Renewable heating system at the Frauenfeld indoor swimming pool

There are over 400 indoor swimming pools in Switzerland, most of which use fossil fuels to cover a portion of their heating needs. Due to the uncertainty in the energy market and the high investment costs for heat pumps, operators are hesitant to switch from fossil fuel heating systems to renewable alternatives. The fact that the Frauenfeld indoor pool is now fully covering its heating with renewable energy has involved significant extra expense. The support of myclimate for this climate protection project has enabled these additional costs to be reduced, thereby bringing down the investment involved.

The first indoor swimming pool to gain the Minergie-P-ECO label

The indoor pool in Frauenfeld is the first in Switzerland to be built in accordance with the Minergie-P-ECO standard. In addition to meeting the strict requirements for the insulation of the building envelope and self-produced electric power, 100 per cent of its heating and cooling comes from fossil-free sources. The “ECO” backing supplements the Minergie building standard by also taking into account health and building ecology. In order to comply with this, the wooden beams and façade consist of around 2000 cubic metres of regionally sourced coniferous timber.

The installation of renewable energy systems pays off both for the climate and, in the long term, financially. The support of myclimate has also enabled this sustainable Minergie-P-ECO building to be created for the general public.

Lawrence Minnetian, Project Manager at myclimate

Climate-friendly heat generation thanks to district heating connection

Several heat pumps are used to heat the water and for ventilation. In addition to this, the pool building is also connected to the district heating network of the local wastewater treatment plant, as well as reusing its own waste heat via a heat recovery system. The heat pumps are run using the climate-friendly natural refrigerant ammonia. Implementation of these measures will lead to the generation of around 3600 MWh of thermal energy by renewable methods, and to savings of over 500 tonnes of CO₂.

Purpose of funding and regional climate protection

The financial contribution from myclimate helps the Frauenfeld indoor pool to reduce its investment and running costs, creating a financial incentive to replace its heating system. The project is run by myclimate as a “regional climate protection project”. This means that no CO₂ certificates are issued; instead, the climate impact of the project is measured and verified. A company that invests in this project does so on a voluntary basis and receives no emissions certificates for it.

This project contributes to two SDGs:

Find out in our FAQs how myclimate demonstrates these SDGs.

The following SDGs are audited by myclimate:

3600 MWh of thermal energy are generated by renewable methods.

Around 500 t of CO₂ are saved every year.