Switzerland Cleantech Innovation Tender

Laboratories are not usually inviting spaces that encourage you to stay around. But things are different at the site of Empa the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology in Dbendorf canton of Zurich. A building laboratory has been built here in which guests can even come to stay thereby becoming an integral part of the research projects.The new building on the Empa site in Dbendorf is the size of an imposing apartment building and several apartments could be housed on each of the four floors. Could is the operative word however since the building occupied since mid-2016 is no ordinary residential building. NEST its official name actually houses laboratory units where scientists examine issues surrounding the buildings of the future. There are 15 laboratories in this unique research and innovation platform. Their joint aim is to test technologies materials and systems under real conditions in order to develop them further.Buildings energy waterThe Meet2Create laboratory for example was designed by the School of Engineering and Architecture at the Lucerne University of Applied Arts and Sciences. The laboratory recreates an office environment in order to research aspects such as flexible furniture personalisable workplace climates and building facilities designed to passive criteria in meeting rooms. In another laboratory unit called Vision Wood Empa and ETH Zurich scientists have established a residential module for students. Here they examine which innovative functions and applications can be fulfilled by timber as a material in a residential context. One of NESTs partners is Eawag the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology. With its Water Hub the institute is investigating the reuse of water developing new concepts for obtaining nutrients and energy from waste water.A permanent component of NEST is a platform dedicated to energy research. The aim of the ehub short for Energy Hub is to improve energy management at district level. The ehub is designed to be inclusive intelligently bringing together all the components in NEST that generate store convert or release energy. With NEST we are researching energy-efficient solutions using renewable energy sources and developing innovative solutions for technical building facilities. These involve key technologies for a wide range of cleantech applications says Empa Director Gian-Luca Bona.Inspiration for a green economyNEST offers companies a platform to accelerate innovation processes. Here companies meet researchers whose work is oriented towards practical uses and who promote the transfer of knowledge gained from research to the economy. Around 100 partners have become involved in the project to date and the numbers are likely to grow in future since the laboratory units should provide space for new research projects after five to seven years in operation. This means that NEST will continually renew itself keeping abreast of the latest issues facing building and energy research.Scientists work is oriented towards applications in demand in the marketplace. In order to ensure this one part of the laboratories is occupied. Doctoral students have moved in to Vision Wood enabling the researchers to gain direct feedback on their investigations into the residential applications of timber. Guests are also welcomed into the HiLo laboratory unit where ETH Zurich is researching adaptive faades and new lightweight construction methods in a two-storey residential and workplace environment. All this will enable NEST to produce new cleantech applications that really have been devised for people.