immo!nvest – Die Plattform für Standorte und Immobilien

Tag: Ostschweizer Fachhochschule

  • OST wants to trigger a wave of renovations

    OST wants to trigger a wave of renovations

    A so-called flagship initiative by Innosuisse wants to drastically increase the quota for the energy modernization of buildings. The Institute for Solar Technology of the OST – Ostschweizer Fachhochschule is leading this project called Renowave from 2022 to 2025 together with the University of Geneva . In a media release , the OST talks about wanting to trigger a renovation wave for energy-efficient renovations with a total of 16 research and 46 implementation partners as well as with the authorities. Around 7.5 million francs are earmarked for financing this project.

    The background to this is that the energetic refurbishment of buildings is a central pillar of the national climate strategy. However, because only 1 percent of the old stock is currently being modernized each year, the energy transition would only be achievable in 2120 instead of 2050 as planned, the OST calculates.

    Until now, individual disciplines have carried out relatively small and independent studies on the subject of building modernization, according to Renowave general manager Igor Bosshard. "When this project is completed in 2025, authorities, industry and research should be able to apply and implement the results of the project, such as new technologies, financing models or adjustments to building regulations, in a targeted manner and in the knowledge of the needs of everyone involved, from the client to the tenant."

    The 62 partner organizations of Renowave include cantons, cities and the Federal Office for Housing as well as the trade association swisscleantech , construction service provider Implenia , Raiffeisen Switzerland , PostFinance and the Swiss Tenants ' Association .

  • Institute publishes guidelines for spatial development

    Institute publishes guidelines for spatial development

    The Institute for Spatial Development (IRAP) of the OST – Ostschweizer Fachhochschule has published a free step-by-step guide for questions about redensification in small communities. It is intended to support communities with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants to prepare their own settlement strategy, according to a media release .

    A total of 95 percent of the municipalities in Switzerland have fewer than 10,000 inhabitants. The correspondingly small administrations often do not employ any specialist staff for spatial planning. According to a press release, this means that nobody cares about high-quality settlement densification. Since the revision of the Spatial Planning Act 2014, however, localities have only been allowed to develop within their existing area in order to prevent urban sprawl.

    The free guide of the IRAP is intended to give you a start. The paper comprises seven chapters on 40 pages and is intended to answer questions such as "how much growth can our community expect?", "Where in our building zones makes the most sense of densification?" And "how do we launch these projects?".

    "With this methodology, qualified spatial planners should be able to work out an interior development strategy for the entire municipality within a maximum of 200 to 300 hours for communities with up to 10,000 inhabitants, and thus for less than CHF 50,000" -Professor Andreas Schneider quoted in the press release.

    The complete method manual is available online for download free of charge.

  • Model clarifies the cycle of building materials

    Model clarifies the cycle of building materials

    With his dissertation, industrial engineer Daniel Kliem wants to create the basis for the recycling of building materials at the OST – Ostschweizer Fachhochschule, across cantons. As it is said in a media release, the “cantonal spirit” is a hindrance in the political process. If, for example, the price for mining gravel and dumping demolition and excavation is raised in one canton in order to provide incentives for recycling, the problem would only shift to other regions: “Dismantling material and excavation would then be transported to other cantons and new material would then drive from further away, ”said Kliem.

    Now a participatively developed model wants to clarify the system dynamics. In addition to three OST institutes, experts from the Universities of St.Gallen and Bergen , the Zurich Office for Waste, Water, Energy and Air as well as Energy and Resource Management GmbH are involved in this four-year project. Despite the complex dynamics, it has already created a comprehensive understanding of the problem and has been able to identify actionable fields of action. For example, the processes and spatial planning measures would have to be redefined. In addition, construction-intensive cantons such as Zurich should be included and the taxation of resources should be regulated nationally.

    "The realization that even experts can learn new things with models and gain new perspectives and inputs was exciting," Kliem is quoted as saying. “The obvious measure to increase the price of gravel is good and works. But if the catchment areas are included, the cooperation between cantons serves as a key to prevent additional transport. "

  • Rental prices drop slightly in March

    Rental prices drop slightly in March

    The prices for rents fell in March compared to the previous month by 0.4 percent. This short-term development is only reflected in the national averages. In the most expensive and densely populated regions, rents rose in March, according to the latest data from the Swiss Real Estate Offer Index. In the long term, too, prices have increased on average.

    Tenants in the Lake Geneva region had to pay 0.2 percent more in March, and even 0.9 percent in the greater Zurich region. According to a press release, rents in north-western Switzerland also rose by 0.3 percent, in eastern Switzerland by 0.2 percent and in Ticino by 1.9 percent. In Central Switzerland, on the other hand, rents fell by 1.2 percent. Over the year as a whole, rental prices rose by an average of 0.6 percent for the country.

    In the case of home ownership, prices have also developed differently, depending on the type of residence. While those interested in condominiums benefited from an average of 0.4 percent lower prices in March, buyers of single-family homes had to add 1 percent.

    In the past twelve months, home prices even rose by a record 7.2 percent. While the square meter cost 6398 francs in March 2020, it was 6857 francs in March of this year.

    In the case of condominiums, the plus of 3 percent was somewhat more moderate. Here, the price per square meter rose from 7,366 francs in March 2020 to 7,587 francs in March 2021.

    The data of the Swiss Real Estate Offer Index is created in real time on the basis of advertisements on the real estate platform ImmoScout24 and in cooperation with the real estate consultancy IAZI AG .

  • Energie 360 ° is working on a power-to-gas solution

    Energie 360 ° is working on a power-to-gas solution

    Energie 360 ° and the gas storage company RAG Austria are working on making solar energy available all year round. Both are jointly pursuing the innovative power-to-gas project Underground Sun Conversion – Flexible Storage . It started in December 2020 has a term of two and a half years and is supported by the European Commission promoted . Field tests are already underway at the RAG research site in Pilsbach, Upper Austria.

    In this project, excess renewable energy, such as solar power in summer, is converted into hydrogen, explains Energie 360 ° in a press release . This is then stored together with carbon dioxide in natural underground storage at a depth of over 1000 meters. There, microorganisms combine hydrogen and carbon to form renewable methane gas. This energy can be used in the event of supply gaps, for example in winter. The advantage over pumped storage power plants or batteries lies in the much higher storage capacity and, at the same time, less surface area, according to Energie 360 °.

    In Switzerland, the two companies cooperate with the University of Bern , the University of Applied Sciences in Eastern Switzerland and the Federal Materials Testing and Research Institute ( Empa ). "We are working together on the solution to one of the greatest challenges facing the energy system of the future: How do we advance volatile renewable energy sources such as sun and wind and at the same time offer year-round security of supply?", Says Andreas Kunz, Head of Energy Systems at Energie 360 °.