In three different pilot areas – a commercial area, a mixed-use area and a residential area – local businesses and residents are to cooperate both in the production and storage of solar energy (pooling for self-consumption) and in the use of electric vehicles (sharing, “Mobility as a Service”). This addresses two problems that are emerging in Switzerland and in Winterthur in the context of the Energy Strategy 2050: on the one hand, the sluggish expansion of solar energy and, on the other hand, the high density of fossil-fuelled motorised private transport.
The project is based on the cooperation of various partners from Winterthur from the fields of higher education/education, industry, structural and civil engineering and city administration. In particular, the areas are confronted with the issue of combining self-use and shared mobility. While the installation of a PV system including ZEV will soon be a matter of course in new buildings, e-vehicle sharing is still not very widespread here either. ZEV^2, on the other hand, starts with existing buildings and aims to design the optimal solution for mixed areas by combining technologies (metering infrastructure, energy management system, charging infrastructure – and the digital networking of these three systems) and needs (use, billing, transparency).
The project is being carried out by the City of Winterthur under the project management of the Climate Unit. The project is also financially supported by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy with the Front Runner programme.
Further information is available on request from the Smart City programme management.
Tag: Steigerung
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Self-consumption community in the double sense
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Low data literacy and low data maturity as barriers to digital progress in the real estate industry
The Digital Real Estate Survey 2023 shows that the digitalisation maturity of real estate companies in Germany and Switzerland is moderately increasing. The index measures the extent to which market participants are addressing digitalisation and how far they have already taken and implemented measures. The Digital Real Estate Index across the entire market is 4.7, an increase of 0.2 points compared to the previous year. While the Swiss index rose slightly, the German index fell by 0.1 points to 4.8.
The assessment of digital technologies has been stagnating for years and is thus developing only slowly. Although all technologies are being used more frequently, the increase and expectations of benefits are rather moderate. With the exception of “Decentralised Energy Technologies”, which have experienced a boost due to the looming energy shortage.
Expensiveness inhibits digital investments
The development of digital maturity of the different roles in the industry also continues to be even. FM service providers have a higher level of maturity in terms of digital transformation than other market participants, but rising inflation is apparently putting them under such pressure that investments have had to be drastically reduced. Planners and contractors, on the other hand, are investing more in innovation and digitalisation, especially due to the increased use of BIM in project planning. Two thirds of the companies spend more than 1 percent of their annual turnover on innovation and digitalisation, with small companies with up to 49 employees investing proportionately more than medium-sized and large companies. Large companies with 250 or more employees have a higher digital maturity than SMEs.“If you compare the investments as a percentage of annual turnover across all company sizes with the turnover of the construction and real estate industry in the narrower sense, this results in a considerable sum in the billions which is spent in the industry on innovation and digitalisation,” explains Rebekka Ruppel, CEO of pom+Germany. “It makes you wonder why the digital maturity level is not increasing faster.”
Immature data skills as the biggest challenge
One possible explanation is low data maturity combined with low data literacy. The survey shows that data analytics is used by only a quarter of respondents and that most are engaged in pilot projects or knowledge building (38% of respondents). Only 4 percent are already using the technology in their day-to-day business. The results show that data analytics has a positive impact on more areas of a company than expected – especially in investment, portfolio and asset management. Improved reporting is seen as the biggest benefit, while the lack of quality of the database and the lack of know-how in handling data are seen as the biggest challenges.“The awareness of data as an asset has not yet taken hold in the construction and real estate industry. At the same time, the requirements for data architectures are very complex in the extremely heterogeneous environment with highly fragmented processes and different participation groups. Clear and transparent communication in conjunction with structured data governance is necessary here to create a better understanding of data,” explains Rebekka Ruppel.
The maturity of digitisation in the industry depends not only on technical possibilities, but also on experience, competences and know-how. Companies should focus on expanding and maintaining partner networks as well as overarching business models in order to move from individual performance to joint development. The exchange of data across company and industry boundaries is expected to increase rapidly, so companies should raise awareness of data.
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Holcim continues to grow
According to a press release, building materials producer Holcim increased sales in all segments by 16.9 percent to CHF 14.681 billion in the first half of the year. The roofing and insulation business in particular ended with above-average growth. Holcim expects further growth impetus in the division. In addition to sales, the record result includes recurring EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) of CHF 2.173 billion, an increase of 9.6 percent in Swiss francs, and earnings per share, which increased by 39.7 percent to CHF 1.90.
In order to continue the company's success, according to the announcement, the focus is on the company's decarbonization. Based on the good half-year figures, Holcim feels well positioned to implement Strategy 2025 “Accelerating Green Growth”. This envisages world market leadership for innovative and sustainable construction solutions and net zero by 2050.
For the 2022 financial year, CEO Jan Jenisch, who was quoted in the announcement, estimates pro-forma sales of CHF 3.5 billion and expects “sales growth of at least 10 percent on a comparable basis”.
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Portfolio value of the HSC Fund slightly higher than in the previous year
The acquisitions from the previous year contributed to earnings for the whole year for the first time. This led to an 8.2% increase in rental income from CHF 38.8 million to CHF 42.0 million. The market value of the real estate portfolio increased by 0.8% to CHF 750 million at the end of the previous year. This increase in market value was mainly achieved through letting successes and dedicated asset management. Due to various acquisitions in the 2020 financial year and the associated one-off increases in value, last year’s investment return was 6.9%. Since there were no acquisitions in 2021, correspondingly fewer revaluations were achieved with slightly higher net returns, resulting in an investment return of 5.4% in 2021.
As of December 31, 2021, the fund comprised 35 properties with a total rentable area of over 300,000m2. Further information on the HSC Fund can be found in the factsheet as of December 31, 2021. The annual report will be published on March 15, 2022.