New building standard defines climate neutrality across the entire life cycle
Climate-friendly buildings that can demonstrate net-zero status over their entire lifecycle are to be awarded the Minergie Net Zero standard. The new label was unveiled by Minergie and is intended to accelerate the transition to carbon-neutral construction. The aim is for Switzerland to achieve net-zero by 2050.
The Minergie Association, based in Basel, has introduced the Minergie Net Zero Standard for new builds and building renovations. It has now presented the standard at an event in Zurich.
Until now, there have been no specific guidelines for building owners, planners, local authorities and companies on “constructing buildings whose carbon footprint is truly zero over their entire life cycle”, says Fabian Peter, Lucerne cantonal councillor and president of Minergie, in a press release. Minergie Net Zero offers a transparent and credible framework.
According to the press release, Minergie Net Zero buildings generate “very low greenhouse gas emissions over their defined 60-year life cycle”. Regarding the procedure, it states that once the life-cycle emissions have been determined, the carbon stored in the building is deducted from the remaining emissions. This improves the carbon footprint in line with the Climate Act. For the remaining emissions, a balance is created using negative emission certificates.
To achieve net-zero by 2050 as a country, “avoidance” alone does not go far enough as a measure. With Minergie Net-Zero, this could be achieved as early as 2026, albeit “with very high requirements”, says Andreas Meyer Primavesi, Managing Director of the Minergie Association. “We factor in grey emissions. And are therefore significantly stricter than the laws coming into force in the next few years,” he is quoted as saying. The canton of Basel-Stadt is aiming for net-zero by 2037, whilst many institutions want to be there by 2040.
According to the information provided, Minergie is the Swiss building standard for comfort, efficiency and climate protection for new builds and renovations. The three well-known building standards – Minergie, Minergie-P and Minergie-A – can be extended to include the ECO designation.