immo!nvest – Die Plattform für Standorte und Immobilien

Tag: Trend

  • Solar energy on track

    Solar energy on track

    In 2024, 1,798 megawatts of new photovoltaic capacity were installed in Switzerland, an increase of 10 % compared to the previous year. The total output rose to 8.2 gigawatts, which covered over 10 % of the national electricity demand. Despite below-average solar radiation and rising electricity consumption, the annual production corresponds to the consumption of around two million households.

    Security of supply through winter electricity
    Photovoltaics is not just a summer technology; from October 2024 to April 2025, 2.4 terawatt hours of solar power were generated, a third of annual production. This contribution significantly relieved the pressure on Switzerland’s reservoirs. Without solar energy, Switzerland would have had to import significantly more electricity.

    Decline in the single-family home segment
    While larger systems continued to grow strongly, the expansion on single-family homes fell by 3 %. This slowed overall growth, as around a third of installed capacity was previously based on this segment. According to Swissolar, the reason for this restraint is the uncertainty surrounding the new Electricity Act.

    Battery storage systems are gaining in importance
    The expansion of battery storage systems also increased by 4%. The commercial sector in particular is showing increased momentum. Today, 47% of PV systems on single-family homes are already equipped with battery storage. The total storage capacity is just under 900 MWh, enough for 100,000 households for one day.

    International momentum confirms global trend
    Around 597 GW of photovoltaic capacity was installed worldwide in 2024, an increase of 33%. With 908 watts per capita, Switzerland is in 10th place in an international comparison. Global solar power production rose to 2,000 TWh.

    Changing framework conditions
    The new Electricity Supply Act creates important foundations for local electricity consumption, but also leads to uncertainty. In particular, there is a lack of practicable solutions for local electricity communities and market-based purchase remuneration. Swissolar is calling for concrete improvements to better utilise the potential of local use and storage solutions.

    Slowdown with prospects
    Swissolar expects the market to decline by around 10% to 1600 MW in 2025 due to regulatory transition phases. Stabilisation is expected from 2026. The targets of 18.7 TWh of solar power by 2030 and 35 TWh from new renewable energies by 2035 are achievable with continuous expansion of between 1,800 and 2,000 MW per year.

  • Households demand affordable climate protection

    Households demand affordable climate protection

    Switzerland wants to become climate neutral by 2050. This goal is supported by 77 percent of the population, explains Stiebel Eltron Switzerland in a press release. The Aargau-based manufacturer of domestic and system technology is basing this on the results of its current energy trend monitor. For this, Stiebel Eltron Switzerland had a representative survey carried out among 1000 Swiss people.

    However, 75 percent of the respondents do not want to be asked to pay more for climate neutrality. In particular, support for weak households with the costs of the energy transition (85 percent of respondents) and cheaper electricity for heat pumps (86 percent) are demanded. “Consumers must not be left alone with the costs of the private energy turnaround,” Patrick Drack, Managing Director of Stiebel Eltron Switzerland, is quoted as saying in the statement.

    At the centre of the measures for climate neutrality is the replacement of oil, gas and electric heating systems with “clean and efficient technology”, according to the statement. For this purpose, subsidies totalling 200 million Swiss francs per year are to flow over the next ten years. “With renewable technology such as heat pumps, we are making an important contribution towards climate neutrality,” says Drack. On its website, the company provides information about current subsidy programmes for heat pumps.

  • Milestone of transparency on greenhouse gas emissions of the real estate industry

    Milestone of transparency on greenhouse gas emissions of the real estate industry

    With a share of 23.9%, real estate is the third largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Switzerland after transport and industry. There is therefore no way around sustainable real estate to achieve the net-zero climate targets. However, you can’t tell by looking at real estate whether it is environmentally friendly or not. Labels and ratings were therefore created early on to provide information about the sustainability of real estate.

    Comparability is central
    What initially contributed a lot to the promotion and better understanding of the sustainability of real estate has meanwhile become a problem itself. The variety of labels and initiatives in the sustainability field overwhelms many market participants. Moreover, the individual ratings can hardly be compared with each other. Some ratings include several dozen indicators, so that in the end it is no longer clear what they are trying to express at all. Moreover, many investment vehicles in the real estate sector are now labelled as sustainable and apply ESG criteria, but there is no clarity as to how sustainable the respective properties are.

    The trend is towards disclosure of environmental indicators
    However, investors are demanding increasingly precise information and want to be able to compare different investment products not only in terms of returns or risks, but also in terms of sustainability. The trend today is therefore towards direct disclosure of environmental indicators, such as energy consumption or greenhouse gas emissions. Last year, the AMAS and KGAST associations obliged or requested their members to publish the most important key figures in the annual reports of real estate funds and real estate investment foundations with a closing date from the end of 2023.

    Why do we need a standard?
    However, calculating these key figures is anything but simple. Different values can result for the same properties, depending on the calculation method. Standardisation is therefore necessary. REIDA has taken on this task and developed a standard for determining the most important environmentally relevant key figures in the real estate sector. According to this REIDA standard, a benchmarking was carried out in 2022 with 3984 existing properties or 36 property portfolios, which have a total of almost 23 million m2 of energy reference area.

    What was measured?
    Only consumption values measured in real terms were recorded and balanced. This is a big difference to other surveys, where in many cases no consumption data is available and which therefore mostly operate with calculated values (estimates based on benchmarks). For each of the real estate portfolios, the degree of coverage is also shown together with the results. This describes the proportion of properties in the portfolio for which measured energy consumption data are available. On average, the coverage rate for all 36 portfolios is 83.1%. The disclosure of the degree of coverage also serves transparency, but is still not widespread. An analysis of the annual reports of listed real estate funds by pom+Consulting in 2022, for example, showed that only 25% of them contained quantitative information on the degree of coverage.

    Benchmarking results and their classification
    The average energy consumption in the REIDA benchmarking portfolio is 97.4 kWh per m² of energy reference area. The range is between 59 and 146 kWh/m². Special situations are probably responsible for portfolios at the lower end of the values – e.g. that single tenants purchase a lot of energy themselves, which according to the current methodology is not yet taken into account in the energy indicator. In an online survey by the University of Lausanne, which analysed 66 portfolios of institutional investors with a good 31 million m² of building space, a somewhat higher value of 105.5 kWh/m² of energy reference area was reported for the reference year 2020 – but without using a uniform calculation methodology.

    The share of renewable energy in the REIDA CO2 benchmarking is 25.8% on average, with a range of 13% to 54%. On average, the greenhouse gas emissions of the portfolios that participated in the REIDA benchmarking amount to 13.1 kg CO2 equivalents per m² energy reference area. In addition to carbon dioxide, the benchmarking also takes into account all other greenhouse gases, such as methane or nitrous oxide, and calculates CO2 equivalents (CO2e) from them. The REIDA portfolio 2022 thus achieves a very good value – with a range between 4.1 and 22.4 kg CO2e/m². The sample surveyed by the University of Lausanne achieved an average value of 19.6 kg CO2e/m². Again, due to the lack of a uniform calculation method, a direct comparison is only possible with reservations.

    Specification of uncertainty ranges
    Another achievement of the REIDA benchmarking is the specification of uncertainty ranges. This is because the consumption and emission values used as well as the calculations are always subject to uncertainties (e.g. inaccurate measurement sensors, small conversion uncertainties from lettable area to energy reference area). These uncertainties are aggregated for each portfolio and shown at the level of the key figures in the form of an uncertainty range, which indicates how reliable the key figure is. The uncertainty range is given as twice the standard deviation, which means that the actual value lies within the specified uncertainty range with a probability of 95%. For the indicator of CO2e emission intensity, the individual portfolios show uncertainty ranges from 0.3 to 5.8 kg CO2e/m².

    New standard for ESG reporting in Switzerland
    With the CO2 benchmarking, REIDA sets a new standard and thereby achieves a milestone in the ESG reporting of real estate in Switzerland. The standard will not only be continuously improved in terms of methodology and data quality, but will also cover aspects of environmental sustainability that have so far been excluded. One of the most important tasks will be to cover not only the operating phase of real estate, but also its entire life cycle, and in particular to incorporate the issue of grey energy. The addition of ratings and certificates – which have limits in terms of transparency and comparability – as well as the transition to direct reporting of the actual key performance indicators are thus in full swing.

  • Graubünden luxury residences should be vacant less often

    Graubünden luxury residences should be vacant less often

    The University of Applied Sciences of Graubünden has examined how the added value of luxury residences that are often vacant can be improved. In this context, the Institute for Tourism and Leisure ( ITF ) investigated the question of how their owners can become convinced renters. In Graubünden they have been “neglected”, writes the FH in a press release . However, because the trend is moving from overnight stays in a hotel to one's own holiday home, this clientele should not be neglected.

    However, the existing data is too thin for a needs analysis. Therefore, in their study, the researchers examined the willingness to rent similar prestige properties. In the global yacht charter market, they identified high administrative hurdles as well as psychological motives as an obstacle to renting out. These include encroachments on privacy and limited flexibility in personal use.

    The most important finding from this needs analysis, however, is "that both the rental of superyachts and luxury residences are a matter of trust". So that the potential of the often vacant luxury properties in the high-priced Alpine destinations can be used, "all tasks that arise must be managed by a coordinator role". It is your job to guarantee that all service participants work together as smoothly as possible. “The rest then comes naturally, because satisfied landlords generate satisfied tenants,” says the message.