Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences keeps cool

As a cultural centre St. Gallen in eastern Switzerland is not just renowned for its many sights, but thanks to the large number of excellent educational facilities and research institutes this Swiss metropolis is also of major importance beyond the city boundaries and the borders of the country itself – and is thus attractive to students and teaching staff from all over the world.

Some 1,700 students graduate from OST – Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences at the Rosenbergstrasse campus each year, with about the same number continuing their further education at the institute. That they keep a cool head while doing so is not least of all due to the presence of drive solutions from elero – Sun Shading Solutions Nice, which automate the textile sun protection.

Sun protection for St. Gallen

A number of technologies are available to improve thermal insulation – and naturally also to ensure pleasant temperatures in the colder months. Solar control glass, interior and exterior sun protection on windows and glazed areas, ideally with automated controls, as well as enhanced night-time ventilation, ensure that it is possible to work in a comfortable and healthy climate with pleasant room temperatures, as underlined in a study recently published by ES-SO. For this reason an extensive, automated sun protection system was installed at the OST – University of Applied Sciences in St. Gallen.

The ground-breaking ceremony at Rosenbergstrasse was held fifteen years ago, on 1 May 2009. Four years later, at the beginning of February 2013, the University of Applied Sciences moved into the campus with its large-scale façades. The campuses in St. Gallen and Rorschach were closed and the new university in the immediate vicinity of St. Gallen central railway station opened its doors to students, with the official opening ceremony taking place in July 2013.

A little over ten years later half of the drives initially installed in the sun protection system that was intended to ensure pleasant temperatures in the university building no longer function – simply because they overheated as a result of the adverse conditions. In the intermediate glass, in which the textile screens operate, temperatures of as much as 80 degrees Celsius are measured at times – depending on the levels of solar radiation and the running times of the drives. As the fabrics had to be replaced after a certain period of time, the sun protection system was refurbished in its entirety at the same time, whereby a total of 960 SunTop M12/23 tubular drives from elero were installed. meimo, a specialist for visual and sun protection solutions from Geroldswil, takes care of customer support and project supervision on site in Switzerland.

The wired version of the SunTop M is particularly suitable for the operation of different types of textile sun protection (shafts of 50 mm upwards). With a running time that is about 30% faster, it was ultimately possible to guarantee that the heat development in the intermediate glass was not as intense and that the drives were significantly less prone to error. The corresponding tests were simulated beforehand. The entire upgrading of the drives and shading fabrics was then completed using an exterior lift.

Three workers – two specialists in the lift and one outside the lift – were deployed from May through to September. The contractor was Ammann Storen AG. The new “Twilight Pearl” PVC-free shading fabrics were provided by Sattler Schweiz GmbH.

Zitat elero

“We are extremely pleased to have ensured pleasant room temperatures once again in St. Gallen University of Applied Sciences together with meimo, Sattler SUN-TEX and Ammann Storen. The scope of the project – in total nearly 1,000 SunTop tubular drives were installed – and also the work in general on the large-scale glass façades is not to be underestimated,” says Davide Campagnari, head of the business unit Sun Shading Solutions Nice, member of the board of Nice and Managing Director of elero GmbH, of the collaborative project. “We greatly appreciate the fact that we were able to work with extremely competent partners. We are already looking forward to further projects in the future.”

Zitat Meimo AG

Benjamin Meier, Managing Director of Meimo AG, summarises the project as follows: “As a specialist for drives and controls from elero – Sun Shading Solutions Nice in Switzerland we have the necessary product and technology skills to provide proactive consulting on projects of this size and to supply the required products. And if we have the opportunity to accompany such projects from the very outset, we are even more pleased. We wish the students and staff at OST – Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences a lot of pleasure in their new place of learning.”

Zitat Ammann Storen AG

“Once again it may be seen that with challenging buildings such as Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences it pays to set store by quality products. Under the difficult prevailing conditions it is particularly important to select components which have also proved their mettle under trying circumstances. Those who consider the subject matter in depth and conduct tests beforehand can avoid unnecessary expenditure and additional costs.”

Roland Ammann, Master craftsman for roller shutter and blind construction

Zitat Sattler Schweiz GmbH

“Textile sun protection makes a major contribution to a pleasant room climate and thus to the feeling of well-being indoors. As the leading manufacturer of textile sun protection and thermal insulation we are very happy to have had the opportunity to participate in this major project in perfect collaboration with meimo AG and elero, as well as the contractors Ammann Storen AG and Umbratec sro. – a project that was completed error-free and without any accidents. The some 990 sun shades made of the PVC-free fabric Sattler Twilight Pearl also blend in excellently with the overall appearance of the existing building. A reference project which all the participants can be proud of and which also contributes to the well-being of students and teaching staff.”

Olivier Ronner, Managing Director of Sattler SUN-TEX Schweiz

Further information about the OST – Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences under: https://www.ost.ch/en/university-of-applied-sciences/campus/stgallen-campus