The Basel pilot region is a cooperative project (public private partnership) between Novatlantis and the Building Department of the Canton of Basel-Stadt, the Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz (FHNW) (Basel university of applied sciences) and the University of Basel. It operates a ?Practice-oriented laboratory of sustainability research? by supporting know-how transfer from research to practice while, on the other hand, research makes use of the experience gained from practice.

Since the launch of the Basel pilot region in 2001, urban development and mobility issues have formed the focal point of applied research. While the mobility projects will continue over a longer period of time, the focus in the building sector shifted in 2004. The shift was from large urban development projects to the implementation of new building technologies in individual building projects with selected building investors. The new approach included pilot and demonstration projects.

The vison of a 2000-watt-society is the only futur scenario for a sustainable energy use, i.e. a reduction in primary energy consumption in Switzerland by a factor of three from the current 6000 watt per person to 2000 watt. Today the 2000-watt-society vison is withspread. The Pilot Region Basel functions as a ?Practice-oriented laboratory of sustainability research? since more than 5 years and it was the first region willing to transform this vision.

The population of basel is approximatly 170'000. The direct benefit out of the ongoing projects ranges from a few hundreds (pilot buildings and mobility projects) up to thousands (sustainable development of the quarters). The indirect benefit of the project is huge because of the experiences with processes and technologies that are not yet competitive but which have the potential to help achiev the challenging target.

Individuals:The pilot region basel shows to the individual that the quality of life in the envisioned 2000-watt-society will not suffer at all. On the contrary, aspects such as safety and health, comfort and the development of the individual will in fact improve.society:The society can profit from a sustainable urban development and can experience the relevance of the 2000-watt-society vision. For the several projects, the society plays a key role, because of the possibility to give its respond and opinion.economy:It is expected that at the 2000-watt-society the individual income is increasing by around 60 percent. However, ambitious goals call for decisive action in a varity of areas, e.g. improving materials and increasing the level of energy efficiency; substituing fossil fuels with renewable forms of energy and reducing CO2 intensity of other utilised fossil fuels; adopting a smarter ways of life and rethinking current business practice, including increasing the level of profesionalism in the area of planning and investment and the operation of buildings and installations. At the Pilot Region Basel the economy can test the way to achieve these goals with best practice.environment: The 2000-watt-society does not only reduce the energy consumption but proclamate to reduce the fossil fuels as well. That implements a decreasing of the CO2 emissions.

The project of the pilot region basel supports know-how transfer from applied urban development and mobility research into practice while the research makes use of experiences gained from the practice.

Individual: The pilot and demostration projects already built so far, are highly accepted by the habitants of Basel. Therefore the council is willing to continue the path of the 2000-watt-society and supports further projects. Through support programme building owners are urged to apply forward-looking solutions, both for the overall concept and for selection of the individual components or materials. The three support categories serve the purpose of applying state-of-the-art technologies, also for renewal work, and demonstrating them to interested specialists.

Society:
Basel-Stadt sets an example in connection with minimum statutory requirements. New buildings as well as renewal work have to comply with limits that are 20% below the standards. By virtue of this measure, we achieve additional energy savings for the next 20 years.

Economy:
In the Basel regulatory fee and bonus system everyone pays a varying amount into one pot through the regulatory fee, according to power consumption. However, everyone gets back an equal amount from this pot, regardless of power consumption. The people of Basel get their bonus because they live in Basel, the companies get it for offering jobs in Basel.

Ecological: energy efficiency; independency of fossil fuels; urban development at a sutainable path in regard of land use.

Social: attractive livestyle in a modern urban area.

Economical: Independency of fossil fuels, planning in regard to life cycle (e.g. deconstruction and material recycling)

After Basel was the only Pilot Region for the 2000-watt-society, nowadays many other cities and regions are willing to go the path of the 2000-watt-society and asking for support for the implementation.