Building Stock Model (BSM)

With its Energy Strategy 2050, Switzerland has set itself ambitious goals. The benchmarks of the 2000-watt society, which many planners, municipalities and cities in Switzerland are guided by, are similarly demanding. In terms of the attainability and implementation of these goals, various questions arise for these actors – but also for the energy suppliers. Depending on requirements, the Building Stock Model (BSM) and its various modules can be used for the following purposes and tasks:

• Target verification and/or feasibility check
• Strategic and operative energy planning (such as (district) heating networks, use of local potentials of renewable energies). Project example: municipal energy plan for Canton Glarus
• Network planning, conception and planning of energy services
• Impact analysis and evaluation of (planned) energy policy measures
• Urban planning and site/area development
• National and municipal energy statistics
• Management of building portfolios

The GPM for Switzerland and the cantons

The building sector contributes significantly to Switzerland's greenhouse gas emissions. In addition to direct emissions from the operation of buildings, so-called embodied emissions also occur. These are generated during the production, construction and disposal of buildings, parts of buildings and building materials and are a significant factor in the climate balance. A holistic view is necessary in order to develop targeted approaches for reducing these emissions.
The building stock model can be used, for example, to analyse the feasibility of a renewable heat supply or the goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions. To this end, the effect of various energy and climate policy measures and technical and economic developments are simulated.

Project example: Feasibility of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions for the Swiss building sector.
Would you like to check this for your city or municipality? Contact us, we will be happy to advise you without obligation.

The BSM for a geospatial public energy strategy

As a representative of a public authority (federal, cantonal or municipal level), do you see yourself confronted with energy and climate policy goals or do you define your own strategy and goals?
Then you know that the exploitation of existing energy and efficiency potentials requires careful conception and foresighted planning. In many places, there are also grid-bound energy supplies such as gas, district and local heating networks that are already in operation, which can represent an economic challenge but also an energy policy opportunity.

With the BSM, energy demand can be calculated for different areas and cartographically represented for different scenarios up to 2060. Building technology, structural engineering, energy-specific and economic parameters as well as influencing factors are considered.
Our BSM helps you to develop a strategy, to define quantifiable goals and possible target paths, as well as to design energy planning measures and to check their impact, taking local conditions into account.

Project examples: Municipal heat planning for Volketswil and Glarus.
Do you need to update your municipal energy planning or your energy strategy? Please contact us and we will be happy to discuss the procedure with you. 

The BSM for professional building owners or lenders

Is your own or financed real estate portfolio sustainable and climate-friendly in terms of energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions? Would you like to develop a strategy for retrofit investments for your portfolio or manage the available funds optimally and use them in targeted measures so that certain future political framework conditions (such as MuKEN, Minergie, GEAK) are achieved?

The BSM is an ideal tool which supports you in analysing various long-term (retrofit) strategies for your building stock in terms of costs, energy savings and target achievement.

The GPM is an ideal tool to help you analyse your goals and various long-term (renovation) strategies for your building portfolio in terms of costs, energy savings, greenhouse gas emissions and target achievement.
Project example: Calculation of Scope 3 emissions from construction and renovation activities ('embodied emissions') for the property portfolio of the company SPS.
Are you looking at the reduction pathway for direct and indirect emissions from your property portfolio? How do you do that? Just ask us!

The BSM for energy companies and associations

How are energy efficiency, new energy applications and renewable energies changing energy sales? What consequences do local, cantonal and national energy strategies have on the energy and building market?

The BSM shows the future cost and technology development in the area of energy efficiency and for the use and provision of decentralised heat, cooling and electricity. On this basis, you will be supported in the evaluation and design of innovative service offers and new business models in the fields of energy efficiency and renewable energies.

The BSM for additional users

The BSM allows the handling of a variety of other needs, such as the assessment of the impact of future energy guidelines, the retrospective analysis of energy demand (ex-post analyses) or the predictive modelling of energy consumption (energy prospects). Due to this versatility, the tool is also useful for the following additional users:

• for the SIA and other intermediaries: development of fundamentals for standards, fact sheets and recommendations
• for the construction industry and building management: proof of the benefits of lifecycle management
• for the public sector: impact analyses and energy planning of their own building stock

What can the Building Stock Model (BSM) be used for and on what data is it based?

With the Building Stock Model, past developments can be analysed and possible future trends can be mapped in various scenarios and with geospatial references. Depending on the issue at hand, we can use the Building Stock Model to show the following evaluation indicators, influencing factors and distinguishing features:

The Building Stock Model is based on Swiss, cantonal and communal statistics, results of surveys, studies and potential analyses, data from the Buildings and Housing Register (GWR) and the Company Register. In addition, energy consumption data and waste heat sources, zone plans as well as maps of site uses, grid-bound energy supplies such as gas, district and local heating networks and renewable energies are used.