Lake Neuchâtel provides comfortable shopping temperatures
Zürcher Kantonalbank Asset Management has tapped into a climate-friendly energy source for heating and cooling the building complex of the Neuchâtel football stadium "Maladière". Lake Neuchâtel now keeps temperatures pleasant in the stadium complex.
Text: Martin Bernhard
In 2007, the new Stade de la Maladière in Neuchâtel was completed in a fantastic location directly on the banks of Lake Neuchâtel. Besides capacity for 12,500 spectators at the football stadium, the building complex offers around 20,000 m² of retail and commercial space and over 900 underground parking spaces.
The commercial facilities are jointly owned by the federal pension fund, PUBLICA, and the Swisscanto Investment Foundation, which is represented by Zürcher Kantonalbank Asset Management.
Concordance for sustainability
Both PUBLICA and Zürcher Kantonalbank Asset Management take economic, technical and ecological aspects into account in new and replacement investments. On this basis, it was quickly agreed that a sustainable solution was needed for the ageing heating and cooling systems of the Maladière Centre. Last summer, the property was then connected to the Neuchâtel free-cooling network.
Since then, the complex facilities have been heated and cooled with water from Lake Neuchâtel. This saves around 230 tonnes of CO 2 emissions per year. On average, this corresponds to the annual CO2 emissions of around 120 passenger cars driving 15,000 kilometres. The majority of the energy used to operate the lake water heat pump comes from renewable energy sources. Owners and tenants should therefore profit from lower energy and service/maintenance costs in the future.
More details on the successful and sustainable operation of a co-owned commercial property can be found in the video with Marcel Stieger, Head of Tech. Asset Management Real Estate, and Ralph Bühlmann, Portfolio Manager Real Estate at the federal pension fund, PUBLICA.
Storing energy in Lake Zurich
Zürcher Kantonalbank also uses lakes for its own buildings as a sustainable energy storage system. For example, a lake water heat pump was installed during the renovation of our head office in 2015. This system heats and cools the building, saving 1,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. This technology is also used in the Meilen branch.
