Certification for energy-efficient catering kitchens

EcoGastroCert, the Swiss certification scheme for energy-efficient commercial kitchens, will be launched in 2026 – developed in collaboration with EnergieSchweiz and the Association of Swiss Catering Planners. It is the only certification scheme to assess both design and operation: the catering planner designs the kitchen using EnergyCalc, an auditor carries out the final inspection, and after around six months, the EnergyCheck verifies whether the kitchen delivers in everyday use what the design promised. This provides building owners with evidence to support net-zero targets and tenders, whilst businesses benefit from lower energy costs. The first certifications will take place during the pilot phase in 2026.

cert.ecogastro.org

Two proprietary tools for the catering industry

With EnergyCheck and EnergyCalc, EcoGastro provides two digital tools: EnergyCheck is an on-site assessment carried out via smartphone, enabling businesses to identify their potential savings in just a few minutes. EnergyCalc calculates the energy consumption and costs of kitchen appliances and entire kitchens – for businesses, planners and energy suppliers.

New partners, new formats

EcoGastro is expanding its range of services: in collaboration with energy suppliers, the programme reaches catering businesses directly via their electricity suppliers. In addition, there are courses for kitchen planners and new training formats for kitchen teams, ensuring that energy efficiency reaches the very places where cooking takes place every day.

Reuse as a game

With the Re-Use Game, we bring reuse to life: players decide what happens to components and products at the end of their first life – and experience first-hand what their decisions mean for resources, costs and the climate.

Focus on the construction sector

Future Perfect focuses on circular construction. New learning modules for vocational colleges in the construction and building services engineering sector demonstrate how buildings can be designed, built and dismantled in such a way that materials remain in the cycle – from the reuse of building components to designs suitable for the circular economy.

Discover the circular economy in your local area

Circular Quest is a new initiative from Future Perfect: learners explore the circular economy in a fun and interactive way in their own town. At real-life locations – workshops, shops and businesses – they complete tasks and experience how repair, reuse and resource conservation work in everyday life. The initiative has launched in Olten and Zurich, with further locations to follow.

Sustainable development in vocational education and training

Based on the workshops we held in vocational schools, we developed "Future Perfect", the digital teaching tool on sustainability and the circular economy, in cooperation with the Bildungszentrum Limmattal (BZLT) and EPEA Switzerland. Innovations are initiated and supported by highly trained professionals by critically questioning the status quo, developing new solutions and finally implementing changes. The teaching of so-called sustainability skills in vocational education and training plays a central role for Switzerland as a workplace: new products, services and business models are needed to drastically reduce resource consumption and counteract climate change. This is a mammoth task that our society is placing on the young generation and for which we must prepare them in the best possible way.  

Economic activity in cycles

One of the solutions to these challenges - from our point of view the most important and target-oriented approach - is the circular economy. Resources must no longer become waste and emissions, but must be completely transformed back into new resources. Products must be used as long as possible and as intensively as possible. The economy needs business models that support the change and lead to products being designed to be durable, repairable, reusable and recyclable. With Future Perfect, we teach these concepts to students at vocational schools and vocational baccalaureate schools.

From individual appliances to the entire kitchen

Since 2016, EcoGastro has been certifying not just individual kitchen appliances, but entire commercial kitchens – from the planning stage right through to day-to-day operations. The assessment focuses on how efficiently appliances are selected, combined and used. The certificate shows businesses, planners and building owners where a kitchen stands in terms of energy efficiency and where investments are worthwhile.

Playfully towards sustainability

We developed the 2000-Watt workshops in 2014 for and with the city of Zurich as a further training offer by the city for its employees. With a quiz, the participants of the workshops acquire knowledge in a playful way. The 2000-Watt Workshop - like all other Eartheffect workshops - takes into account human needs based on the self-determination theory of Edward Deci and Richard Ryan. According to Deci and Ryan, the motivation for a certain behaviour is directly related to how strongly the needs for competence, social inclusion and autonomy can be satisfied. With well over a hundred workshops of experience, we can only confirm this theory. Accordingly, we observed motivated behaviour especially when people are working with joy and full of zest for action.

Workshop offers

Following the successful introduction of the 2000-watt workshops (and the "Energy Efficiency" workshop as part of EcoGastro), we have since also been offering workshops on "Managing in cycles" and "Sustainable nutrition". In all our workshops, the development of ideas and thus the participatory involvement of employees is central. These ideas lay the foundation for changes in the organisation - be it on a small or large scale - and thus offer an optimal prerequisite for sustainable development. 

Energy saving in the hospitality industry

With the EcoGastro promotion programme - for the first three years still under the name "Watt à la carte" - we have been supporting catering businesses in reducing their own electricity consumption since 2011. If catering establishments replace their old cooker tops with energy-efficient induction cookers, they benefit from one-off subsidies. From the beginning, EcoGastro has focused on advising catering businesses, raising awareness and motivating employees to save energy. To date, we have advised around 500 businesses and conducted around 250 workshops. 

EcoGastro certification

For the 10th anniversary of EcoGastro, we introduced the label "EcoGastro certified" in 2021, with which energy-efficient commercial kitchen appliances are certified. A study we conducted showed that labelling the most efficient appliances helps planners of commercial kitchens to build economical kitchens. Within a very short time, the label has become well known in the industry and is now also requested by investors in the appliance manufacturers, which has created additional incentives for them to develop the most energy-efficient appliances possible.

With participation to more sustainability

At the University of ETH Zurich, Martin (Managing Director of Eartheffect), as an independent environmental consultant, introduced an innovative method of CO2 balancing for the mobility of ETHZ staff in 2006. It showed that air travel was responsible for around 50% of the university's CO2 emissions. As one of the measures to improve the environmental impact, Martin then introduced ecoworks at ETHZ - an incubator for campus CO2 reduction projects. A core component of ecoworks was a 24-hour workshop in which ETHZ students and doctoral students developed ideas and projects. This participatory approach runs through all of Eartheffect's activities. Those affected become participants and are thus motivated to get involved in the implementation of measures.

Spin-off ETH Zurich

In 2010, Martin founded Eartheffect AG as a spin-off from ETH Zurich together with Philippe Stadler, with the company headquarters in Olten. Today, Martin is the sole owner and managing director of Eartheffect AG.