Sisslerfeld: the living lab
Lying along the Rhine river between Zurich and Basel, Sisslerfeld is an industrial park shared by four municipalities – Eiken, Münchwilen, Sisseln and Stein – and even the local German authorities over the border are engaged. The site houses a number of multinational companies, together employing around 10,000 workers, with that number set to double within 20 years. The site therefore has substantial impact on the region, but depends on small towns with little capacity for advanced urban and energy planning. That’s where we come in.
Working with NCCR Automation, the four local authorities have jointly formed a “living lab” – an open innovation ecosystem geared to designing, testing and iterating new ideas in the real world. Through the living lab association, it becomes possible to pool data from the many commercial entities housed in Sisslerfeld and coordinate research. Together we are able to explore truly groundbreaking ideas in circular resource management and in long-term energy and urban planning.
How can we redirect industrial byproducts from one facility to become inputs for others? We see potential in holistic recycling of everything from chemical waste and biofuels to timber waste.
What about providing heating for the region from the excess heat generated in industrial production processes? Or cooling?
How can local transport improvements alleviate pressure from the rapid expansion of the site?
How can Sisslerfeld offer “net zero as a service” to support enterprise in meeting its carbon goals?
Can Sisslerfeld become an energy island? Can its factory energy consumption be reduced through strategies such as relying on direct electrical current only, or increasing the use of robotics?
What about accessing the existing hydrogen network, or the European gas network, for more efficient energy supply?
How can the costs, and the benefits, of innovation be divided among stakeholders?
How can we use data-driven automation to deliver more efficient and effective urban planning?
The NCCR Automation’s extensive research network is able to draw on a huge range of innovations being developed around the country to support this Industry 4.0 project. For instance, we are working with an EPFL startup team, MobiLysis, supplying drones to study traffic flows and mobility patterns, which inform models for transport planning and automation. And Empa provides us with technology for multi-energy carrier systems – that is, systems for transferring electricity, heat and other energy flows between different buildings, so that excess generated on one site (whether heat from running a server farm, or electricity from photovoltaic panels) can be efficiently distributed to others nearby.
While the national energy plan, Strategic Grid 2040, focuses on households, it is clear that industrial activity is a major contributor to energy demand – which means that improving industrial efficiency can deliver major environmental gains. We have Master’s students working on developing technologies to achieve net zero by 2040 (ten years ahead of the current, inadequate target of 2050).
As a living lab, Sisslerfeld enables us to take a visionary, long-range planning approach to development. It offers a rare opportunity to break down data and resource silos and harness the benefits of coordinated resource management. And – like our projects in Walenstadt – it gives us a chance to test new approaches in the real world, and ultimately, to drive real change in creating a sustainable future.
Do you want to join our drive for change?
We are always looking for new partnership opportunities. What are your needs? What do you want to achieve with a 3- to 5-year horizon? What do you see as the next level of energy transformation in your community or industry?
Find out more about the Sisslerfeld Living Lab here, and get in touch to discuss how we might work together to design the future.
