Sustainable energy for Zurich Zoo

EKZ supplies Zurich Zoo with sustainably generated heat from regional wood

As an ambassador between humans, animals and nature and as a center for nature conservation, Zurich Zoo is constantly working to conserve resources itself and optimize its own sustainability. Zurich Zoo is climate neutral. It has signed a voluntary target agreement with the Energy Agency for Industry. In this agreement, the zoo commits itself to further CO2 savings.

Zurich Zoo is one of the most visited and important sights in the city of Zurich. Every year, more than a million visitors make a pilgrimage to the soon to be 27-hectare zoo on the Zürichberg to marvel at more than 4,600 animals from 375 species. This includes the Masoala Rainforest as well as the new Elephant Park, which opened in 2014. In order to keep the zoo's attractiveness high and to further increase it, Zurich Zoo is planning, as part of its Master Plan
further projects to expand its offering.

In addition to the Australia facility planned for 2018, Zurich Zoo is building the "Lewa Savanna" by 2020. This facility is another milestone in the history of the zoo. With the "Lewa Savannah", giraffes will return to the Zürichberg after more than 60 years. At the same time, with an area of over 40,000 square meters, it will be the largest facility at Zurich Zoo.

Energy Contracting

The zoo also relies on sustainability and environmental protection for its heat supply. Since 2011, EKZ has been operating the environmentally friendly heating system with wood chips under an
under an operating contract. The existing plant was energetically optimized and modernized by EKZ on behalf of Zurich Zoo from 2011 to 2016. Thanks to this renewal, the degree of coverage with wood chips could be increased to currently 98 %, using the latest filter technology. In addition, the wood comes from the immediate vicinity, so that the transport routes are short. The entire plant has an output of almost 5,000 kW. The core of the plant are the two wood boilers with 1'200 and 550 kW. In addition, 135 kW can be generated by the heat recovery system from flue gas. For peak load coverage and safety, three oil burners of 1'000 kW each were installed to intervene in case of emergency or when needed. Compared to a conventional fossil-fuel heating system, Zurich Zoo saves almost 1,300 tons of CO2 every year.