CASE STUDY : MONTE ROSA HUT

Completion
Floor area/size
Architect
Developer
Associate architect
Associate architect
Services engineer
General consultant
General consultant
Client
Contributed by

2009
698 m
Bearth & Deplazes
architektur + bauprozess
Architektur& Design GmbH
ETH Zrich
Lauber IWISA AG
Matterhorn Engineering AG
WGG Schnetzer Puskas Ingenieure
ETH Zurich
Roderick

TECHNICAL DATA
Population Equivalent (PE)
55 PE
Wastewater inflow (m/d)
3.5
Filtering surface installed (m)
50
Aeration tank (m)
5.5
Wastewater storage tank (m)
3.0

Elevations: 1:400

DESCRIPTION:
The new monte rosa hut was built between snow, ice, glaciers and mountains in the middle of the
swiss alps.
The hut serves as a guest house for climbers, hikers and skiers.
There is a restaurant and accommodation for upto 130 people.
The building is not connected to the grid nor to a central water supply facility.
The only access to hut is by foot, or helicopter.
The project is a cooperation between the swiss federal institute of technology ETH and the swiss
alpine club SAC.
The hut was built as a test object for sustainable construction in such extreme conditions.
The aim was to demonstrate self sufficiency and sustainability.
The hut features a unique architecture that makes it an unmistakable project in the swiss alps.
DESCRIPTION OF SPECIAL LOCAL CONDITIONS:
The new monte rosa hut is located in the swiss alps near Zermatt at the foot of the mountain monte
rosa and other 4000 meters mountains located in the area. below the hut is the glacier called
gorner glacier.
ALTITUDE:
2883 meters above the sea level.
Environmental conditions: climate zone: alpine climate; climate type: cold, latitude: 45.96* N,
longitude: 7.81*E.
FINANCIAL SCALE:
construction cost: 6.5 millons.

WATER :
Since there is no connection to a central water supply facility, service water has to be obtained from
melting ice.
For this purpose, a water cavern was installed 40 meters above the hut where during summer ice is
melted to fill the cavern.
The sanitary facilities were designed to operate with low water consumption.
The waste water can be stored in a waste water tank depending on the available energy for the
purification process.
The sewage is purified in a compact waste water treatment plant, which consists of the mechanical
pre-treatment, the aeration tank, the filtration chamber and the separate surplus sludge storage
tank.
The purified water is used for the toilet flushing and the washing machine.
WASTEWATER CLEANING PROCESS:
If the huts battery and wastewater tank are half full and the immediate forecast calls for
sunshine, the controller starts the power-consuming wastewater cleaning process, thus
preventing the battery from charging too quickly, which would leave solar energy
unused. If the forecast calls for bad weather, the cleaning process is stopped. Otherwise
the batterys power reserves might be used up, necessitating a switch to LP gas, a
scarce resource at this remote location.
BIOMASS:
the organic waste from the kitchen is composted in a site above the hut. furthermore there is no
nutrients recovery from the wastewater. The sludge from the wastewater treatment plant is flown by
helicopter to the valley and burnt in the waste incineration plant.

ENERGY:
90% of the energy demand is covered by solar energy, i.e a photovoltaic system integrated into
the building fasade and solar thermal collectors.
Surplus electricity is stored in batters.
The remaining 10% energy demand is supplied by the rape oil-fired cogeneration unit.
However the crucial element that enables such a high level of energy efficiency and selfsufficiency are not the sole technical installations.
It is the integrative approach where each element is integrated into the system as a whole.
The performance of the entire system is being optimized in contrast to the optimization of the
single element.
For this purpose a model predictive regulating system is installed to control each element of the
system.
The regulating system receives data of the
weather forecast and the future occupancy.
In doing so each element such as
wastewater treatment plant can be operated
at the optimum time regarding future energy
demand and generation.
The active energy supply is based on solar
thermal collectors, a photovoltaic system, as
well as building technology and its control
components. If needed, the system is
backed up by a combined heat and power
(CHP) plant operated with liquefied
petroleum (LP) gas.

SERVICES

The sanitary facilities were designed to

operate with low water consumption.
Furthermore, the water demand is
additionally reduced by reusing the
biologically purified wastewater for the
toilet flushing and as wash water.
The compact wastewater treatment plant
consists of the mechanical pre-treatment
(fine screen), the aeration tank, the
filtration chamber with submersed siClaro
flat sheet membranes and the separate
surplus sludge storage tank.
The effluent inflow is carried out by the
lifting station with an adequately
dimensioned wastewater storage tank.

System
development with
Eco-design

Aluminium production
through the power of water
Aluminium is an ideal material for a
maximum level of sustainability.
Due to the high quality of aluminium,
the utilisation period of the products
is virtually unlimited without any
need for repainting or postinstallation treatment.
Up to 100% of aluminium can be
recycled, whereby only 5% of the
original energy consumption is
required for recycling.
Therefore, for the most part,
aluminium is not "consumed" but
"utilised" and then used again and
again as window construction .

Recycling

Energy-saving
utilisation period

PROJECT BENEFITS
Project level: pilot project.
A nearly energy-self-sufficient building in the height of the alps demonstrate that sustainability
knows no boundaries.
It is the leading example in sustainable building that shows new ways of how to use our resources
efficiently.
The new monte rosa hut is widely known and has won many prizes for its architecture and technical
implementation.
CONTEXT ZERO EMISSION
BUILDINGS:
The new monte rosa hut is a great example of zero emission building due to the operation as an
island installation in the remote alps.

Waste water treatment

Grid electricity used

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benchmark
Zero emission

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Bi

UBP/sq.m

Total rating points (UBP/sqm)

Degree of achievement (%)
Zero emission lable

Biomass
Additional UBP