Key facts
The building programme comprises a set of measures for the long-term reduction of CO2 emissions and winter electricity consumption. The programme is implemented by the cantons, who apply a harmonised subsidy model. Individual thermal insulation and heating replacement measures, as well as large-scale building refurbishments, have accounted for the largest expenditure to date. The Confederation contributes financially to the building programme. It meets a large portion of the building programme’s costs through global contributions to the cantons. The Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) is responsible for granting these global contributions. It collaborates with the Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN) on matters involving climate policy.
For the global contributions, one third of the revenue from the CO2 tax on fuel is available, but only up to a maximum of CHF 450 million annually. Between 2010 and 2023 the cantons paid out a total of CHF 3.6 billion to projects. Annual payments rose from just over CHF 150 million to around CHF 530 million between 2016 and Roughly two thirds of this came from the CO2 tax. From 2025, an additional CHF 200 million will be available from the federal coffers under a ten-year stimulus programme, primarily for the replacement of large fossil heating systems and electric heating systems.
The Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) examined the building programme’s ability to achieve the energy and climate policy goals for buildings in the most effective and economical way. The results show that the design and implementation of the programme provide good conditions for this overall. However, there is room for improvement in certain areas. The repercussions of the Federal Council’s planned relief package for the federal budget on the building programme are as yet unknown, and did not form part of the audit. The SFAO assumes that the recommendations in the present report will continue to apply as regards the further development of energy and climate policy for buildings.