Hybrid drycoolers in Switzerland‘s largest office building
10.11.2014
The bank invested 270 million francs in the 16-storey building with six of the fl oors underground. The Uetlihof complex is part of the CS room planning strategy which aims to move workstations from smaller buildings in the city centre to large-area buildings such as the Uetlihof.
Those responsible are proud of the newly designed workstations. Individual offi ces are a thing of the past. All employees can choose a different working environment every day to suit their work and schedule. There are various cabins and privacy areas, garden offi ces with lots of plants and standing desks for anyone who prefers them or needs to stand because of back problems.
One of the biggest challenges when implementing the ambitious plans to create the country‘s most modern workstations was complying with the strict Minergie-P-Eco regulations which apply to the building. Only buildings whose energy consumption is very low qualify for Minergie-P-Eco certifi cation. The Uetlihof 2 is the largest building in Switzerland which complies with this building standard. Innovative building systems and special thermal insulation played an important role here. An energy centre supplies the bank‘s computer centres – it alone cost 100 million francs to build.
JAEGGI supplied a total of 10 hybrid drycoolers which are used to re-cool the cooling system. At lower ambient temperatures in free cooling mode, they replace the energy -intensive cooling machines. Because the hybrid drycoolers offer high re-cooling performance with only a small amount of energy and water, they contribute to the system‘s overall environmental compatibility and efficiency.
The coolers are installed on the top fl oor of the building. The devices‘ dimensions were extremely important because they were brought onto the fi nished fl oor of the building via openings in the roof. Air from the room is sucked out freely through the mesh panelling in the façade. The waste air is released into the environment via stainless steel channels which rise up through the ceiling.