Empa and Eawag extend invitations to new campus

The expansion of the joint Empa and Eawag research campus called co-operate in Dübendorf in the canton of Zurich, Switzerland, has now been completed for the time being following its recent official opening. Between 2021 and 2024, three buildings have been added to the campus. This further development was vital in order to “remain at the forefront of research”, as Empa says in a press release. However, it also offers employees and guests alike greater comfort, attractiveness and security, it states.

The project has led to the creation of a “state-of-the-art” laboratory building, a multifunctional building and a parking garage. It will now be possible to gradually renovate the existing laboratory building from the early 1960s. And a new “green belt” connects the two research institutes Empa and Eawag.

In addition, developments and innovations from the Empa laboratories have been and are being implemented in the new campus, especially with regard to energy and building technology. “From now on, research will not only be carried out in, but also on and with the new buildings”, Empa states. For example, a field of 144 geothermal probes that extend down to a depth of 100 meters is used to store waste heat from the buildings. In winter, this heat is extracted from the ground and raised by a heat pump to be used for heating the buildings.

The two institutes have arranged an open day at the campus on September 14. As Empa writes in its invitation to the event, those interested will be offered the chance to look behind the curtains and visit places where “groundbreaking innovations are developed and where research is carried out into solutions for a sustainable future that is really worth living”. According to its announcement, Eawag will inform visitors at four stations about the importance of water for biodiversity, the climate, cycles and health. ce/mm