The Zurich government is changing this in the Energy Law

In the future, solar systems should be the rule in and in new buildings: photovoltaic panels on the roof of the Zurich Exhibition Center.

Christian Beutler / Keystone

The Zurich governing council is sharpening its climate policy. In last summer’s legislative goals, he generally called for decarbonization, the exit of fossil fuels. Like the Federal Council, it is now striving to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero by 2050. That means only as much CO should be left_2nd How naturally or technically they can be released from the atmosphere and stored safely.

The government wrote this in its recently released report on two “climate emergency” postulates that the cantonal council transferred a year ago. Construction director Martin Neukom (gp.) Told the executive branch Friday in front of the media. The objective is not to pursue a symbolic policy, but to promote climate protection measures. He introduced the most important instrument, an amendment to the energy law: “It is no longer about reducing greenhouse emissions, but about avoiding them entirely.”

Away from fossil heaters

The most important lever for the cantons are the buildings. They are responsible for around 40 percent of the CO_2nd– Responsible for emissions. That is why the oil and gas warming in the canton of Zurich should disappear as much as possible. Almost none are already installed in new buildings today. The big challenge was to replace the approximately 120,000 fossil heating systems in the existing building stock, Neukom said. This is increasingly the case in single-family homes. The need remains great, especially in apartment buildings.

Specifically, the new law stipulates that gas or oil heating can only be reinstalled if a climate-neutral heat supply would be more than five percent more expensive over the entire lifetime. Replacement with a heat pump costs significantly more, but operation and maintenance are much cheaper later. According to Neukom, the purpose of the change is for homeowners to consider expenses throughout the life cycle of the system and not simply replace a fossil heating system.

Promotion of heat pumps.

A second instrument serves this purpose, the framework credit “Subsidies for the replacement of oil and gas heating systems”. In late March, the cantonal council increased it significantly to over 33 million Swiss francs for the years 2020 to 2023. With additional federal funds, this amount will increase to CHF 180 million over the four years.

Thanks to these funds, the five percent threshold for additional costs generally should not be exceeded compared to fossil fuel powered heating. According to Neukom, the subsidies that can be requested from July should represent around 15 to 20 percent of the investment in a heat pump.

Regarding new buildings, the new energy law expressly stipulates that fossil heating systems will no longer be installed in the future. The use of renewable energy from air, water or by means of geothermal probes with heat pumps requires electrical energy. This is why new buildings should produce some of the electricity they need, usually with a photovoltaic system on the roof or on the facade.

The de facto ban on oil and gas heating in new buildings is tighter compared to the draft that Neukom’s predecessor Markus Kägi (svp.) Submitted for consultation in 2018. Another new feature is that electric heaters will be banned. in the future; they must be replaced by 2035. Neukom also adopted the law that biogas can be used to generate heat.

It is also good for the economy.

The construction director also said that the investments required to replace fossil heating systems would also have positive economic effects. Furthermore, the added value remains in Switzerland for climate-neutral heating systems instead of draining oil and natural gas to producing countries. The CO_2ndBuilding emissions are decreasing in Switzerland. The goal, to halve compared to 1990, remains ambitious (see chart).

The adaptation of the Energy Law, which now goes to the Cantonal Council, is based on the “Model Regulation of the Cantons in the energy sector”. Neukom was confident that the new law was received with approval. Implementation, which was actually planned for 2020, has progressed very differently in the cantons.

Positive response from FDP and SVP

Reactions to the young green building director’s official piece are surprisingly benevolent on the bourgeois side. The FDP welcomes the CO_2nd-neutral generation of cold and heat in new buildings and the replacement of old gas and oil heaters. However, careful consideration should be given to whether the proposed measures are economically viable and socially acceptable. In consultation, the SVP flatly rejected Markus Kägi’s proposal. It is now fundamentally supporting efforts to make buildings more climate friendly, provided the measures are proportional and economically viable. However, he criticizes the obligation to build photovoltaic systems. The Zurich Chamber of Commerce and the Homeowners Association are significantly more skeptical in their statements.

The CVP and EPP welcome the proposed changes almost unreservedly, the Greens are a little slow, the LPG would have liked to have banned oil heating. Not surprisingly, Swissoil, the umbrella association of fuel merchants, strongly opposes this energy law.