Top athletes rely on BKW – Blick

By Thomas Renggli (text) and Gabi Vogt (photos)

Döttingen in the lower Aare valley. The view from the slopes planted with vines goes to the majestic river. The German border is only a few kilometers away. And yet the surroundings could hardly be more Swiss: «Welcome to our little kingdom», says Sarah van Berkel and opens the door to her family home.

The former top figure skater has lived with her husband for a year and a half Jan van Berkel, the best triathlete in the country, at this beautiful address. 20 months ago, son Tim completed the happiness of the sporty couple – although not much can be expected of Jan on this sunny morning. His victory at Ironman Switzerland in Thun was three days ago. The pain in his legs is correspondingly great: “I will probably not be able to keep up with the house inspection,” says the 35-year-old lawyer with a laugh. Sarah, who now works as a journalist for Schweizer Illustrierte, used to delight audiences on the ice rinks all over the world. In 2011 she sensationally won the European Championship title in her last competition in Bern.

In terms of sport, husband Jan is a true cosmopolitan. For the annual highlight of the season – the Ironman World Cup – he flies to Hawaii. From CO₂-Neutrality can therefore hardly be talked about: “As a top athlete you are not a role model when it comes to environmental protection and inevitably leave your mark,” says Jan and immediately adds: “But you can always rethink the situation, act and live more climate-consciously, step by step.” »

In concrete terms, this means for the single-family home in Döttingen: There is a state-of-the-art solar system on the roof. This is connected to the heating, the heat pump, the boiler and the electric charging station. Everything is controlled via an intelligent energy management system. An app visualizes the energy flows in real time.

Jan van Berkel reaches into his pocket, takes out the smartphone and looks at the screen: “Hey, Sarah, do you still have laundry? The sun is shining. I’m going to wash now. ” His wife laughs at these words: “Jan is responsible for the economy with us. In the past, washing machines and dishwashers always ran at night at low electricity prices. Today we wash in the sunshine. “

As a triathlete, Jan van Berkel covers around 20,000 kilometers a year swimming, cycling and running – so CO guaranteed₂-neutral. And he also became aware of the tremendous power sunlight can exert: “In Hawaii it can get almost forty degrees in the lava deserts, so heat and sun are often the greatest opponents. But you also realize that an immense amount of energy emanates from light. “

Jan Joder, project manager at ISP Electro Solutions AG, a company of BKW Building Solutions, explains: «Sarah and Jan have chosen a future-oriented solution for their home. With Home Energy, the individual elements are ideally matched to one another. ”

The biggest and most beautiful change in the couple’s life was the birth of their son Tim – also in terms of environmental awareness. Jan says: “This has been a central issue since we became parents. After all, we want to hand over an intact world to the next generations. ” Sarah adds: “In the past, renewable energies and a sustainable way of life were not central issues for us. But now we’re paying more attention to it. ” It is also a nice feeling when you can feed excess energy from the solar cells into the grid: “It’s cool when the neighbors use our electricity.”

Without that BKW the van Berkels would hardly have reached their goal so quickly. Sarah explains: “As a figure skater and journalist or triathlete and lawyer, you are not always technically up to date. That is why we needed support. And we found the perfect partner in BKW. ” Project manager Joder says about the company’s philosophy: “The key to the success of sustainable electricity and heat production is that it combines comfort with environmental awareness. With this system, everyone can contribute their part to the energy transition. “