49 submissions were made for the Watt d’Or 2016, according to a news release from the Swiss Federal Office of Energy. 24 projects made it into the final round, which was then narrowed down by the expert jury. Five projects, some of which involved multiple companies, were awarded the prize in five categories. There was also a special prize for corporate strategy.
Ernst Basler + Partner was awarded the prize in the category “Building and space” together with Swisscom. During construction of the new Swisscom business park in Ittingen, the two companies succeeded in achieving a high degree of energy efficiency by coordinating the technology with the building.
Group E was awarded the Watt d’Or in the category “Society” for its double-decker bus called RoadLab that visits schools as a travelling energy experimentation laboratory and helps to bring children closer to the world of energy. ElektroLink AG and Elektroplan Buchs & Grossen AG won in the category “Energy technology” for their energy efficient, smart grid-ready office building, in which energy consumption and solar power production are coordinated through building automation.
Designergy SA was honoured for its TCR roof element, which combines thermal insulation, waterproofing and photovoltaic electricity generation all in one. It received the Watt d’Or in the category “Renewable energies.” In the fifth category, “Energy-efficient mobility”, the jury was impressed by the SBB’s system called “Green Wave”, which reduces stopping and breaking and thus saves energy by preventing unnecessary acceleration.
Migros was awarded the special prize, “Corporate strategy”, for its Generation M sustainability programme, in which the company aims to reduce its energy consumption by 10 per cent by 2020. The Coop Group was also awarded for its corporate strategy, which will see it reduce its energy consumption by 2023 by 20 per cent in comparison to 2008. It also aims to have 80 per cent of its energy come from renewable energy.