Thursday, 20th November 2008

 

Pictet takes its environmental credentials a step further

Pictet, a big provider of sustainable investment funds, has installed one of the largest solar thermal cooling systems in Europe on the roof of its headquarters in Geneva.

The Swiss private bank said in a statement that is chose the thermal system over a solar cell facility because it is designed to cool or heat rather than create raw electricity.

“We (Pictet) wished to install a system which could be used year long, even throughout the seasons which offer less direct sunshine,” said the statement.

The 364 panels cover six-hundred square meters of the Pictet building.

“Heating mode will help us diminish our use of fossil fuels, equivalent to 25’000 litres of fuel oil a year, approximately 80 tonnes of CO2 a year. This means that we should save over 2000 tonnes in 30 years. Moreover, in cooling mode, we are now able to cool 4000 square meters worth of office space during the warm summer months,” said the bank.

Pictet rival, Bank Sarasin, has also installed solar panels on the roof of its headquarters in Basel as part of the bank’s efforts to lower its carbon emissions.

  • Pictet's thermal system Pictet's thermal system
  •  Sarasin's solar panels Sarasin's solar panels

Brummel

Headline

Mayfair goes Modern

Sebastian + Barquet, a three-year old design gallery based in New York and Chelsea, is opening a new gallery showing museum quality pieces in Mayfair next month, the first in London to focus on international modernism from the 1940s to the 1960s. Its opening exhibition is dedicated to American modernist design and is curated by celebrated architect Eric Parry.

Rich Monitor

Barclays Wealth forecasts 400,000 Indian dollar-millionaires

Barclays Wealth on Wednesday predicted the number of dollar-millionaires in India to grow to over 400,000 by 2017, making it a leading world wealth market, according to a report in The Economic Times of India.

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