15th January 2024

Cham’s climate-neutral neighbourhood powered by 100% renewable energy. Cham was once home to a legendary paper mill – a unique site that now forms the foundation for Papieri Cham, an unprecedented contemporary residential and commercial neighbourhood with around 1,000 flats and 1,000 jobs. The new neighbourhood’s largely self-sufficient energy system uses 100% renewable, fossil-free energy and its electricity is produced by a hydropower plant and photovoltaic installations. Photo: Xella Gruppe.

Last week, the Swiss Federal Office of Energy awards Switzerland’s prestigious energy prize, the Watt d’Or, for the seventeenth time. The winners of gold for 2024 are: AEW Energie AG along with ETH Zurich (Energy Technologies category), Cham Group AG along with Andy Wickart Haustechnik AG, Alfacel AG and pom+Consulting AG (Renewable Energies category), CLEMAP AG along with Otto Fischer AG (Energy Efficient Mobility category), the secondary school Knonau-Maschwanden-Mettmenstetten along with Pro-Energie GmbH (Buildings and Spatial Development category).

Innovative Swiss companies and universities are successfully and boldly living the energy future now and putting technology into use. To honour these efforts the Swiss Federal Office of Energy has created the Watt d’Or as the hallmark for excellence in the energy field. The Watt d’Or was first awarded in 2007 with the intention of publicising extraordinary products or services in the energy sector. Motivation was thus to be provided for the economy, politics and the public at large to discover for themselves the advantages of innovative energy technologies

Further information about the winning projects can be found in the attached document.