Housing is after nutrition and before mobility one of the areas of consumption and production with the greatest effects on the environment. However, the negative effects could be reduced significantly through various levers and approaches. For example, through high-quality inward urban development, which is based on sufficient green spaces, developing and renovating existing buildings, high architectural standards, and short distances. This not only benefits soil, biodiversity and the climate, but also quality of life. Furthermore, renovations to make buildings more energy-efficient and the use of environmentally-friendly, reused or recyclable building materials have much potential to reduce material and energy requirements.
High-quality inward urban development with diverse green spaces
Compact settlement centres – in which housing, work, commerce, shopping and recreation are all close by – is a key aspect of sustainable urban development because short distances reduce the need for mobility, rein in urban sprawl and make locations more attractive to live in.
With inward urban development, it is important that built-up areas have high-quality recreational and open spaces through the ecological upgrading of remaining spaces or the creation of new green spaces on roofs and on building façades. These high-quality living and working environments that are in harmony with nature allow people to experience the outdoors and engage in recreational activity, while helping to reduce heat, retain water and promote biodiversity.
For housing satisfaction and people's well-being it is also important to take acoustic quality into account.
A central element of sustainable inward urban development is also that it concentrates on areas that are already built-up and well served and thus develops existing buildings and utilises wasteland and vacant lots within settlement areas. Urban agglomeration belts in particular have great potential here and could be experimental spaces for high-density housing with a high architectural standards and diverse green spaces.
The federal government, cantons, cities and communes can make an important contribution to the optimal combination of inward structural development with landscape and natural qualities through their various instruments, such as agglomeration programmes and pilot projects on sustainable spatial development. To ensure successful implementation, it is important that all stakeholders are involved in the planning processes.
Possible solutions “Quality-based inward urban development and varied green spaces”
- Using existing instruments, initiate processes that respect ecological value and architectural heritage while facilitating compact settlements
- Plan peaceful, near-natural green spaces and water bodies for relaxation, biodiversity and climate adaptation that are easily accessible on foot or by bike
- Strengthen the ecological balance in settlement areas
- Encourage mixed-use neighbourhoods
- Weight ecological value, land consumption and architectural heritage when publishing public invitations to tender for architecture projects
- Develop cross-commune visions for the green belt as a whole
- Encourage cooperation between communes; think in terms of cross-cantonal scope for action
- Encourage sharing of good practice
- Include the public in the formulation of spatial planning concepts
- Raise awareness among actors (communal administrations, planners, investors, the public) of ecological value and architectural heritage
- Offer landscape and architectural heritage consulting for communes
- Facilitate experimental spaces and field testing at neighbourhood, communal and regional levels
Legend
- Statutory frameworks / federal government strategies
- Transport and spatial planning / infrastructures
- Financial and tax incentives
- Funding programmes
- Public sector as role model
- Transparency / product information
- Cooperation / dialogue
- Training / awareness-raising
- Innovation / research / pilot projects
- New business models
Links for further information
Bundesamt für Raumentwicklung ARE: Modellvorhaben Nachhaltige Raumentwicklung
Mit den Modellvorhaben fördert der Bund neue Ansätze und Methoden: Lokale, regionale und kantonale Akteure erhalten einen Anreiz, Lösungsideen in den vom Bund gesetzten Schwerpunkten zu entwickeln und vor Ort zu erproben.
Bundesamt für Raumentwicklung ARE: Programm Agglomerationsverkehr
Der Bund beteiligt sich finanziell an Verkehrsprojekten von Städten und Agglomerationen. Von Bundesbeiträgen profitieren Agglomerationen, die mit ihren Agglomerationsprogrammen die Verkehr- und Siedlungsentwicklung wirkungsvoll aufeinander abstimmen.
Federal Office of Public Health FOPH: The Federal Council’s health policy strategy 2020–2030
Die Strategie unterstreicht die Bedeutung einer attraktiven Landschaft für die Gesundheit und setzt sich für die Erhaltung und Förderung von Natur- und Landschaftsqualitäten ein.
Federal Office of Culture FOC: Baukultur policy
Die Strategie Baukultur strebt an, dass Siedlungen sich mit Respekt gegenüber historisch gewachsenen, identitätsstiftenden Ortsbildern entwickeln und dass bei der Verdichtung attraktive Grün- und Freiräume geschaffen werden.
Bundesamt für Wohnungswesen BWO: Wohnen und Wohnumfeld
Die Qualität der privaten, halböffentlichen und öffentlichen Räume, die an die Wohnung und das Gebäude anschliessen, spielt eine wichtige Rolle für das Wohlbefinden der Bewohnerschaft.
Renovating buildings to increase energy efficiency and replacement of fossil-fuel heating
If all the old buildings were renovated to meet the Minergie standard in line with their building culture, energy consumption per capita could be reduced by over 30% compared to today. And by replacing fossil fuels with renewable heating systems, an additional 30% of current CO2 emissions could be cut. Accordingly, the concept of ‘grey energy’ is set to become more important in future.
Grey energy can be significantly reduced by using environmentally-friendly insulation materials such as straw, and standards such as Minergie-Eco.
Private owners play an important part in energy efficiency renovations as they own two thirds of all residential buildings – more than half of which are single-family houses – and just under half of all rented dwellings.
But institutional owners (e.g. property companies, pension funds, foundations, banks) also have a key role to play as they own around two thirds of all dwellings. This is because institutional owners mainly possess multi-family houses, in which specific measures have a greater absolute effect than in single-family houses. They also have the necessary financial resources.
Overall, however, the renovation rate in Switzerland needs to be increased: only one in a hundred buildings a year undergoes energy-related renovations. This is where the federal and cantonal building programmes can help, but also new financing models to split the costs between tenants and owners, in order to promote energy efficiency renovations and make them socially equitable.
At the same time, education, research and innovation need to be supported, and besides the existing CO2 levy, other incentives need to be created so that fossil fuel heating systems are replaced by systems that use renewable energies. One possible way of achieving this would be additional subsidies, as provided for in the consultation documents on the new CO2 Act, which encourage private homeowners to replace fossil fuel heating systems and inefficient electrical systems.
Possible solutions “Heating and cooling without the use of fossil fuels”
Possible solutions “Promote energy upgrades for old buildings”
- Create a framework for replacing fossil-fuel heating systems
- Expand grid-bound combined local and district heating networks where feasible
- Make more use of energy structure plans
- Continue carbon incentive tax on fossil fuels
- Promote the replacement of fossilfuel heating with renewable heating systems
- Couple loans to non-profit housing developers with the installation of non-fossil heating systems
- Heat/cool own properties without using fossil energies
- Factor GHG emissions into building energy labels
- Local and regional energy plans should provide for centralised rather than individual heating systems
- Basic and further training for specialists (e.g. heating engineers
- Create advisory services for owners
- Energy performance contracting to trigger energy-efficient investments in the property sector
Legend
- Statutory frameworks / federal government strategies
- Transport and spatial planning / infrastructures
- Financial and tax incentives
- Funding programmes
- Public sector as role model
- Transparency / product information
- Cooperation / dialogue
- Training / awareness-raising
- Innovation / research / pilot projects
- New business models
- Continue carbon incentive tax on fossil fuels
- Continue the Buildings Programme run by the federal government and the cantons
- Promote comprehensive energy upgrades, factoring in the social impacts
- Refurbish own properties to the highest sustainability standards
- Make information on buildings energy consumption more visible, e.g. in marketing materials
- Basic and further training for property professionals
- Put knowledge of innovative technologies and materials into practice faster
- Create advisory services for owners
- Research into upgrading existing buildings
- Highlight pilot, demonstration and flagship projects
- Create new financing models to make upgrading work socially equitable
- Set up renovation funds for condominiums
Legend
- Statutory frameworks / federal government strategies
- Transport and spatial planning / infrastructures
- Financial and tax incentives
- Funding programmes
- Public sector as role model
- Transparency / product information
- Cooperation / dialogue
- Training / awareness-raising
- Innovation / research / pilot projects
- New business models
Links for further information
The federal and cantonal Buildings Programme reinforces the effect of the CO2 levy. The cantons also achieve a reduction in CO2 emissions with their building regulations.
Long-term climate strategy to 2050
The strategy formulates principles that will shape Swiss climate policy in the coming years and presents climate goals and emission pathways for the buildings.
Swiss Federal Office of Energy SFOE: Buildings
Energy Strategy 2050 (Switzerland’s new energy policy) aims to reduce the energy consumption of the Swiss buildings park to 55 TWh by 2050.
EnergieSchweiz: Energieeffiziente Gebäude
Das Förderprogramm des Bundes im Bereich Energie: So wird jedes Gebäude fit für mehr Energieeffizienz
Bundesamt für Wohnungswesen BWO: Sonderprogramm 2021-2025
Mit dem Sonderprogramm für die Förderung von umfassenden energetischen Sanierungen schafft der Bund Anreize, damit gemeinnützige Wohnbauträger ihre Siedlungen nachhaltig sanieren.
Circular economy: Resource-efficient maintenance and construction
To further reduce the environmental impact of construction, more action needs to be taken in future in the building and renovation process and in the manufacture of building materials. One way to achieve this is by using more environmentally-friendly building materials such as timber, low-carbon concrete and bio-based insulation materials.
Another way is by keeping materials and resources in circulation for as long as possible, and reusing, repairing and recycling them. This circular economy requires materials to be separable and recyclable, for example through construction with modules that can be taken apart.
There is great potential for this sort of sustainable action, particularly with regard to existing buildings, which could be converted or extended. However, replacement and new buildings are only a worthwhile option from an environmental perspective in exceptional cases.
Possible solutions “Circular economy: use sustainable building materials, repurpose existing buildings and recycle building components”
- Requirement to include grey environmental impact, green design and recyclability of building components and buildings in legislation, SIA standards and sustainability labels
- Introduce mandatory sustainability standards and recyclability for new buildings
- Extended producer responsibility
- Limit the simple disposal of recyclable waste
- Promote programmes for the use of local and renewable building materials (e.g. timber)
- Include recyclability and sustainability factors in public procurement criteria (e.g. timber buildings
- Introduce building material passports; digitally record materials used in new builds (e.g. Madaster)
- Improve the image of recycled building materials
- Raise awareness of recyclable/reusable building among contractors and architects
- Encourage dialogue and basic and further training for specialists
- Foster research on building and building materials fit for the circular economy
- Increase funding for green technologies
- Highlight pilot and flagship projects
Legend
- Statutory frameworks / federal government strategies
- Transport and spatial planning / infrastructures
- Financial and tax incentives
- Funding programmes
- Public sector as role model
- Transparency / product information
- Cooperation / dialogue
- Training / awareness-raising
- Innovation / research / pilot projects
- New business models
Housing preferences and new housing forms for lower land use
The example of cooperatives as an alternative form of housing illustrates that shared rooms – such as guest rooms, common rooms, working areas and hobby rooms – are better utilised and can take up less space. Flexible forms of housing not only make it possible to live in a more resource-efficient way, they also offer the opportunity to create identity-building and high-quality spaces.
Besides individual preferences and income, economic factors such as rental prices and the property market have a significant influence on the housing situation. For example, owing to Swiss rental law, advertised rents are often higher than rents paid by existing tenants. This means that the rents for properties currently listed on the market are higher than for those with existing tenancy agreements. For this reason, downsizing – such as when children move out – does not usually make financial sense. The discrepancy between advertised rents and rents paid by existing tenants is most marked in central locations which are well served by public transport and in high demand.
Possible solutions “Cancel false land use incentives”
Possible solutions “Promote space-saving forms of housing”
- Make more use of market
instruments to correct incentives
to consume land area, e.g.:
- true-cost pricing for transport
- 'producer pays' allocation of access and utility costs for building land
- Continue to develop the added value levy
Legend
- Statutory frameworks / federal government strategies
- Transport and spatial planning / infrastructures
- Financial and tax incentives
- Funding programmes
- Public sector as role model
- Transparency / product information
- Cooperation / dialogue
- Training / awareness-raising
- Innovation / research / pilot projects
- New business models
- Encourage mobility within settlements
- Introduce e.g. specific regulatory relief for space-saving housing projects or land levies
- Encourage cooperatives and alternative social housing
- Promote non-profit housing schemes in core cities in particular
- Create local office to support older people especially in their housing search
- Investigate new forms of home ownership, e.g. limited-period and shared ownership
- Develop strategies for sympathetic inward development in neighbourhoods of single-family homes, in cooperation with communes and owners
- Sharing approaches: home-swap platforms, communal spaces (e.g. guest rooms, living rooms, kitchens and studios)
Legend
- Statutory frameworks / federal government strategies
- Transport and spatial planning / infrastructures
- Financial and tax incentives
- Funding programmes
- Public sector as role model
- Transparency / product information
- Cooperation / dialogue
- Training / awareness-raising
- Innovation / research / pilot projects
- New business models
Further information
Links
Agenda 2030: 17 Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung
Goal 11: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable
Documents
Kapitel Wohnen
VOBU von Kreislaufwirtschaftsmassnahmen im Bauwesen (PDF, 2 MB, 31.07.2022)Im Auftrag des BAFU
Die Wirkung von Nachhaltigkeit auf Immobilienwerte (PDF, 2 MB, 05.04.2022)Im Auftrag des BAFU
Studie zur Förderung der Abfallreduktion und der Wiederverwendung in der Baubranche (PDF, 25 MB, 27.07.2021)Im Auftrag des BAFU
Studie zur Kreislaufwirtschaft: Strategien im Umgang mit Bestandsbauten (PDF, 818 kB, 30.06.2020)Im Auftrag des BAFU
Wohnen mit geringer Umweltwirkung (PDF, 1 MB, 29.06.2020)Im Auftrag des BAFU
Wiederverwendung Bauen (PDF, 3 MB, 25.05.2020)Studie im Auftrag des BAFU
Last modification 16.12.2022
