6.1 Energy & Climate

Our energy supply is under­pinned by a combi­nation of renewable sources and energy-effi­cient building tech­nology, which we have been system­at­i­cally devel­oping since 2008.

We meet just under two-thirds of our energy needs with elec­tricity generated from European hydropower – and, since our reopening in 2008, 100% of this has come from renewable sources. Despite steadily rising visitor numbers, our elec­tricity consumption has fallen by around 10% compared with the year we reopened in 2008. Since 2024, a photo­voltaic system comprising 488 panels on the roofs of our modern wing and the Dolderbahn mountain station has supple­mented our energy mix. The roof surfaces are covered with an extensive wild­flower and sedum green roof, whose evap­o­rative cooling further increases the panels’ effi­ciency.

Around one-sixth of the energy is supplied by our geot­hermal system: 70 geot­hermal probes at a depth of 152 metres provide the Dolder Grand with heating and cooling. In combi­nation with a heat pump, the domestic hot water is preheated from around 8 °C to 45 °C. Supporting energy from the gas boiler is used only to achieve the required high temper­ature of 65 °C. This ground storage tech­nology has made it possible to halve the building’s overall energy consumption despite the floor area doubling as a result of the 2004–2008 reno­vation.

Natural gas is used primarily for peak-load heat gener­ation and to provide high temper­a­tures. Consumption has fallen by around 36% compared to 2008 but remains by far the largest direct driver of emis­sions. The mix is supple­mented by small quan­tities of bioethanol, wood and charcoal for the catering facil­ities, as well as propane and butane for the kitchens.

At the Dolder Grand, a modern building management system ensures that energy is used exactly where it is needed. Energy consumption is contin­u­ously opti­mised through the intel­ligent coor­di­nation of systems, oper­ating times and indoor climate. The venti­lation systems feature heat recovery: the energy contained in the exhaust air is used to preheat or pre-cool the supply air. This commitment has been recog­nised with the effi­ciency label from the Energy Agency for Industry (EnAW), of which Dolder Hotel AG has been a member since 2005 as part of a measure-oriented target agreement.

We also focus on resource-saving initia­tives when it comes to the guest expe­rience: our Linen & Towel Policy stip­u­lates that bed linen is changed only every three days as standard, and towels only on request. This policy reduces washing cycles, energy consumption, water usage and the use of deter­gents. In addition, guests can actively opt out of the daily room cleaning service.

When it comes to our vehicle fleet, we are increas­ingly tran­si­tioning to electric and hybrid power­trains: four of our six limou­sines are already hybrid or electric vehicles. Our guest vehicles (compli­mentary cars) comprise one fully electric vehicle in summer, and one electric and one hybrid vehicle in winter. To help guests travel with lower emis­sions, we provide a charging infra­structure in the car park with load management, as well as addi­tional charging points at the Main Building.

Through the myclimate programme Cause We Care (since 2020), guests can make a voluntary climate contri­bution; the hotel matches the amount and invests half of the guest’s contri­bution in the climate protection project ‘Back to the Green Island in Mada­gascar with energy-effi­cient cookers’, and the remainder in local energy effi­ciency and green­house gas reduction measures. Since 2020, the contri­bu­tions to the project in Mada­gascar have reduced around 11,400 tonnes of CO₂e, supple­mented by a further 3,400 tonnes from addi­tional climate protection invest­ments.

Our seminar packages are vege­tarian as standard. Meat or fish options can be booked for an addi­tional charge, of which CHF 2.00 per person is donated to Cause We Care as a climate contri­bution. In the staff restaurant Green, the menu is fully vegan every Wednesday – an initiative (Vegan Wednesday, since 2021) that orig­i­nated from staff sugges­tions and was imple­mented by the D-Impact team.

The Dolder Grand’s total energy consumption in the 2025 reporting year amounted to approx­i­mately 10,700 MWh, with renewable energy accounting for 83.5% of this total.

Source: Earth­Check benchmark data 2025 / internal consumption data. Figures rounded. Elec­tricity as per utility bill; geot­hermal energy includes heating and cooling generated by the geot­hermal well field; photo­voltaics = on-site self-gener­ation.

Since 2008, we have been system­at­i­cally recording and analysing our green­house gas emis­sions to document progress and derive targeted reduction measures. Since 2021, accounting has been carried out in part­nership with myclimate and covers not only energy-related emis­sions but also other oper­a­tional activ­ities along the value chain.

Accounting is carried out in accor­dance with the inter­na­tionally recog­nised green­house gas accounting standard – the GHG Protocol (Green­house Gas Protocol, WRI, 2004) – and covers all emis­sions under the company’s oper­a­tional control.

In the 2025 reporting year, Dolder Hotel AG’s total emis­sions amounted to 4,047.51 tonnes of CO₂e.

Green­house gas emis­sions by scopes

Emis­sions are cate­gorised into three scopes in accor­dance with the GHG Protocol:

Scope 1 (direct emis­sions from the company’s own oper­a­tional facil­ities and own vehicles): 383 t CO₂e (9.5%) – mainly from natural gas used for heat gener­ation and the vehicle fleet.

Scope 2 (indirect emis­sions from purchased energy: elec­tricity, steam, heating and cooling for own use): 1.4 t CO₂e (< 0.1%) – virtually zero due to the procurement of 100% renewable elec­tricity (market-based).

Scope 3 (indirect emis­sions in the value chain): 3,663 t CO₂e (90.5%) – by far the largest share. The accounting covers all key cate­gories of the GHG Protocol, including the procurement of goods and services, upstream energy gener­ation, employees’ commutes, external laundry services, business travel, transport and distri­b­ution, capital goods and oper­a­tional waste. The largest single item is catering: food and beverages alone account for 56% of total emis­sions, at 2,258 t CO₂e. Other signif­icant contrib­utors are employee commuting (474 t CO₂e, 12%), upstream heating and cooling (479 t CO₂e, 12%), external laundry services (243 t CO₂e, 6%), business travel (162 t CO₂e, 4%) and waste and recy­cling (47 t CO₂e, 1%).

Year-on-year comparison 2023, 2024, 2025

B3, §30 – incl. voluntary Scope 3 disclosure in accor­dance with the compre­hensive module (§50–53)

The ‘per guest’ GHG intensity metrics are based on the Earth­Check activity level (2025: 125,656 guest nights). This is calcu­lated as follows:

Overnight guests + staff overnight stays + (day visitors ÷ 3) + (external restaurant guests ÷ 4)

Day visitors include event guests, day spa guests and spa member visits. The weighting factors (÷ 3 and ÷ 4) reflect the lower resource consumption of day visitors compared to overnight guests.

The 71,442 guest nights refer­enced in the ‘About this report’ section refer exclu­sively to overnight stays. The Earth­Check activity level is used consis­tently for all envi­ron­mental indi­cators (energy, water, waste, emis­sions per guest) and enables comparison with Earth­Check bench­marking.

Our envi­ron­mental strategy in the areas of energy and climate pursues the following objective: the gradual decar­bon­i­sation of oper­a­tions whilst simul­ta­ne­ously increasing energy effi­ciency. The measurable targets are set out in our sustain­ability scorecard and are reviewed annually.

Scope coverage: 100% of Scope 1 and Scope 2 emis­sions, as well as the material Scope 3 cate­gories.

The following initia­tives are being imple­mented or are planned to achieve the set targets:

Decar­bon­i­sation of the heat supply. Natural gas is by far the largest direct driver of emis­sions and accounts for the vast majority of our Scope 1 and 2 emis­sions. The effi­ciency and opti­mi­sation measures currently being imple­mented are leading to a moderate reduction in CO₂ emis­sions in the low single-digit percentage range. As the majority of emis­sions are attrib­utable to the use of natural gas, the overall effect remains limited. A signif­icant reduction also requires struc­tural adjust­ments to heat gener­ation. In the short to medium term, the focus is on reducing consumption through oper­a­tional effi­ciency improve­ments and plant opti­mi­sation. At the same time, we are eval­u­ating options for struc­tural adjust­ments to heat gener­ation with a view to replacing fossil fuels in the long term.

In the short term, addi­tional measures such as the planned heat recovery from the grease traps of our kitchens will contribute to further effi­ciency gains.

Building services and oper­a­tions management. Energy flows are system­at­i­cally analysed via the central building management system to contin­u­ously identify and realise effi­ciency potential. Specif­i­cally, this includes the ongoing upgrade of room controls with energy-saving mode, the hydraulic balancing of the heating system, the continued conversion to LED lighting – which was extended to further building areas during the reporting year – as well as the opti­mi­sation of venti­lation and hot water production.

Elec­tri­fi­cation of the vehicle fleet. In the 2025 reporting year, the guest fleet was converted from BMW 7 Series diesel models to BMW 7 Series hybrid vehicles. This enabled a further reduction in direct CO₂ emis­sions from guest transport and business travel. The gradual elec­tri­fi­cation will continue, with the aim of further reducing the remaining fossil fuel share in saloons and company vehicles.

Scope 3 reduction. The greatest reduction potential lies in catering and beverages (56% of total emis­sions) and staff commuting (12%). A separate mobility survey (2025) high­lights where this potential lies: although 55% of the work­force uses public transport, 66% of commuting emis­sions are attrib­utable to the 38% who drive to work. The average commuting distance per full-time equiv­alent is 38.3 km, which is above the Swiss average of 27.4 km. On this basis, incen­tives for sustainable mobility are currently being reviewed.

Emis­sions credits and climate protection invest­ments

Emis­sions credits are not counted as a reduction in gross emis­sions but are reported sepa­rately (see VSME §218/§219).

The credits orig­inate from myclimate climate protection projects, in particular the project ‘Back to the green island in Mada­gascar with energy-effi­cient cookers’ (emis­sions reduction). Dolder Hotel AG does not use the term ‘climate-neutral’.

In the 2025 reporting year, Dolder Hotel AG had not yet carried out a systematic analysis of physical and tran­si­tional climate risks, including the assessment of climate-related hazards and tran­sition events as well as their potential impacts on assets, business oper­a­tions and the value chain.