A hotel on the ski slopes close by St Moritz has won an award for producing more energy than it uses.

The Romantik Hotel Muottas Muragl up on the ski slopes of the Engadin has recently been awarded the Swiss Solar Award 2011 and the PlusEnergieBau® (PEB) Solar Award 2011. The latter is the only prize in the world for buildings that generate more energy than they need themselves.

The 104 year-old hotel was fully renovated in 2010 with a particular focus on environmental-friendliness with the aim of creating the first ‘plus-energy’ hotel in the Alps and proving that this can be done in old buildings as well as new.

Besides constructing the building according to the principles and requirements of the Swiss "Minergie" ecological label, this project went several steps further.

Although the surface area of the building was extended from 1,700 sq. metres to 2,700 sq. metres, despite the 50% increase in size, it was possible to reduce the energy consumption by 64%, from 436,000 kWh/a to 157,400 kWh/a. This was achieved by insulating the building in line with the latest standards and by generating renewable energy from five different sources.

Hot water is obtained by means of solar energy produced by the 60 sq. metres of pipe solar collectors installed in the glass window panes in the basement. Sixteen thermal loops with an average length of 200 metres, making 3,200 metres in total, supply the entire building with geothermal energy.

In addition, all the necessary electricity is generated by the most efficient photovoltaic system in Switzerland, extending 228 metres along the railway line. Any excess of solar energy is stored in the ground via the thermal loops, thus regenerating the geothermal mass.

The recovery of the waste heat from the cooling units, exhaust air and the machine room are further measures to transform the new building into a sustainable and environmentally-friendly enterprise that, taken over the entire year, even produces more energy than it actually needs.

The hotel’s requirements before renovations of approximately 40,000 litres of heating oil and 36,600 kWh/a of electricity are now entirely covered by solar energy.

Veronica adds “This just shows what can be done – even in old buildings through retrofitting – and in a difficult location up 2456 metres up the mountain!”

I’ve learned that Adelboden’s lift company is working with an energy management company on various technical innovations to make the ski experience ‘greener’ on its slopes.

Top of their list is public education, and along the sides of the piste from Sillerenbühl to Oey, guests will find seven information panels on all things environmental.  If skiers and boarders study as they have fun they can then enter a daily competition, based on testing their newly acquired knowledge, with prizes awarded daily.

The lift company is also buying in green power – in this case hydropower - to runs its Aebi chairlift and every guest can make a contribution towards clean power too as at the Silleren base station, by using their key card to make a donation of SFR 5.- towards energy from renewable sources.

Adelboden’s lift company has also invested in a new piste maintenance vehicle. This is equipped with the latest engine emission technology (EUROMOT III - Regulation B) to ensure that even fewer particles and environmentally harmful substances are produced as it smooths the slopes.

It’s good see these innovations – the one that particularly appeals to me is the education – if it’s done well, it can be both fun and informative – and give people information to take home with them.  

I hope Adelboden will convert all of its lifts over to renewable energy – not just the one, and whilst it’s a clever ploy by the lift company – personally, I’m not sure why guests would want to contribute to paying the energy bill of the lift company!

Again the new piste maintenance vehicle with increased environmental credentials shows how important technology solutions are to reducing the impact of ski operations.

A massive 140 million Swiss Franc ($160/£100m) development installing 18 new ski lifts between two famous resorts to create one of Switzerland’s biggest ski areas has been announced.

The plan to link Andermatt and Sedrun’s skiing will be carried forward by the Scandinavian ski resort developers SkiStar who currently run five of the top resorts in Norway and Sweden, including Are and Hemsedal.

The linking of Sedrun’s skiing to that of Andermatt would create a ski area of at least 250km as the two resorts currently offer 130km and 120km respectively, this would immediately make it one of the country’s three largest and possibly second only to the 4 Valleys.

The plans are backed by Egyptian billionaire Samih Sawiris who is already transforming Andermatt resort itself by adding six luxury hotels, apartment complexes and new homes as well as a golf course in a development due to be completed for winter 2013/2014. 

However Swissinfo.ch reports that the plans have not proved universally popular.  The boss of Andermatt’s lift company says that in order to be sustainable the development needs to be staged rather than all at once, and fears that the development could prove to be a white elephant if not grown gradually, with the public purse left to pick up the pieces.  A spokesperson for the Swiss alpine club feared environmental damage and the loss of pristine terrain currently only accessed by ski tourers and winter climbers.

Veronica adds “Once again, increasing the kilometres of piste available is seen as the only option for development which is not the case.  The development of Andermatt itself is questionable as to the real tangible benefits to the local population and this development is questionable in terms of economic benefits and of course the environmental impacts.   More to follow on this...”  

Two buildings in Zermatt have received the coveted Solar Prize 2010 for new buildings.

The Solar-Restaurant that opened in the winter season 2008/09 on the south flank of the Matterhorn glacier paradise fulfils all the requirements of the Minergie-P standard thanks to its optimised construction.

In this high alpine location use of solar energy is a must. For this reason the entire southern façade consists of integrated photovoltaic panels. Thanks to the clear air and radiation reflected from the surrounding area, solar installations in high alpine areas are up to 80 percent more productive than comparable systems at lower altitudes. The photovoltaic system provides all the electrical energy needed for heating and ventilation. Any excess produced is fed into the electricity network of Zermatt Bergbahnen AG and used when needed. At the same time the façade functions as a thermal air collector: Cold air from the outside is heated behind the photovoltaic cells and then used to preheat the air flowing into the restaurant and rooms – this reduces the heating energy requirement.   Waste water is also collected, purified in a microbiological water treatment system and then used for toilet flushing. Unused water, once purified, flows into the natural water cycle of the surroundings.

The other prize winning building is the new Monte Rosa Cabin of the Swiss Alpine Club, with 120 beds and shower facilities has a self-sufficiency rate for energy of around 64%, with an accommodation standard that had not been achieved before now.

Veronica notes “It’s great to see that Zermatt is taking positive steps in terms of its built environment and these examples show that energy saving measures can be equally applied to new builds or retrofitted to existing buildings.   Responsible Skiing is about minimizing resource consumption and using renewable where possible – and solar is really a good solution in the mountains.”

The importance of cross country skiing to ski areas has been measured, in once case at least, by the Swiss University of St Gallen who studied the popularity of cross country skiing at Davos.   Davos has consistently expanded its offer for decades and makes no charge for use of the 110 km network of runs.

Their study found that cross-country-ski guests in Davos generate a total of €78m in extra revenue to the local economy and that 75% of all overnight guests make use of the resort’s cross country ski facilities.   On average, 2000 cross-country skiers use the runs in the Landwassertal valley over their 130 day season. Of the 260,000 cross-country ski days recorded last winter, 200,000 applied to guests who stayed in paid accommodation or in second homes in Davos. The remaining cross-country skiers were day visitors or local people.   The study also found that 15% of winter guests gave cross-country skiing as the main reason for their stay in Davos and a further 60% regard cross-country skiing as a supplementary sport.

 “The survey proves that our guests use cross-country ski tracks and appreciate this added value in comparison to winter-sport resorts that focus purely on downhill skiing,” explained Annemarie Meyer, Davos Klosters Head of Marketing, at a press conference with Swiss Ski.

Veronica adds “Resorts should look closely at this study; it is often argued that other forms of skiing do not bring in the revenue that downhill skiing does, but this study shows that cross country can really contribute, despite not charging a lift pass.   Additionally, as advocated on this site, Responsible Skiing resorts that have a variety of activity options are more sustainable; they can market themselves to a more diverse clientele and they are less reliant on a certain set of weather and snow conditions.   Low impact activities like cross country skiing also require less infrastructure and are therefore much cheaper for resorts to develop.  ”