Intep as Part of the National Research Project SWICE: Early Insights Already in Practice

How are mobility, housing, and the workplace changing in times of energy and climate transition? The interdisciplinary research project SWICE – Sustainable Well-being for the Individual and the Collectivity in the Energy Transition – is seeking answers to this question. As a consortium partner, we contribute our expertise in areas such as mobility management, sustainable construction, and behavioral economics.

SWICE is part of the SWEET (SWiss Energy research for the Energy Transition) research program, funded by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (BFE). The goal of the program is to accelerate key innovations that support the implementation of Switzerland’s Energy Strategy 2050 and the achievement of national climate targets.

In the work package “New Work, Mobility and Energy,” led by the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU), we analyze, among other topics, how Swiss building and district standards and certification systems address mobility—and where they can provide meaningful impulses for future-oriented development.

First Publication, First Impact

In 2024, together with project partners, we published an initial report on the current state of certification processes for buildings and districts in Switzerland and the role of mobility within them.

The publication examines how mobility is addressed in Switzerland’s leading sustainability standards—specifically in the SIA Energy Efficiency Path (SIA-Effizienzpfad Energie) and the planned successor standard SIA 390, as well as in the Swiss Sustainable Building Standard (SNBS) and Minergie-ECO. The analysis highlights existing strengths, identifies gaps, and outlines how criteria can be further developed in concrete terms.

Since then, we have held in-depth discussions with the responsible organizations—SIA (Swiss Society of Engineers and Architects), NNBS (Network for Sustainable Construction Switzerland), and Minergie. One of these institutions has already decided to incorporate our recommendations into the criteria of its standard—a strong signal of the practical relevance of our research.

Consulting as a Bridge to Implementation

In addition to our foundational work within the project, we also offer direct support to organizations. In two impulse consultations on corporate mobility management—one for an international corporation and one for HSLU—we identified concrete opportunities to anchor sustainable mobility solutions in day-to-day operations. The focus was not only on technical and organizational measures, but also on how employees can be encouraged to adopt more sustainable behaviors.