A Minergie-certified railway complex handed over in Prilly in March 2026 hit 34 °C in a bedroom this summer. A week later, a Vaud MP asked for compulsory geocooling on every new ground-source heat pump in the canton.
By the Envergure editorial team
Swiss new build overheating has found its Vaud test case. A Minergie-certified complex handed over in Prilly in March 2026, built for 250 million francs, with bedrooms measured at 34 °C in the middle of the summer.
CANTON OF VAUDSwiss Federal Railways handed over the Central Malley residential complex in March 2026, 172 flats in Prilly built for 250 million francs. The building carries both the Minergie and SNBS labels.
During the heatwave, readings showed night-time temperatures of 28 to 29 °C inside the flats, and up to 34 °C in one bedroom on a separate measurement, while residents were using their blinds and ventilation normally (Watson).
Not here. The Minergie and SNBS labels did not prevent Swiss new build overheating at Central Malley, and the two causes identified sit in the automated blind control, badly set, and in ventilation that falls short in high heat (Le Temps).
The lesson is blunt for a buyer and for a landlord alike. A flat can be new, certified and badly tuned. Summer comfort is checked with a thermometer in August, not on a label read in December.
CANTON OF VAUDA week after those readings, Green MP Alberto Mocchi filed a motion in the Vaud cantonal parliament. It would require every new ground-source heat pump installed in the canton to include a geocooling system, and it would subsidise retrofitting the systems already in place.
The Prilly complex shows why the question belongs before the first spade goes in the ground. Geocooling already serves the offices and shops there, but not the flats.
The canton is putting 74 million francs into energy retrofit grants in 2026, 34 million from Vaud and 40 million from the Confederation. That is close to 22 % more than in 2025, and the canton expects it to trigger around 500 million francs of investment in construction, renewable energy and energy efficiency (vd.ch).
Hands-on support, on top of the money. The Assistance à la Maîtrise d’Usage grant follows owners and tenants through the whole of a renovation project, within the Vaud Programme Bâtiments. It is the new piece of the 2026 scheme.
For a Vaud owner hesitating between insulation and a new heating system, the programme now comes with someone to talk to and a bigger budget, two things it lacked last year.
FEDERALThe revision of the Lex Koller, the federal law on the acquisition of real estate by people abroad, has entered a second round. A second consultation phase opened on 26 August 2026, covering commercial buildings and shares in listed property companies and funds (admin.ch).
| Phase | Timing | What is put out for consultation |
|---|---|---|
| Preliminary draft | 15 April to 15 July 2026 | Authorisation for a main residence bought by nationals from outside the EU and EFTA, restrictions on holiday homes, on commercial buildings held purely as investments and on shares in listed property companies |
| Second phase | Open since 26 August 2026 | Commercial buildings and shares in listed property companies and funds |
The exact scope of this second phase and its deadline are not spelled out in the communication available so far. We will come back to it once the consultation text is published.
FEDERALVariable-rate Saron mortgages accounted for 24 % of the volume brokered by Moneypark in the first half of 2026, against 22 % at the end of 2025. The regional split says more than the trend (PME Magazine).
| Scope | Share of Moneypark volume |
|---|---|
| Switzerland as a whole, end of 2025 | 22 % |
| Switzerland as a whole, first half of 2026 | 24 % |
| German-speaking Switzerland, first half of 2026 | 32 % |
| French-speaking Switzerland, first half of 2026 | 10 % |
The Swiss National Bank policy rate is expected to stay where it is until the end of 2026, which leaves the choice between a fixed rate and Saron wide open. A French-speaking borrower who rules out the variable rate is following a regional habit rather than a market constraint.