Minergie is the Swiss building performance label. It is neither a legal obligation nor a condition certificate: it is a standard you aim for, and one that most cantons reward with a subsidy calculated per square metre. Yet the same works are not worth the same amount everywhere — the spread reaches 60 per cent.
Minergie is a standard, not a certificate
The most common confusion is with the Swiss building energy certificate. The energy certificate measures a building's existing performance and grades it from A to G: it is a finding. Minergie describes performance to be achieved: it is a target, with a specification, verified by certification.
One describes what you have, the other what you are aiming at. Some cantons require the first before paying a subsidy, and reward the second under a separate rate. Both can therefore appear in the same application without replacing one another.
The label is issued by the Minergie association on application, with provisional certification at submission and definitive certification after completion. It is that provisional certification cantons want attached to a subsidy application.
The four variants
Minergie
The base standard: high-performance envelope, controlled air renewal, summer thermal comfort. The entry step, and the one most cantonal rates take as their reference.
Minergie-P
Tightened requirements on the envelope and airtightness, close to passive-house logic. Cantonal rates pay roughly 50 per cent more than for the base standard.
Minergie-A
An energy balance that evens out over the year, generally through the building's own solar production. Few cantons single it out in their rates; Bern is a notable exception.
The ECO complement
Stacks on top of the three above and covers material health and ecology, daylight and noise. It adds a modest supplement in several cantons — except in Zurich, where it becomes the condition of access.
What the label is worth, canton by canton
Rates for a full renovation under label, expressed in francs per square metre of energy reference area. "Single" means a detached or semi-detached house, "multi" a multi-dwelling residential building.
| Canton | Minergie single | Minergie multi | Minergie-P single | Minergie-P multi |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bern | 160 | 90 | 180 | 110 |
| Jura | 160 | 125 | 200 | 165 |
| Fribourg | 150 | 100 | 200 | 150 |
| Zurich (ECO only) | 110 | 70 | 165 | 100 |
| Aargau | 100 | 60 | 155 | 90 |
| Basel-Stadt | 100 | 60 | 155 | 90 |
| Lucerne | 100 | 60 | 155 | 90 |
| Schwyz | 100 | 60 | — | — |
| Vaud | 100 | 60 | 155 | 90 |
| Neuchâtel | 100 | 65 | 155 | 95 |
| Glarus | — | — | 200 | 120 |
Schaffhausen and Thurgau apply the same CHF 100 baseline for single houses, but structure the multi-dwelling case as a lump sum plus a variable component (CHF 10,000 + 80/m², minimum contribution of CHF 35,000 to 40,000). Bern adds a Minergie-A line at CHF 200 / 130. Glarus caps support at CHF 64,000 per object.
Geneva, Zug, Valais, Uri and Ticino also fund the label, but their rate depends on the variant or the class targeted and does not reduce to a single figure — for these five cantons the amount must be checked against the official document before building a financing plan.
Three things this grid reveals
- The baseline is national, the generosity is cantonal. The CHF 100 / 60 / 155 / 90 come from the harmonised model adopted by most cantons. Bern, Jura and Fribourg deliberately go above it: the same Minergie-P renovation of a multi-dwelling building earns 110 to 165 francs per m² there, against 90 elsewhere.
- Zurich moved the target. The canton does not pay for plain Minergie: it pays for Minergie-ECO and Minergie-P-ECO. Aiming for the label without the ecological variant creates no entitlement there — a framing error discovered late.
- Multi-dwelling is where the spread is widest. Between 60 francs per m² in Vaud or Aargau and 125 in Jura, the ratio is two to one at identical performance. On 1,200 m² of energy reference area, the difference in rate outweighs most technical trade-offs.
When the label is worth it, and when it is not
The label carries its own cost: studies, certification, higher construction requirements. It pays off when you are renovating deeply anyway — envelope and heating together — because the subsidy is then calculated on the whole heated area rather than on a single item.
It pays off far less for a partial intervention. Replacing windows alone or the boiler alone falls under the individual measures of the Buildings Programme, with their own rates: aiming for a label on works that will not reach it adds study costs for nothing.
One point on sequence: the application must precede the works in every canton, and provisional certification goes with the file. Works started before the decision lose the subsidy, whatever standard is ultimately reached.
What we do, and what we do not
Parcellis does not certify and is not a Minergie certification body. Minergie is a trademark of the association of the same name, cited here for reference. We read the official cantonal rates and tell you which apply to your building, with sources.