Zürich Energie 360° with new headquarters
Energie 360° has completed the conversion of its headquarters in Zurich - and set a new benchmark in the use of photovoltaic modules on façades.
The headquarters of the Swiss energy and e-mobility company Energie 360° in Zurich-Altstetten was renovated and refurbished over a construction period of around two years and now provides 350 jobs. It has a large-scale photovoltaic façade with 1,600 PV modules covering an area of 2,600 square meters; the modules cover around 50 percent of the building's energy requirements. Energie 360° uses around 80 percent of the solar power generated itself - for its own fleet of electric cars, for example. The charging infrastructure comprises 91 charging points and can be expanded to 148. The conversion cost CHF 29.5 million.
According to the company, the realization of the photovoltaic façades in terms of fire protection is of a pioneering nature. The background: due to a lack of in-depth knowledge about the fire risk, the canton of Zurich's building insurance no longer approved photovoltaic systems on façades. This affected around twelve construction projects in the canton, all of which involved medium-height buildings (11-30 m) with such façades. Energie 360° was the first company to carry out fire tests at its own expense. The result: thanks to the new method, photovoltaics can now be added. (bw)
