Oh dude if you're one of the bigger contractors on a project and you don't clean up you're gonna get drowned in complaints in Germany Austria or Switzerland. Culture as well as regulation thing.
We pay decent wages, we expect great quality... The energy saving regulations are very strict. Actualy all regulations are strict and well enforced. You're in trouble when trying to cut corners in Switzerland.
In the US we pay illegal Mexican laborers pennies in order to build absolute shit houses made of basically some sticks and dust on top of a concrete foundation
@@AlexisWias there are no useful regulations in Australia. Here they regulate you to the moon and back about where you can put a window and what parts of your land you can use, mandate your house primarily serve a hoard of cars and tell you what type of trees you can plant till 99% of applications are whittled down to the same garbage clones that serve no one. But we don’t mandate energy efficiency. Or safety. With some of the most enviable climates in the world, people coming from Canada or Indonesia complain they’ve never been as disgustingly and uncomfortably hot and cold as being indoors in Australia while we debate whether double glazing is a good idea. Anything of architectural or efficient value built here is done through long and arduous appeals for exemptions to codes that aren’t realistic for 99% of people. We need what Switzerland’s got.
When I visited Switzerland, you could really feel the quality with which the Swiss do their work. Everything just seemed to "fit" better. I don't know how else to describe it.
Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, perhaps others…..clean, even vacuum the streets on a regular basis. It’s admirable. The building standard is made to last for generations.
Take your best guy on the crew here in the us, these guys whole crew is full of those guys. Also let's not forget this quality is a direct result of inspiring leadership. Fantastic workmanship displayed here, thanks.
"inspiring leadership"? No. This is a result of greed and a lack of apathy along the entire supply chain, but mostly in the middle men and company owners. Fast fast fast, who fucking cares mentality prevails on Canadian job sites in everyone from the sweeper to the contractor to the supplier. People in the business just want their cocaine and boat money, then it's on to the next one.
I would argue the Swiss obsession with superior design and quality is a function of culture and education. It carries over to everything they build, and that is something that a government can’t regulate into existence.
@@DaStampMASTA2 Has nothing to do with that. I've spent 4 years there and can understand quite a bit of swiss german. Why? because I was a guest and guests have to do their damn best to fit in, not the other way around. Some immigrants grew up with other mindsets and the ones in Switzerland who end up in construction or menial jobs don't have the high quality mindset. They come from countries where often human lives are worthless, where people steal a lot and where you cut corners, no matter if it hurts others. What do you think would happen in these countries if they left out merchandise over night like the supermarkets I've seen in Switzerland? It would all be gone in the monrning because some cultures harbor parasitic behavior. And the other guy is right! They don't care about Swiss traditions. They spit on your culture, see women as objects and are moochers but you're too weak to defend yourselves because you were told it's racist to defend yourselves by your SP or whatever left party. Notice how I didn't talk about race? Because it's never about race, it's culture. Culture has a big influence on how you behave in society. And when you grow up in the hood or in arab countries, then you'll end up having that metality that has nothing but destruction as a goal. Seen in nordic countries, France, Germany, USA and now Switzerland is next.
@@waveril5167 honetsly i think we make a pretty good job at training and integrating people to our standards. the biggest problem for me is german academics that bring their shitty german attitudes.
1:14 My mom and I (Americans living in Switzerland for many years) joke that the construction crane is the national bird of Switzerland because they’re so common. 😂
this is the absolute cleanest construction site I have ever seen. Most projects I have seen at this stage in the US look like an absolute warzone by comparison.
… respects to you for taking on something as pitting your trade practices with that of another society, because it is very difficult to acknowledge ones weaknesses. It is very informative while educating. One is ignorant when one is not aware of what else it is done, but stupid when fail to find out how others do it. Very good service sharing what you find.
I’d say the Swiss take their staging pretty seriously too. A lot of respect for the person outside, laying tape down, goes a long way towards the quality of the finished project.
at 10:20 you can see the red sticker "Sichtkante" saying that the edge of that frame is going to be visible in the end. very fitting to what you said there :)
The cool feature all the air vents have is a heatexchanger, exchaust air is prewarming fresh air, the swiss energy conserving standart is pretty high, lots of zero energy houses these days too ...
This may be interesting: AC is actually not allowed in residential buildings in Switzerland which has a huge impact on overall power consumption by the country. Instead every new building is constructed in a way to preserve the inside temperature and everyone learns from an early age to vent their home in Summer during the early morning hours and then keep all windows closed throughout the day. In office buildings, this is not practical (for different reasons) and so ACs are allowed there.
Hey John, gonna add something to your comment - as you can see in the video, air ventilation systems are very common in new residential buildings in Switzerland, and many of the systems used can also cool or heat the air blown into an apartment (as well as control the humidity). The window unit ACs common in the US are oftentimes not allowed, you‘re right about that. One other type of AC that is allowed are room units that connect to the outside only via duct, these can be installed at any time, which makes them predestined for uses such as doctor‘s offices in older buildings.
@@nickmagma7745 You can but you need a energy certificate of your house/building and ask your local government. You can also buy a portable AC and call it a day though.
@@zaxmaxlax Furthermore, it's rarely a "stupid AC", but in nearly all cases newly built buildings will utilize a heat recovery system, which removes up to 75% of the heat from the stale air and uses it to heat the fresh air (or vice versa in summer).
Some new constructions have well soundproofed floors, others not. You can hear people walking above you during a public viewing even in some new builds. Soundproofing is not a priority when renovating older buildings either. I would prefer not to know if my neighbors above are home or not.
I had 2 old guys as neighbors under me, they died or moved out ,now i have some families with kids, when i got to toilette i can hear them screaming or listening to some Romanian music at 11 pm, you dont any idea how important some proof until you have some loud neighbors.
As a German, I never understood why in US crime dramas, the police were always asking if the neighbours heard if the couple in the apartment above or below were fighting a lot before the potential crime/murder 🤔. After I lived in the US 4 a year I didn't anymore. Now guess why...😝
In commercial all the cabling are up and pass-through to other room, i always wondered why don't home builders do this too? It's easier to locate cable in commercial building than in houses with wire behind walls
Yes, and the far superior option I find too. Other countries which don't generally have such installations rely solely on interior shades or curtains. The downside of the interior shade/curtain system is by the time the light hits these shades/curtains, the glass has already amplified the sun's heat, causing intense heat on the inside. The Swiss really have a good system with these rolling blinds being outside, or as often seen in residential homes, the swinging shutters.
You'd probably be better off to get master tradesmen. (Actual protected title here. It's given out after multiple years experience as a journeyman and after passing a course. It's a requirement for taking on apprentices.)
This would be great, not only in this profession, we are also experts in a lot more! But Americans are usually arrogant and full of themselves so they think they are already the best in everything!
Did you get a feeling for the durability of existing buildings in Switzerland or were you only looking at new construction? I'm just curious if anyone (Swiss) was forthcoming about previous building practice mistakes that led to their current impressive techniques.
I guess the Swiss made almost the same mistake as the swede’s. During the 1960-1970 a lot more of insulation was added making the buildings more energy efficient but removed the drying potential causing moisture problems in the building envelope. This caused health issues. From then it improved and improved for almost 60 years until the buildings that currently are built don’t really have a lot off potential for improvement.
The Swiss ethos is "Quality" I've lived in Switzerland for 15 years and I must say they just do things "Properly" and what they do (New build or renovation) is done to last.
I live just over the border in France. Here things are built to last 2 generations without a major renovation. In Switzerland they are just built to last and never need major renovation. But you are looking at 35 year morgage vs 25 here on top of 4.5 times the income swiss vs french!
Swiss here. I lived in a house from the 1500s for quite a few years now (All original wood, hand forged nails and straw in the walls xD). The house has warped a fair bit so the floors are not even anymore but overall it is still very solid especially considering it has 6 floors if you include the cellar. I'd say Switzerland has always had a high quality of craftsmanship in terms of construction up until the post WW2 era when the building quality deteriorated somewhat. A lot of buildings from the 60s are currently being torn down and replaced, whereas older buildings, especially those from pre 1900 are being renovated and upkept in their current form
Most buildings are still bad. Newer buildings have great noise isolation but then introduce noise through mandatory mechanical ventilation. It’s utterly stupid. The problem is called Minergie, a low-energy-house standard.
I would love to see a school of this caliber in the United States. Thank you for sharing this. I'm just now getting into stereotomy and although I've been a carpenter for many years lve never been exposed to this type of skill set.
@@MrArctic38 the entire house will be sound deadened. All rooms will have their own hvac return and register, plus a fresh air vent with the fresh air exhaust in the bathrooms and kitchen. The house will be extremely airtight and insulated. Joist tape will be used on every stud before sheathing and drywall to both the ceiling and walls. I am going to do a Swiss style grid for the second level with sound absorption material where the joists meet as well. I also plan to use Amsco Serenity windows which are 2 windows with both being triple glazed. Overkill, yes, but will be worth it
@@MrArctic38 I got my house 5 years ago for $100k and I’m about to sell it for $400k. So I can build my dream house with that plus my income and savings
I'm an Operator/Driver and I have a saying when it comes to keeping your equipment clean. "If you can't take pride in your machine (workspace) how are you going to take pride in your work?" On top of that it's healthier physically, mentally and safer. In NA the quality is all driven by Capitalism. It's more about throwing a building together, and trying to come in under quote so you make more money on the job. I've seen "consultants" on site that their main job is to push the contractors to get the most bang out of their buck. It doesn't matter how good you are, you're going to get pushed to do it faster and cheaper.
safety is no.1 you mentioned -- in the UK you should have safety boots and would be chaperoned unless you went on the site safety induction course, plus you need an ID and a hi-vis that states "visitor".
In Oz on Tier 1 projects, you are expected to have long sleeves and trousers. PPE is helmet (less than 5 years old), high vis vest (and generally reflective strips on trousers), steel cap boots, safety glasses and gloves. Induction mandatory unless visitor with escort.
With the sound proofing and the general science of how o improve buildings we are at a very food place. Science and industry work very closely together. The federal institute for material sciences EMPA for example is doing large experiments on sound proofing and trying to improve energy efficency of buildings.
Sorry to complain, but it would be helpful if your camera operator could point the camera at the things you're talking about. That said, thank you for getting out to one of these Swiss sites. So much to learn.
It's amazing what we would consider 'high performance' in the US where a miniscule fraction of homes / offices are build to passive haus standard; is just normal practice in Switzerland and many EU countries. Craftsmanship is such a high level, where as US trades are all unskilled laborers. Sad to see such a stark difference, but inspiring that quality builds are the norm there.
@@cmmartti Well, as only the Rich and corporations in the US have any sizable amount of wealth to spend on it, it is not a surprise, 'merica is no longer the living standard "high standard" as it used to be.
i dont know how in the US is made, but in europe its one layer OSB and gypsum board layer, or double layer gypsum board, in case of residential construction, at least what i have seen the last 10 years...
For interior walls, it’s just one layer of 1/2” thick gyp. Ceilings are 5/8” thick gyp. Outside layers are ~1/2” or 3/4” thick OSB. We tape and mud all gyp joints since it’s one layer. Also, all lumber walls are 2x4 (1.5”x3.5”) spaced at 16” on center. It lets you use thinner gyp at the expense of more wood.
Seriously, here on the east coast, i can literally hear my upstairs neighbors all the time. their air conditioner can vibrate my wall ffs. its ridiculous.
Itd be interesting to an american to see how many countries that arent third world like the us run electrics. With care, planning and proper regulations.
I'm not sure why they chose to put the windows flush with the inside wall. If I had the choice I think I'd always want them as close to the outside wall as possible. Free shelf and our cats would love it. That said, I miss Switzerland. Expensive, but gorgeous.
@@defenda1 my first thought is that it depends on how the thermal insulation is situated in the wall. The insulation should be behind the window casing, no? If the window is behind the wall insulation it would just transfer thermal energy around the insulation. I know thermally broken window frames are the norm in Europe, but they are still only 4 or 5 inches thick.
Flush with the inside might just be the cosmetic treatment to match the area's architectural style. But I think it probably has more to do with leaving a recess above the window on the outside, for an automatic shade to be installed. If the window was set closer to the outside of the wall, the shades would end up proud of the window. The shades probably have tracks on the sides to guide them, so they aren't just flapping in the wind, and possibly enough of a gap between the shade and window so the shade has no chance of banging into the window and breaking the glass.
@@dondumitru7093 from what I saw in the video, there is a separate recess into the wall, several inches in front of the window just for the shade and track. It's where the control/power cables come out of the wall. Aesthetics is likely the primary reason for the decision, agreed, but personally I'd rather have the extra deep window sill on the inside because I, or our cats, could use it. Kinda useless on the outside.
@@chaseweeks2708 What I was trying to express is that it looks to me like the automated shade is inside the external recess, so that the mechanism at the top as well as any rails on the sides are inside the recess in the wall. If you pushed the window further out, than the shade and tracks would be proud of the external wall, inside of recessed inside it. Maybe that explains the positioning of the window. I agree with your top-post that some explanation in the video on this topic would have been helpful.
Big question about the stapled wall board. Is it just standard 5/8 gypsum? What kind of staples/stapler is used to install? This is so cool. I can't stand hanging board one handed with screws.
My qualified guess will be that it's the same fibregypsum board used in DK, probably Fermacell. Those can be stapled due to the adding af paper in the production, adding the strength for wider cc, ability to screw objects to the wall without rawlplugs and such
Glad to see and outside perspective on our buildings. Yes, quality is very high. Drawback is that you won't find apartments around Zurich much below 700k. Even on the countryside 2 room apartment costs 400-500k up.
This is foreign to almost every builder in the US. We love cheap and quick. Builders here never consider future tennants. Their flimsy, cheapskate practices ensure that future tennants suffer with mental disturbances and illness from noise pollution. That kind of quality building should be required by law worldwide. Too many wretched, pathetic, greedy builders who only build for profit, not people. Care & detail, not the objective of US builders.
This is an enterprise building. I am certain you can pull similar examples from cities in the US. Compare this structure to any residential dwelling and I'm certain they would look inadequate.
The building quality is not joust high. Once a building is finsihed it is inspected. Any little fault is listed and has to be fixed. Some of those are errors like a seal on a window thats not properly put on but can be as small as a bit of silikon tille liner which is on a tille.
I live in a 40 year old house here in Switzerland, i gotta say: soundproof, definitely not. I can hear my neighbors pissing 😭. Isolation not very good as well. And electrical, as a someone who works in IT i got cat5e and fucking expensive to run new ones because they’d have to rip open EVERYTHING. But new buildings definitely profited from all our development in education, practices and technology in this area.
Believe me, compared to American buildings, even the worst soundproofing in Switzerland is a million times better. FYI, in my apartment in Zurich, I ran Cat 6 through the walls by replacing the telephone wiring that I didn’t need, just using the existing conduit and new wall plates with Ethernet jacks.
This must be a showhorse. Yes, buildings are definitely being built like this in certain parts of Europe. But this doctor's office (stricter regulations) has also been prepped for an "open day", I would guess.
Can you grab the manufacturer of that ducting - shot in the dark I’ve been tying to get some from a Dutch company, pretty sure they are all ptfe like zhender comfotube.
That plastic Air supply and return lines looked Janky as hell … I’m assuming it’s just fresh air not cooled or heated due to it not having and insulation. So it’s prob fine for just having a fresh air in and out made of that material. Just looks cheesy on camera I’m sure it it made pretty well . I would way rather have my electrical hard piped instead of that plastic tubing . That stuff isn’t stopping a drywall screw or if you wanted to pull a line through it good luck haha
Something you don’t see in North America. It is, build cheap higher cheap labour, and materials. Big profits for the contractor and CEO’s, and the high rises, fall apart, within the first five years.
The Swiss take sound emissions seriously... ...unless it is muscle cars in the middle of the night. You dare to take shower at 22:05? Police knocks. 2am rewing engine like crazy down the street? "Cool car, dude!"
Ok, sorry, But I got a couple questions for you on this 1. As you know, I am an avid fan of your channel, as you should know by the 100's of questions, I post to you. is And relatively speaking your channel has to be in the top 5 of building sciences and quality building at it's finest. I say subjective b/c everybody has their own refined taste good or bad. 1. have you thought of or have you done a crossover with Matt Risinger it seems you both would be a great fit for sharing knowledge? As I seen your Mike Rowe video the other day, I'm 47 and that man is one of my superheros, and is a person we should all try to emulate at sometime in our lives. You know hard working, no ethnocentric narcissism, a regular guy, he empathizes and sympathizes, he is very well spoken, he does things well thought out and tries to teach, while covertly insulting the person who insulted him, lol. But any6way sorry for the rambling. Could you show more about the electrical there I they run off of 208/or 220, as it is cheaper to run higher voltages over distance with smaller amperage's. But does Sweden, for instance here, do the under 1 phase or 2 phases. A lot of 3rd world countries do 1 phase and they are prone to Black out and all other sorts of issues. I would think Sweden, being a 1st world country, would use a 2 phase system, or perhaps, they have invented away to make 1 phase more reliable, as they are1 of the most technologically innovative countries I have ever seen. And whats the difference between the colors of the conduit material? Is it the amount of conductors it can carry?And if they are using I presume that conduit is plastic and plastic boxes, how are they grounding and or boding the devices within them. Is this conduit stiff, sorry it's new to me I've been doing electrical in NEPA for 32 years and while I've heard of it and seen it in videos, idk a lot about it. It looks like the heat shield material around wiring in cars, is it completely enclosed or is the side open like the car stuff. Also how would an enclosure deal with and arc, or fault as plastic does, burn. Yes in thew USA we have plastic boxes but they have ground wire run with he conductors as to bond the device to the grounding circuit. This considerably lowers the chance for a large spark from an arc. But 1 more thing I love their soundproofing, and you a builder, why don't we build more house out of concrete in the USA?
Not sure what you mean. Electrical power is pretty much all 3 phase with some exceptions like the power grid for railways. In Europe 3 phase is typically delivered to every home. Nowadays the typical voltage is 400 V. That's the phase to phase voltage. Phase to ground is 230 V. I'm not aware of 2 phase systems except the so called split phase which is 180 ° apart. Yes an advantage of higher voltage is same power over smaller conductors. I don't know how it would affect reliability. The power grid is 3 phase pretty much everywhere. If you look at power lines you typically see them in groups of 3. Most of the time it's something like two groups of 3 for backup. Normal sockets are single phase 230 V. Big rotating machines and other big loads can require 3 phase power which uses different sockets and is commonly installed in garages or so. Plastic boxes probably mean it's double insulated which means there's no need to ground the boxes. Similar to residential distribution panels. It's different in the industrial world. All single phase wiring is done with 3 conductors: PE (protective earth), N (neutral), L. Reliability is mostly a matter of well maintained equipment, redundant lines, transformers and so on. Having loops in your grid to be able to feed from multiple points. Of course having enough power to supply the demand and react to changes in demand without the need to disconnect loads to stabilize the grid.
Construction in the US SUUUUUUCKS compared to this. Most buildings, commercials and residentials, look like sh*t and have almost no good functionality. Most buildings are very inefficient keeping heat and cold etc. This should shame every contractor in the US to aspire to something better
Americans dont care about sound. Building quality sucks. Builders/Housing Companies cheap out as much as they can to maximize profits, while people have such low standards that they dont care about noise and excuse it as something that cant be helped.
I think if people in the US experienced quality they would have a higher standard. But, we have a lack of housing supply so we don't have many options but to just accept what we can.
America builds with a lifespan of 30 years in mind, then they demolish everything. It is a wasteful way to build. Compare that with Europe and they build with the intention to maintain any property. So, yeah. America sucks big time.
Something happened between ~1995-2000 to housing construction. Wooden doors were standard, and walls were built 1/3 thicker than they are now. Any residential building built past 2000 has literal cardboard doors and no floor sound deadening.
I can’t get over how clean this job site is.
That’s pretty normal here. Every job site in Germany is similarly clean.
its extremely normal in any developed country that isn't America or Canada. NA is disgusting
Never eat at a freshly built restaurant.
@@RobertShane83 why?
Oh dude if you're one of the bigger contractors on a project and you don't clean up you're gonna get drowned in complaints in Germany Austria or Switzerland. Culture as well as regulation thing.
We pay decent wages, we expect great quality... The energy saving regulations are very strict. Actualy all regulations are strict and well enforced. You're in trouble when trying to cut corners in Switzerland.
In Australia we pay even higher wages but we build shit things and we build them out of shit.
not only switserland , almost the whole of the EU has these regulations ......... innovations is something else !
@@Freshbott2 then there are either no regulations or they are poorly enforced...
In the US we pay illegal Mexican laborers pennies in order to build absolute shit houses made of basically some sticks and dust on top of a concrete foundation
@@AlexisWias there are no useful regulations in Australia. Here they regulate you to the moon and back about where you can put a window and what parts of your land you can use, mandate your house primarily serve a hoard of cars and tell you what type of trees you can plant till 99% of applications are whittled down to the same garbage clones that serve no one. But we don’t mandate energy efficiency. Or safety. With some of the most enviable climates in the world, people coming from Canada or Indonesia complain they’ve never been as disgustingly and uncomfortably hot and cold as being indoors in Australia while we debate whether double glazing is a good idea. Anything of architectural or efficient value built here is done through long and arduous appeals for exemptions to codes that aren’t realistic for 99% of people. We need what Switzerland’s got.
I was fortunate to be taught early on to keep the site clean and organized. Makes for a much more safe, efficient, and pleasant work environment.
When I visited Switzerland, you could really feel the quality with which the Swiss do their work. Everything just seemed to "fit" better. I don't know how else to describe it.
Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, perhaps others…..clean, even vacuum the streets on a regular basis. It’s admirable. The building standard is made to last for generations.
Take your best guy on the crew here in the us, these guys whole crew is full of those guys. Also let's not forget this quality is a direct result of inspiring leadership. Fantastic workmanship displayed here, thanks.
"inspiring leadership"? No. This is a result of greed and a lack of apathy along the entire supply chain, but mostly in the middle men and company owners. Fast fast fast, who fucking cares mentality prevails on Canadian job sites in everyone from the sweeper to the contractor to the supplier. People in the business just want their cocaine and boat money, then it's on to the next one.
You can have that in US, you’ll just need to pay the prices! Good work costs money. Look at fine custom homebuilding in the US. Same level of work
As someone who has worked in a great many huge and small constructions sites I can guarantee you this quality has nothing to do with leadership.
I would argue the Swiss obsession with superior design and quality is a function of culture and education. It carries over to everything they build, and that is something that a government can’t regulate into existence.
sadly not anymore I think. We have so many migrants and they don't care about our traditions!
@@waveril5167 ach du gränni siech, hesh öpe z viel weltwuche gläsä.
@@DaStampMASTA2 😂
@@DaStampMASTA2 Has nothing to do with that. I've spent 4 years there and can understand quite a bit of swiss german. Why? because I was a guest and guests have to do their damn best to fit in, not the other way around. Some immigrants grew up with other mindsets and the ones in Switzerland who end up in construction or menial jobs don't have the high quality mindset. They come from countries where often human lives are worthless, where people steal a lot and where you cut corners, no matter if it hurts others. What do you think would happen in these countries if they left out merchandise over night like the supermarkets I've seen in Switzerland? It would all be gone in the monrning because some cultures harbor parasitic behavior. And the other guy is right! They don't care about Swiss traditions. They spit on your culture, see women as objects and are moochers but you're too weak to defend yourselves because you were told it's racist to defend yourselves by your SP or whatever left party. Notice how I didn't talk about race? Because it's never about race, it's culture. Culture has a big influence on how you behave in society. And when you grow up in the hood or in arab countries, then you'll end up having that metality that has nothing but destruction as a goal. Seen in nordic countries, France, Germany, USA and now Switzerland is next.
@@waveril5167 honetsly i think we make a pretty good job at training and integrating people to our standards. the biggest problem for me is german academics that bring their shitty german attitudes.
1:14 My mom and I (Americans living in Switzerland for many years) joke that the construction crane is the national bird of Switzerland because they’re so common. 😂
this is the absolute cleanest construction site I have ever seen. Most projects I have seen at this stage in the US look like an absolute warzone by comparison.
Cleanliness inspire to make things with compassion, a dirty workplace makes you feel like how your enviorment is doesn't matter to the bosses.
@RealSweetKid And the structures hold about 300% longer and consume 50% less heating, good deal if you ask me.
You should check out some of the builds in Japan.
I mean, they are giving tours of the site so I’m sure it doesn’t look that clean on days they are actually working.
@@jameslikesturtles8254 I live in Switzerland and can assure you that you're wrong.
… respects to you for taking on something as pitting your trade practices with that of another society, because it is very difficult to acknowledge ones weaknesses. It is very informative while educating. One is ignorant when one is not aware of what else it is done, but stupid when fail to find out how others do it. Very good service sharing what you find.
Well said!
Winner mindset
I’d say the Swiss take their staging pretty seriously too. A lot of respect for the person outside, laying tape down, goes a long way towards the quality of the finished project.
This just oozes quality, wow
It’s standard 🤷🏻♂️ looks like you’re not used to it
Swiss here, I live in a House that was built in 1759.
at 10:20 you can see the red sticker "Sichtkante" saying that the edge of that frame is going to be visible in the end. very fitting to what you said there :)
The cool feature all the air vents have is a heatexchanger, exchaust air is prewarming fresh air, the swiss energy conserving standart is pretty high, lots of zero energy houses these days too ...
It's very interesting seeing how construction is done in different parts of the world
yeah no methhead jobs or half arsed shyte in switzerland
This may be interesting: AC is actually not allowed in residential buildings in Switzerland which has a huge impact on overall power consumption by the country. Instead every new building is constructed in a way to preserve the inside temperature and everyone learns from an early age to vent their home in Summer during the early morning hours and then keep all windows closed throughout the day. In office buildings, this is not practical (for different reasons) and so ACs are allowed there.
Hey John, gonna add something to your comment - as you can see in the video, air ventilation systems are very common in new residential buildings in Switzerland, and many of the systems used can also cool or heat the air blown into an apartment (as well as control the humidity). The window unit ACs common in the US are oftentimes not allowed, you‘re right about that. One other type of AC that is allowed are room units that connect to the outside only via duct, these can be installed at any time, which makes them predestined for uses such as doctor‘s offices in older buildings.
@@colorshotcrew Didn't know that. Thank you for your comment!
So it´s illigal to have ac in your house?
@@nickmagma7745 You can but you need a energy certificate of your house/building and ask your local government. You can also buy a portable AC and call it a day though.
@@zaxmaxlax Furthermore, it's rarely a "stupid AC", but in nearly all cases newly built buildings will utilize a heat recovery system, which removes up to 75% of the heat from the stale air and uses it to heat the fresh air (or vice versa in summer).
Some new constructions have well soundproofed floors, others not. You can hear people walking above you during a public viewing even in some new builds.
Soundproofing is not a priority when renovating older buildings either.
I would prefer not to know if my neighbors above are home or not.
I had 2 old guys as neighbors under me, they died or moved out ,now i have some families with kids, when i got to toilette i can hear them screaming or listening to some Romanian music at 11 pm, you dont any idea how important some proof until you have some loud neighbors.
As a German, I never understood why in US crime dramas, the police were always asking if the neighbours heard if the couple in the apartment above or below were fighting a lot before the potential crime/murder 🤔.
After I lived in the US 4 a year I didn't anymore. Now guess why...😝
In commercial all the cabling are up and pass-through to other room, i always wondered why don't home builders do this too? It's easier to locate cable in commercial building than in houses with wire behind walls
12:30 That power cable is for a shuttering system that are effectively exterior black out shutters made from metal.
Yes, and the far superior option I find too. Other countries which don't generally have such installations rely solely on interior shades or curtains. The downside of the interior shade/curtain system is by the time the light hits these shades/curtains, the glass has already amplified the sun's heat, causing intense heat on the inside.
The Swiss really have a good system with these rolling blinds being outside, or as often seen in residential homes, the swinging shutters.
at 3:35 the grey, flat plastic duct is a Zehnder ComfoTube Flat51 air duct - most probably chosen to minimise the height of the suspended ceiling.
Thanks for the tour! Interesting to hear about our building standards and observations through a different pairs of eyes.
real journeymen keep sites clean. period
Lots of cranes in Switzerland, because of building for density, instead of the urban sprawl that is suburbia.
This tour makes me realize we just need to send some mid-experience crews to go get trained over there.. and then bring the learning back.
You'd probably be better off to get master tradesmen. (Actual protected title here. It's given out after multiple years experience as a journeyman and after passing a course. It's a requirement for taking on apprentices.)
This would be great, not only in this profession, we are also experts in a lot more! But Americans are usually arrogant and full of themselves so they think they are already the best in everything!
That half finished building is looking better than most buildings in my town
more tours like this please!
Did you get a feeling for the durability of existing buildings in Switzerland or were you only looking at new construction? I'm just curious if anyone (Swiss) was forthcoming about previous building practice mistakes that led to their current impressive techniques.
I guess the Swiss made almost the same mistake as the swede’s. During the 1960-1970 a lot more of insulation was added making the buildings more energy efficient but removed the drying potential causing moisture problems in the building envelope. This caused health issues. From then it improved and improved for almost 60 years until the buildings that currently are built don’t really have a lot off potential for improvement.
The Swiss ethos is "Quality" I've lived in Switzerland for 15 years and I must say they just do things "Properly" and what they do (New build or renovation) is done to last.
@@DomesticDave That's definitely the impression I get.
I live just over the border in France. Here things are built to last 2 generations without a major renovation. In Switzerland they are just built to last and never need major renovation. But you are looking at 35 year morgage vs 25 here on top of 4.5 times the income swiss vs french!
Swiss here. I lived in a house from the 1500s for quite a few years now (All original wood, hand forged nails and straw in the walls xD). The house has warped a fair bit so the floors are not even anymore but overall it is still very solid especially considering it has 6 floors if you include the cellar. I'd say Switzerland has always had a high quality of craftsmanship in terms of construction up until the post WW2 era when the building quality deteriorated somewhat. A lot of buildings from the 60s are currently being torn down and replaced, whereas older buildings, especially those from pre 1900 are being renovated and upkept in their current form
In another video I saw on living in Switzerland, they have strict noise laws for residential buildings/areas at night.
Most buildings are still bad. Newer buildings have great noise isolation but then introduce noise through mandatory mechanical ventilation. It’s utterly stupid. The problem is called Minergie, a low-energy-house standard.
@@odeode4338 bullshit the ventilation is virtually silent.
Yes that is correct. You want a nice sleep or not?
Floors are also insulated in cold climates of europe. They might put some foam under the floor and propably floorheating also.
I want to know more about those studs withe the sound-break integrated into them. Manufacturer?
I would love to see a school of this caliber in the United States. Thank you for sharing this. I'm just now getting into stereotomy and although I've been a carpenter for many years lve never been exposed to this type of skill set.
The outside shades are for cooling, ventilation and security. They are awesome.
I like that double stud with the membrane, I’ll use that in my home build
Green glue works great. Pricey but great product from last builds
don't forget that sound travels trough the ceiling and floor as well
@@MrArctic38 the entire house will be sound deadened. All rooms will have their own hvac return and register, plus a fresh air vent with the fresh air exhaust in the bathrooms and kitchen. The house will be extremely airtight and insulated. Joist tape will be used on every stud before sheathing and drywall to both the ceiling and walls. I am going to do a Swiss style grid for the second level with sound absorption material where the joists meet as well. I also plan to use Amsco Serenity windows which are 2 windows with both being triple glazed. Overkill, yes, but will be worth it
@@MasterKnight2K Sound great man, good luck!
I wish i had enough capital to build my own house but i'm not there yet
@@MrArctic38 I got my house 5 years ago for $100k and I’m about to sell it for $400k. So I can build my dream house with that plus my income and savings
I'm an Operator/Driver and I have a saying when it comes to keeping your equipment clean. "If you can't take pride in your machine (workspace) how are you going to take pride in your work?"
On top of that it's healthier physically, mentally and safer.
In NA the quality is all driven by Capitalism. It's more about throwing a building together, and trying to come in under quote so you make more money on the job. I've seen "consultants" on site that their main job is to push the contractors to get the most bang out of their buck. It doesn't matter how good you are, you're going to get pushed to do it faster and cheaper.
What are those interior studs with integrated insulation called?
It’s not exactly the same but check out Tstud inc for something similar.
Nick, I don’t mind you being in a video but it be nice that your video guy would show more of the subject, that be better. 😉🇫🇮🤠
safety is no.1 you mentioned -- in the UK you should have safety boots and would be chaperoned unless you went on the site safety induction course, plus you need an ID and a hi-vis that states "visitor".
In Oz on Tier 1 projects, you are expected to have long sleeves and trousers. PPE is helmet (less than 5 years old), high vis vest (and generally reflective strips on trousers), steel cap boots, safety glasses and gloves. Induction mandatory unless visitor with escort.
It is indeed possible to take safety too far.
12.20. It's a shade shutter system. We don't realy do bug screens in the alps or north of the alps.
PewDiePie on that Engineering side hustle tho. Respect
The Swiss take sound seriously. "Serious" is an adjective. Excellent video, though.
I love the ceilings
With the sound proofing and the general science of how o improve buildings we are at a very food place. Science and industry work very closely together. The federal institute for material sciences EMPA for example is doing large experiments on sound proofing and trying to improve energy efficency of buildings.
Sorry to complain, but it would be helpful if your camera operator could point the camera at the things you're talking about. That said, thank you for getting out to one of these Swiss sites. So much to learn.
Nice video! Interesting to see you in Europe and your thoughts work practises
It's amazing what we would consider 'high performance' in the US where a miniscule fraction of homes / offices are build to passive haus standard; is just normal practice in Switzerland and many EU countries. Craftsmanship is such a high level, where as US trades are all unskilled laborers. Sad to see such a stark difference, but inspiring that quality builds are the norm there.
Maybe that has something to do with Education being free in Europe? More skills leads to better lives for everyone :)
@@cmmartti Well, as only the Rich and corporations in the US have any sizable amount of wealth to spend on it, it is not a surprise, 'merica is no longer the living standard "high standard" as it used to be.
Can't find the sound attenuation part in the video
i dont know how in the US is made, but in europe its one layer OSB and gypsum board layer, or double layer gypsum board, in case of residential construction, at least what i have seen the last 10 years...
For interior walls, it’s just one layer of 1/2” thick gyp. Ceilings are 5/8” thick gyp. Outside layers are ~1/2” or 3/4” thick OSB. We tape and mud all gyp joints since it’s one layer. Also, all lumber walls are 2x4 (1.5”x3.5”) spaced at 16” on center. It lets you use thinner gyp at the expense of more wood.
plastic is warmer than metal so less condensation
those plastic ducts are for "ventilation" ? as i made thousands of these for suction systems low profile .
Does anyone know what those studs are called?
The decoupling is huge in the audio room design industry
All hear in the US
Seriously, here on the east coast, i can literally hear my upstairs neighbors all the time. their air conditioner can vibrate my wall ffs. its ridiculous.
Sounds serious
Seriously
"Spiral" ductwork is a misnomer. They are helical, as a helix does not change diameter, as does a spiral.
Itd be interesting to an american to see how many countries that arent third world like the us run electrics. With care, planning and proper regulations.
I'm not sure why they chose to put the windows flush with the inside wall. If I had the choice I think I'd always want them as close to the outside wall as possible. Free shelf and our cats would love it. That said, I miss Switzerland. Expensive, but gorgeous.
I belive that the deeper the window recess, the lower the thermal transfer of cold from the outside of the cladding.
@@defenda1 my first thought is that it depends on how the thermal insulation is situated in the wall. The insulation should be behind the window casing, no? If the window is behind the wall insulation it would just transfer thermal energy around the insulation. I know thermally broken window frames are the norm in Europe, but they are still only 4 or 5 inches thick.
Flush with the inside might just be the cosmetic treatment to match the area's architectural style.
But I think it probably has more to do with leaving a recess above the window on the outside, for an automatic shade to be installed. If the window was set closer to the outside of the wall, the shades would end up proud of the window. The shades probably have tracks on the sides to guide them, so they aren't just flapping in the wind, and possibly enough of a gap between the shade and window so the shade has no chance of banging into the window and breaking the glass.
@@dondumitru7093 from what I saw in the video, there is a separate recess into the wall, several inches in front of the window just for the shade and track. It's where the control/power cables come out of the wall. Aesthetics is likely the primary reason for the decision, agreed, but personally I'd rather have the extra deep window sill on the inside because I, or our cats, could use it. Kinda useless on the outside.
@@chaseweeks2708 What I was trying to express is that it looks to me like the automated shade is inside the external recess, so that the mechanism at the top as well as any rails on the sides are inside the recess in the wall. If you pushed the window further out, than the shade and tracks would be proud of the external wall, inside of recessed inside it.
Maybe that explains the positioning of the window. I agree with your top-post that some explanation in the video on this topic would have been helpful.
I'm assuming a Job like in Switzerland each sub cleans up after themselves
Big question about the stapled wall board. Is it just standard 5/8 gypsum? What kind of staples/stapler is used to install? This is so cool. I can't stand hanging board one handed with screws.
My qualified guess will be that it's the same fibregypsum board used in DK, probably Fermacell.
Those can be stapled due to the adding af paper in the production, adding the strength for wider cc, ability to screw objects to the wall without rawlplugs and such
Glad to see and outside perspective on our buildings. Yes, quality is very high. Drawback is that you won't find apartments around Zurich much below 700k. Even on the countryside 2 room apartment costs 400-500k up.
That is very cheap.
Good vid thank you
This is foreign to almost every builder in the US. We love cheap and quick. Builders here never consider future tennants. Their flimsy, cheapskate practices ensure that future tennants suffer with mental disturbances and illness from noise pollution. That kind of quality building should be required by law worldwide. Too many wretched, pathetic, greedy builders who only build for profit, not people. Care & detail, not the objective of US builders.
ru sure its not thermal insulation?
Most certainly the wires outside the windows are for blackout shades.
The title of the video should read "the Swiss take sound seriously." You used the adjectival form when you should have used the adverbial form.
the US does most things as cheap as possible then tries to put a nice finish on it. Lipstick on a pig. It has been the American way for too long.
It does have some advantages, cheap housing and it makes it easier to move around.
This is an enterprise building. I am certain you can pull similar examples from cities in the US.
Compare this structure to any residential dwelling and I'm certain they would look inadequate.
@@pizzadog4206 nope
9:48 its called H&S 🤣🤣 plus it just better productivity and smooth delivery
The building quality is not joust high. Once a building is finsihed it is inspected. Any little fault is listed and has to be fixed. Some of those are errors like a seal on a window thats not properly put on but can be as small as a bit of silikon tille liner which is on a tille.
I live in a 40 year old house here in Switzerland, i gotta say: soundproof, definitely not. I can hear my neighbors pissing 😭. Isolation not very good as well. And electrical, as a someone who works in IT i got cat5e and fucking expensive to run new ones because they’d have to rip open EVERYTHING.
But new buildings definitely profited from all our development in education, practices and technology in this area.
Believe me, compared to American buildings, even the worst soundproofing in Switzerland is a million times better.
FYI, in my apartment in Zurich, I ran Cat 6 through the walls by replacing the telephone wiring that I didn’t need, just using the existing conduit and new wall plates with Ethernet jacks.
This must be a showhorse. Yes, buildings are definitely being built like this in certain parts of Europe. But this doctor's office (stricter regulations) has also been prepped for an "open day", I would guess.
This. Even in very good projects it mostly doesnt look as neat as this i feel like.
Nah, this is just how the Swiss work. I snuck into my (rental) apartment when it was still under construction, and it was immaculate.
I'm here just for his Rolex on a construction site.
stunning
Wait...you can staple drywall?
No. It is not drywall. It is firmacell. Used a lot in switzerland and this can be stapled. Drywall also gets installed with screws
Can you grab the manufacturer of that ducting - shot in the dark I’ve been tying to get some from a Dutch company, pretty sure they are all ptfe like zhender comfotube.
That is Zehnder ComfoTube Flat 51. It is HDPE tube.
I can't help but notice a similarity among all the workers
the electrical wiring fixed directly to the wood ceiling..........isnt it a problem in case of fire? I mean, I are these tubes fireproof?
@@cmmartti certain applications like low voltage.
yes, those tubes are flame-resistant.
That plastic Air supply and return lines looked Janky as hell … I’m assuming it’s just fresh air not cooled or heated due to it not having and insulation.
So it’s prob fine for just having a fresh air in and out made of that material. Just looks cheesy on camera I’m sure it it made pretty well . I would way rather have my electrical hard piped instead of that plastic tubing .
That stuff isn’t stopping a drywall screw or if you wanted to pull a line through it good luck haha
It amazes me the amount of gravel they use on the floors. Just thinking about all the weight that adds
the amount of gravel on the floors ? is it something i missed in the video ?
Typical carpenter wage in Switzerland is $40/hour. A millionaire pays 46% taxes. In the US Donald Trump pays $750 in federal taxes.
Too bad this level of detail/quality wasn't the baseline
Something you don’t see in North America. It is, build cheap higher cheap labour, and materials. Big profits for the contractor and CEO’s, and the high rises, fall apart, within the first five years.
This is what i hate about UK. Here walls instead of muting sound amplify it. Literally ZERO soundproofing.
We have studs we use here in the states that have spray foam in between plus the use of zip products it’s the same
Spray foam (pu) is quite rigid and would conduct sound effectively, not isolate it.
Privacy is everything in Europe. No Google map crap and no noise!
The Swiss take sound emissions seriously... ...unless it is muscle cars in the middle of the night. You dare to take shower at 22:05? Police knocks. 2am rewing engine like crazy down the street? "Cool car, dude!"
A shower at 23:45h… no problem if you do not sing an opera…🤪🤣😂🤣😂
Those German windows are just magical! Glad the Swiss adopted them. American... when will you catch on?
Can’t fit a window AC on them. So it’s a big downgrade for Americans.
*Too Much assumptions and you should of asked before the video!*
Modern american builders: *shocked pikachu face*
*-ly. “The Swiss take soundly serious.”
😉 jk
What I dont like about those tilt windows is that you cant install an in windows A/C unit.
Window units don't really exist in Europe. It's been splits only for decades.
@@AlexisKasperavicius In switzerland in particular very few people actually have/want AC.
First off...the scaffolding....
What's wrong with it?
Ok, sorry, But I got a couple questions for you on this 1. As you know, I am an avid fan of your channel, as you should know by the 100's of questions, I post to you. is And relatively speaking your channel has to be in the top 5 of building sciences and quality building at it's finest. I say subjective b/c everybody has their own refined taste good or bad. 1. have you thought of or have you done a crossover with Matt Risinger it seems you both would be a great fit for sharing knowledge? As I seen your Mike Rowe video the other day, I'm 47 and that man is one of my superheros, and is a person we should all try to emulate at sometime in our lives. You know hard working, no ethnocentric narcissism, a regular guy, he empathizes and sympathizes, he is very well spoken, he does things well thought out and tries to teach, while covertly insulting the person who insulted him, lol. But any6way sorry for the rambling. Could you show more about the electrical there I they run off of 208/or 220, as it is cheaper to run higher voltages over distance with smaller amperage's. But does Sweden, for instance here, do the under 1 phase or 2 phases. A lot of 3rd world countries do 1 phase and they are prone to Black out and all other sorts of issues. I would think Sweden, being a 1st world country, would use a 2 phase system, or perhaps, they have invented away to make 1 phase more reliable, as they are1 of the most technologically innovative countries I have ever seen. And whats the difference between the colors of the conduit material? Is it the amount of conductors it can carry?And if they are using I presume that conduit is plastic and plastic boxes, how are they grounding and or boding the devices within them. Is this conduit stiff, sorry it's new to me I've been doing electrical in NEPA for 32 years and while I've heard of it and seen it in videos, idk a lot about it. It looks like the heat shield material around wiring in cars, is it completely enclosed or is the side open like the car stuff. Also how would an enclosure deal with and arc, or fault as plastic does, burn. Yes in thew USA we have plastic boxes but they have ground wire run with he conductors as to bond the device to the grounding circuit. This considerably lowers the chance for a large spark from an arc. But 1 more thing I love their soundproofing, and you a builder, why don't we build more house out of concrete in the USA?
Not sure what you mean. Electrical power is pretty much all 3 phase with some exceptions like the power grid for railways. In Europe 3 phase is typically delivered to every home. Nowadays the typical voltage is 400 V. That's the phase to phase voltage. Phase to ground is 230 V. I'm not aware of 2 phase systems except the so called split phase which is 180 ° apart. Yes an advantage of higher voltage is same power over smaller conductors. I don't know how it would affect reliability. The power grid is 3 phase pretty much everywhere. If you look at power lines you typically see them in groups of 3. Most of the time it's something like two groups of 3 for backup. Normal sockets are single phase 230 V. Big rotating machines and other big loads can require 3 phase power which uses different sockets and is commonly installed in garages or so.
Plastic boxes probably mean it's double insulated which means there's no need to ground the boxes. Similar to residential distribution panels. It's different in the industrial world. All single phase wiring is done with 3 conductors: PE (protective earth), N (neutral), L.
Reliability is mostly a matter of well maintained equipment, redundant lines, transformers and so on. Having loops in your grid to be able to feed from multiple points. Of course having enough power to supply the demand and react to changes in demand without the need to disconnect loads to stabilize the grid.
Seriously*
Construction in the US SUUUUUUCKS compared to this. Most buildings, commercials and residentials, look like sh*t and have almost no good functionality. Most buildings are very inefficient keeping heat and cold etc. This should shame every contractor in the US to aspire to something better
Seriously! Not serious.
Americans dont care about sound. Building quality sucks. Builders/Housing Companies cheap out as much as they can to maximize profits, while people have such low standards that they dont care about noise and excuse it as something that cant be helped.
I think if people in the US experienced quality they would have a higher standard. But, we have a lack of housing supply so we don't have many options but to just accept what we can.
America builds with a lifespan of 30 years in mind, then they demolish everything. It is a wasteful way to build. Compare that with Europe and they build with the intention to maintain any property. So, yeah. America sucks big time.
Something happened between ~1995-2000 to housing construction. Wooden doors were standard, and walls were built 1/3 thicker than they are now. Any residential building built past 2000 has literal cardboard doors and no floor sound deadening.
@@scuph Sounds about right
*seriously
Ahh…uhh….ummm….I’m talking out my ass
Slab grabbers brother
Wtf i just watched