The energy transition is crucial for achieving sustainability goals and achieving climate mitigation targets. Cleaner energy technologies lie at the core of Switzerland’s 2030 Sustainable Development Strategy, underscoring the importance of mainstreaming its adoption. Buildings, in particular, account for 40 percent of energy consumption and one-quarter of greenhouse gas emissions in the country, primarily relying on oil and gas for heating.
According to the Swiss Energy Scope, renovating Switzerland’s building stock to meet the full Minergie standard could reduce its energy use by half, resulting in a significant reduction of 36 TWh per year, which accounts for 18 percent of the country’s total final energy consumption. However, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Empa) reports that only 1 percent of the building stock is undergoing energy efficiency renovations each year. To clear the country’s renovation backlog estimated to comprise 1.5 million buildings in need of energy retrofits, the projected amount of required investments reaches CHF 50 billion.
Energy efficiency is often considered one of the most cost-effective ways to achieve this transition, but despite the availability of numerous clean energy solutions, their adoption remains insufficient due to high upfront costs and limited awareness of the technologies and their long-term benefits.
Accelerating the Swiss energy transition with service-based models: introducing Servetia
Innovative business models are an often overlooked means to combat climate change. They hold great potential in overcoming some of the most important barriers hindering the widespread deployment of clean and energy-efficient solutions.
Servetia, an initiative led by BASE in collaboration with E4S and funded by Fondation Valery, is a programme focused on showcasing the model of servitisation and its potential to decarbonise and accelerate the Swiss building sector’s energy transition.
As per the servitisation business model, customers or end-users only consume the “outcome” or service provided by energy-efficient systems rather than purchasing them and having to deal with their risk and financing themselves. For example, one would consume the “comfort” of a renewably-heated office space, or the needed amount of electricity produced by solar photovoltaics (PV). This model ensures that customers only pay for the actual services rendered, sparing them the burden of upfront costs. Technology providers retain ownership and assume responsibility for the operation, maintenance, repair, and upgrades allowing businesses to focus on their core operations. Providers are incentivised to drive systemic efficiency and deliver the best value to the end-customer.
Deploying Servitisation is not a trivial task: Customers may lack the trust to sign a long-term contract, and suppliers may find it challenging to shift from selling assets to selling recurrent and customer-centric services. The Servetia initiative aims to support the Swiss market in deploying this solution in energy-intensive applications, by developing capacity-building activities with local actors and raising awareness on the benefits of the model with end-customers. Beyond this, standardised tools, such as contracts, pricing models, and financial structures are developed and transparency and trust between stakeholders is supported.
The initiative aims to promote clean energy adoption across commercial, public, industrial facilities, and building complexes to maximise deployment impact. Pilot locations across Switzerland are being selected for their high potential to benefit from Servetia’s initiative and gain substantial energy savings from the investment-free solutions provided by chosen partners. E4S and BASE liaise between stakeholders, communicating also the project’s impact, disseminating research findings, and providing a platform to access the initiative’s results and updates.
Building owners, investors, and companies are encouraged to discover how Servetia can aid in their journey towards Net Zero. Reach out at info@servetia-initiative.ch
