In July 2020, Bell put a new poultry house into operation in Zimmerwald near Bern. This is not particularly unusual, and at first glance the smart new barn looks pretty much like a normal poultry barn. At second glance, however, it quickly becomes clear that the shed is anything but ordinary. It is a Minergie-A-certified, completely energy-neutral prototype called BTSplus, which is set to set new standards one day.
The BTSplus concept is a further development of the tried-and-tested Swiss BTS (particularly animal-friendly housing systems) with new technologies for the energy-efficient rearing of broiler chickens without CO2 emissions. "With BTSplus, the focus is clearly on resource optimization in terms of energy consumption," explains Stefan Werren, BTSplus project manager at Bell.
The centerpiece is a photovoltaic system on the roof, which supplies around twice as much energy as is needed to operate the barn. The remaining energy is used for other operations or fed into the public power grid. The installation of a heat recovery system allows the waste heat from the animals to be utilized. The waste heat warms the fresh air, which is used from outside to air-condition the barn and conservatories. This saves around 80 percent of the heat energy required, while the remaining 20 percent is provided by the heat pump, which is powered by electricity from the company's own photovoltaic system.
