The NTN Innovation Booster initiative has approved twelve NTN Innovation Boosters starting in 2021 and focusing on a broad range of different topics. Together with all interested actors, the NTN Innovation Boosters formulate concrete working topics within their respective innovation themes and develop them in interdisciplinary innovation teams. They teach the teams methods for agile ideas development. The programs support promising innovation ideas with direct funding contributions, which selected teams can use to test their hypotheses and advance their idea or obtain expertise to support their decisions.
One of the approved initiatives is the NTN Innovation Booster – Energy Lab, a Swiss innovation eco-system consisting of over 200 partners from the economy, research and politics with a networked vision for a socio-political and economical energy future. In a bottom-up approach, based on challenges from practice Energy Lab merges expertise, research and economy. Following the recent Pitch&Enrich Workshop, the Energy Lab jury selected five teams that received a total of CHF 85’000 seed funding for their project ideas.
The funded projects are:
- A new Swiss standard to reduce the footprint through efficient urban projects | SEED | Sarah Schalles and team | CHF 10’000
In this challenge, the team is developing a new Swiss standard to reduce the footprint through efficient urban projects. The challenge is the growth of the community culminating in the establishment of the SEED certification as the new standard for sustainable districts across Switzerland.
- Data-driven, agile energy system planning and operation processes | Urban Sympheny AG | Matthias Sulzer | 25’000
In this challenge, Urban Sympheny AG proposes developing, testing, and validating an automated workflow for exploiting real-time data streams from Belimo's cloud for energy planning in Sympheny's software. The objective is to demonstrate the potential advantages of an "agile" energy planning approach.
- Visualisation of the CO2 reduction path in Central Switzerland | Hochschule Luzern - Technology & Architecture | Stephen Wittkopf | CHF 10’000
This project aims to bring together central Swiss energy suppliers, municipalities and property owners with the energy experts of the Department of Technology and Architecture to test and use the possibilities of an energy data visualisation for the planning, communication and implementation of a CO2 reduction path for central Switzerland in an open exchange.
- E-Sling, ETH | Anna Thumann | CHF 15’000
e-Sling is a student project at ETH Zurich to convert a 4-seater Sling TSi aircraft into an electric aircraft within eight months. E-Sling enables a move towards sustainability in aviation. CO2 emissions are reduced by 100% and noise emissions by 75%.
- Building passport energy, geoimpact AG | David Suter | CHF 25’000 This challenge is about a platform that gathers all energy-related building information and helps to identify suitable renovation targets whose renovation will help reduce energy consumption. Furthermore, the platforms assists to save CO2 emissions as well as will help the larger integration of renewable energy (sources).
The next Pitch&Enrich Workshop is planned for the 8th of July 2021. Teams that have an energy-related challenge are invited to submit their ideas. The deadline is 2 weeks before the Pitch&Enrich Workshop.