District heating for the butterflies at Papiliorama in Switzerland

In the Papiliorama butterfly dome, more than a thousand exotic butterflies flit freely around visitors in a tropical climate covering an area of 1 200 m². The plant world inhabited by the butterflies, but also by various spectacular bird species, is represented by around 120 species here. Yet this colourful diversity of flora and fauna requires a consistently warm indoor climate, which has to be heated intensively with natural gas, particularly during the winter months. 

Efficient heating thanks to the new district heating connection 

This support project promotes the replacement of climate-damaging fossil fuels with a connection to the nearly Kerzers heating network. The heating network is operated with a large wood-fired boiler, which significantly reduces the use of fossil fuels and thus the greenhouse gas emissions caused by heating. At the same time, the wood can be obtained locally and thus the value added remains within Switzerland⁠—in contrast to oil and gas. 

Lower operating costs thanks to the subsidy 

Since heating with natural gas was the only financially viable option from an economic point of view at the time the decision was made for the project, the switch to a renewable heating system had not yet been made. The subsidy from myclimate helps Papiliorama to cover the investment and operating costs for such a connection and thus creates a financial incentive to replace the heating. The CO2 savings made after successful commissioning of the new district heating connection can be sold annually following verification. 

Sustainability and climate protection have been at the core of Papiliorama’s business ideology for more than 30 years, alongside the concrete protection of tropical forests. Thanks to the support programme from myclimate, we are able to replace our fossil-fuel-based heating with renewable district heating and thus make a further contribution to climate protection. As a next step, we aim to improve the building insulation and to produce solar energy either on the site or very close by.

Caspar Bijleveld, Director of Papiliorama

Contact                                 

Do you have any questions? Please do not hesitate to contact us: 

Foundation myclimate, 044 500 43 50, sales@myclimate.org

This project contributes to 2 SDGs (as of end 2021):

Find out how myclimate reports these SDGs in our FAQ.

Around 450 t of CO2 will be saved annually. 

These SDGs have been approved by myclimate:

Around 2 400 MWh of renewable heat will be generated annually.