NEST: building of the future is up and

A unique research and innovation platform has opened its doors: on 23 May 2016, the modular experimental building NEST was inaugurated on the Dübendorf campus of the two research institutes Empa and Eawag. Its official goal: to accelerate the innovation process in the building and energy sector by enabling research, industry and the public sector to co-develop sustainable technologies, materials and systems and test them under real-world conditions. A residential building, office block and experimental laboratory all rolled into one: NEST is a "living lab" in the truest sense of the word. Those who live in NEST are also test subjects; those who work there are part of the pilot plant. Almost seven years after the initial ideas for NEST began to take shape, the modular building was finally inaugurated on 23 May 2016. NEST bridges the gap between research and the private sector, between ideas that work in the lab and products that succeed on the market. The fact that this bridge has been welcomed with open arms on all sides was reflected at the inauguration: around 250 top representatives from industry and research as well as from the public sector joined in the celebrations for this lighthouse project.