St Moritz 

The Romantik Hotel Muottas Muragl up on the ski slopes of the Engadin has recently been awarded the Swiss Solar Award 2011 and the PlusEnergieBau® (PEB) Solar Award 2011. The latter is the only prize in the world for buildings that generate more energy than they need themselves.
The 104 year-old hotel was fully renovated in 2010 with a particular focus on environmental-friendliness with the aim of creating the first ‘plus-energy’ hotel in the Alps and proving that this can be done in old buildings as well as new.
Besides constructing the building according to the principles and requirements of the Swiss "Minergie" ecological label, this project went several steps further.
Although the surface area of the building was extended from 1,700 sq. metres to 2,700 sq. metres, despite the 50% increase in size, it was possible to reduce the energy consumption by 64%, from 436,000 kWh/a to 157,400 kWh/a. This was achieved by insulating the building in line with the latest standards and by generating renewable energy from five different sources.
Hot water is obtained by means of solar energy produced by the 60 sq. metres of pipe solar collectors installed in the glass window panes in the basement. Sixteen thermal loops with an average length of 200 metres, making 3,200 metres in total, supply the entire building with geothermal energy.
In addition, all the necessary electricity is generated by the most efficient photovoltaic system in Switzerland, extending 228 metres along the railway line. Any excess of solar energy is stored in the ground via the thermal loops, thus regenerating the geothermal mass.
The recovery of the waste heat from the cooling units, exhaust air and the machine room are further measures to transform the new building into a sustainable and environmentally-friendly enterprise that, taken over the entire year, even produces more energy than it actually needs.
The hotel’s requirements before renovations of approximately 40,000 litres of heating oil and 36,600 kWh/a of electricity are now entirely covered by solar energy.