrücke und die weitere Elektrifizierung des öffentlichen Verkehrs hätten ihren Anteil daran.

    Zum ersten Mal war Zürich die Auszeichnung als Energiestadt vor 20 Jahren verliehen worden. Seither seien die langfristigen Ziele der Stadt „kontinuierlich angepasst worden“. Dazu gehörten etwa die Verankerung der 2000-Watt-Gesellschaft in der Gemeindeordnung und die aktuellen Bestrebungen in Richtung Klimaneutralität. Grundlage dafür seien die im Masterplan Energie der Stadt Zürich definierten energiepolitischen Schwerpunkte.

  • Intershop is building the AuPark in Wädenswil

    Intershop is building the AuPark in Wädenswil

    The AuPark is to be built in Wädenswil-Au on Lake Zurich in the next few years. It should be a place to live, work, shop, relax, play and be educated, as it says on the AuPark website . A public park is to be created in the middle of the complex as a connecting element and meeting zone for the population of Au. The apartments in AuPark have a view of the Au peninsula and Lake Zurich.

    The project is operated by the real estate company Intershop . According to a media release , this applied for the building permit on November 17th. The private design plan for today's industrial area was approved in July. According to Intershop, 231 apartments are to be built. A total of 54 apartments are reserved for affordable living. It is planned to build the buildings according to the Swiss Sustainable Building Standard (SNBS) and with an energy supply from heat pumps. Work is scheduled to begin in autumn 2021 and the first buildings will be ready for occupancy in winter 2024. The new building of the Zimmerberg Cantonal School is also planned. However, this is carried out by the Canton of Zurich and not by Intershop.

  • Public transport should expand photovoltaics

    Public transport should expand photovoltaics

    Photovoltaics offers all public transport companies the opportunity to take a large part of their energy supply into their own hands. A new guide from the Federal Office of Transport refers to this. The authority developed it together with the Swiss Association for Solar Energy, Swissolar .

    As Swissolar writes in a summary of this guide, solar energy can make a decisive contribution to replacing non-renewable energies in public transport. The electricity consumption of all transport companies is currently around 2.7 terawatt hours. In addition, there are 120 million liters of diesel. If all public transport is to be operated in a CO2-neutral manner in the future, it will need around 3.5 terawatt hours of electricity. Of this, 2 terawatt hours, or 60 percent, would already be produced by the hydropower plants of the SBB .

    The production of the remaining 1.5 terawatt hours with solar energy would require around 1 square meter of photovoltaic module area per inhabitant in Switzerland. The same area per inhabitant provides the energy required to transport a person 2,500 kilometers by train in one year. As the Federal Office of Energy states in its energeia plus magazine, the potential for solar power in the Swiss transport company's building stock is 67 terawatt hours per year. That exceeds the total current Swiss electricity consumption by 10 percent.

    The guide advises small and large transport companies on investment opportunities and approval procedures for real estate, rail technology and infrastructure. He also goes into funding opportunities and personal consumption. It also provides specific official recommendations that support public transport in becoming climate-neutral.

  • Quickpac now distributes packages from Dietikon

    Quickpac now distributes packages from Dietikon

    With the newly opened depot in Dietikon, the parcel delivery company Quickpac intends to serve large parts of the cantons of Aargau, Zug and Zurich in the future. With Dietikon, Quickpac expands the number of its distribution centers to three. Up to 25,000 parcels can be transported daily from the three depots. The subsidiary of Quickmail AG is planning to open further depots in St.Gallen in 2021 and, according to a media release , is currently looking for locations in the regions of Bern, St.Gallen, Upper Lake Zurich, Lucerne and Basel.

    55 new parcel deliverers have been hired in Dietikon. The number should double in 2021, it is said. 75 new electric vehicles were purchased for delivery. With 176 Renault Kangoo ZE, Quickpac has the largest electric car fleet in Switzerland. According to the announcement, the head of the Dietikon depot is Matthias Merz (47), previously Head of Operations at Cargo Solution GmbH.

    The new parcel center would allow even more recipients in Switzerland to benefit from “the fact that their parcels are delivered quietly and with low emissions,” says Thomas Ulmann, COO of Quickpac, quoted as saying. In addition, there is the rapid delivery. A quarter of the parcels are delivered on the day of delivery. Even between 5 and 9 p.m. when working people are at home. Ulmann: "That saves unnecessary and unecological trips to collection points."

  • Designwerk delivers the first electric garbage truck to Basel

    Designwerk delivers the first electric garbage truck to Basel

    Designwerk Products AG has made the first fully electric garbage truck available to the building and transport department of the canton of Basel-Stadt. In the first phase, Designwerk will deliver one vehicle to Basel “almost a week” according to its media release until the beginning of February. A total of eleven more garbage trucks are to follow.

    The first Basel e-truck, a Futuricum Collect 26E, is based on the Volvo FM chassis. It has four electric motors with an output of 680 hp. Its range is 160 kilometers. The batteries are charged overnight. Designwerk is cooperating with Contena-Ochsner AG for the construction of press waste. This is also operated electrically.

    The construction and transport department of the canton of Basel-Stadt is playing a pioneering role in electromobility across Switzerland, according to Designwerk. Within the next five years, 85 percent of cantonal vehicles are to be electric.

  • Zühlke modernizes Wincasa's digital presence

    Zühlke modernizes Wincasa's digital presence

    IT innovation service provider Zühlke from Schlieren brings the software used at Wincasa up to date, which meets today's market requirements. The real estate service provider from Winterthur has so far worked with the programs developed in-house. According to Zühlke's press release , these programs, which have been developed in the company over the last 15 years, are "extremely functional", but are not sufficient for Wincasa's expansion strategy. So far, data exchange with third-party applications has not been possible, nor is the software cloud-based. But both are necessary in order to use omni-channel marketing – the forwarding of product information to all sales channels and media – and to offer tenants and owners appropriate services.

    Zühlke helps the Wincasa experts to modernize the existing system. It should not be set up completely from scratch. For this purpose, the three existing areas of corporate planning, property management and construction project management are made cloud-enabled and prepared for use in the Microsoft Azure environment. The data that has been collected over many years now has to be cleaned up and transferred to the new platform. New projects are brought in there directly. Zühlke experts work together with Wincasa IT specialists on this work.

    The media release states the goal of the modernization: Wincasa wants to lead the digital revolution in the Swiss real estate market.

  • Andermatt Swiss Alps remains on the road to success

    Andermatt Swiss Alps remains on the road to success

    Between January and October 2020, the Andermatt Swiss Alps Group was able to sell properties worth more than 85 million francs, the company responsible for the development, realization and operation of the holiday destination informs in a message . In a year-on-year comparison, this corresponds to growth of 28 percent. The number of visitors to the SkiArena Andermatt-Sedrun and the Andermatt Golf Course during summer operations increased by 12 and 50 percent respectively compared to the previous year. This means that the group has continued its positive business development from the first half of 2020, according to the announcement.

    The Hotel The Chedi Andermatt was also able to book significantly more overnight stays in the first ten months of 2020 than in the previous year, the Andermatt Swiss Alps Group continues in the message. Specifically, "the historically highest occupancy rate" of 68 percent was achieved. In the same period of the previous year, the hotel The Chedi Andermatt had an occupancy rate of 53 percent.

    As of October 31, skiing on the Gemsstock started due to the pandemic with a corresponding plan of action, is further explained in the communication. The canton of Uri has certified the operators safe operation, writes the Andermatt Swiss Alps Group. On the first two weekends of the winter season, the ski operation on the Gemsstock was sold out with around 1000 guests a day.

  • Climate Foundation Switzerland supports innovative projects

    Climate Foundation Switzerland supports innovative projects

    The Swiss Climate Foundation has distributed a total of 1.3 million francs in funding. Small and medium-sized companies that make a contribution to climate protection benefit from this financial support. A total of nine particularly innovative and five major projects for improving the energy efficiency of buildings receive funds from the Climate Foundation. “It is very important to us to promote such innovations more intensively”, their managing director Vincent Eckert is quoted in a press release .

    For example, the Ticino company iWin is now being supported with 50,000 francs. It produces windows with integrated photovoltaic blinds. In doing so, it transforms highly glazed buildings into solar power plants. The Zurich-based company Oxara is using the funding for the further development of cement-free concrete from loamy excavated material. FenX , based in Zurich, uses ash and other mineral waste to produce insulating foam for construction that is non-flammable and 100 percent recyclable. FenX receives CHF 200,000 for this.

    The supported projects also include the automated insect breeding solution from the Aargau company SmartBreed as well as the Ticino company Ponera . It develops shipping packaging for industrial goods, which is intended to create a circular economy for packaging material. Further funds will go to iWorks AG in Liechtenstein. It shows how public areas can be used to produce solar power.

  • Romande Energie is getting involved in French wind farms

    Romande Energie is getting involved in French wind farms

    Romande Energie France and the wind farm developer Calycé Développement have entered into a development partnership, according to a press release from the Valais energy supplier. Romande Energie is thus adding 15 wind farms to its portfolio for renewable energies in France. She takes high stakes in them. Most are still in the planning phase.

    The contract between the two companies provides for Romande Energie to acquire a 50 percent stake in six early-stage projects. She becomes the one hundred percent owner of seven late-stage projects. She takes on 80 percent of a secured project. Calycé Développement will manage all projects until they are ready for construction. Romande Energie buys 100 percent of a wind farm that is already in operation.

    Since 2013 the Romande Energie Group has acquired a number of hydro, solar and wind power plants in France. This added to its hydropower portfolio in western Switzerland. According to the company, these investments served to diversify both their locations and their energy sources. The transaction will be completed in the coming weeks.

  • Repower brings the largest Engadine solar system to the grid

    Repower brings the largest Engadine solar system to the grid

    A new wastewater treatment plant is being built in S-chanf. The Upper Engadine ARA is scheduled to start operations in mid-2021. Repower has installed a solar system with an area of 5800 square meters and 3447 solar modules on the roof of the system. The plant has an output of 1.1 megawatts and an expected annual output of 1.45 gigawatt hours. That corresponds to the consumption of 325 households, writes the Graubünden energy supplier in a press release . The system was designed in such a way that it can withstand heavy snowfall. The modules themselves have a total weight of 69 tons.

    The system has now been put into operation. Repower has invested 1.7 million francs.

    The ARA itself is operated with a combined heat and power unit. This means that electricity consumption on site can be optimized with the aim of using as much solar power as possible on site.