Cantons and Confederation paid in 2021 a record amount of 361 million subsidies to promote reductions in energy consumption and CO2 emissions in buildings. Requests for help with heating replacements have risen sharply.
This is 62 million more than the previous year, according to a press release from the Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) released on Tuesday, which presents the 2021 figures for the Buildings Program. In detail, most of the subsidies paid concerned thermal insulation, with 126 million francs. Technical building installation projects, mainly heating replacements, experienced the strongest growth, by more than 70% compared to 2020, to reach 106 million francs.
In addition, 81.4 million francs were used to support system renovation projects, concerning both the building envelope and the heating system. In this context, nearly 14,000 fossil systems have been replaced by heating systems powered by renewable energies. The heat pump is the option most often chosen.
Amounts of approximately 20, 12 and 16 million francs were paid respectively for new constructions, centralized supply and indirect aid.
Envelope of 588 million for 2022
The subsidies paid in 2021 reduce the energy consumption of the Swiss building stock by 6.5 billion kilowatt hours and CO2 emissions by around 1.8 million tonnes, specifies the SFOE. The Office performs this calculation taking into account the full life of the new installations.
With a ratio of 196 francs per tonne of CO2, the effect of subsidies is higher than the previous year (207 francs per tonne). The main reason is that payments to technical building installation projects have once more increased significantly. The Buildings Program also had a positive impact on employment in 2021: more than 2,300 full-time equivalents were created.
The Confederation and the cantons expect the subsidies paid to remain high in the coming years. For 2022, some 588 million francs are available for measures to reduce energy consumption or CO2 emissions (490 million francs were committed for the year 2021).
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