Switzerland: Housing may become uninhabitable because of the heat waves

A large part of the accommodation in Switzerland will become uninhabitable in the coming decades because it will be too hot in summer, warns the “Sonntagszeitung”. The number of heat waves, that is to say where the temperature exceeds 30 ° C, has already been multiplied by five in 20 years. In cities like Zurich, we could reach by the end of the century up to 50 days of heat wave and 45 tropical nights per year, the latter being nights when the temperature does not descend below 20 ° C.

“New constructions are still thought for winter, facing south, with large bay windows,” says Gianrico Settembrini, architect and researcher at the Haute Ecole de Lucerne (HSLU). It is time, according to him, to also think of comfort in summer, without giving up natural light.

According to the Federal Energy Office (OFEN), housing rental could depend in the future its ability to remain habitable in summer. Ofen has therefore published a study on concrete cooling measures. This puts a particular emphasis on the solutions that act directly on the human body.

The study evokes for example cooling systems for beds, which would circulate fresh water through mattresses, fans and refreshing textiles. Centralized solutions such as “geocooling” are also considered by OFEN as ecological and economic. With this system, heat is transported in the soil via a thermal network or geothermal heat pumps. In winter, the system works in the other direction and restores heat to heat the accommodation.