SGDA Swiss Game Awards

The ETH Game Technology Center, the Chair of Construction Heritage and Preservation and the Chair of Sustainable Construction (both ETH) developed a serious game called "(re)use" to help educate players on building sustainability. In Switzerland, direct-democratic voting processes demand informed citizens. In the public discussion about the sustainable use of existing buildings, the focus is currently on operational aspects, such as the replacement of heating systems. There is an even greater need to communicate the sustainable use of materials and their impact on the climate. The preservation of historical monuments and the resource-conserving handling of objects could serve as a model for the sufficiency of all buildings. However, suitable mediation interfaces that also illuminate resource conservation in historic preservation from an ecological perspective have been lacking up to now.

With this in mind, in an applied research project with the Chair of Construction Heritage and Preservation, the Chair of Sustainable Construction and the Game Technology Center (all ETH Zurich), an educational game for environmental education was developed and tested with young people. The game allows players to "play" at the challenge of sustainabily preserving the Hotel Schatzalp. The project includes the conception and implementation of a clear storyline and user-friendly graphics, the implementation of a test workshop, and the release of the prototype game as a web app for the public. The goal of the project is to better understand the leverage of serious games as mediation tools.

Collaboration partners: Stéphane Magnenat and Aydin Faraji (Game Technology Center); Fabian Kastner (Chair of Construction Heritage and Preservation, Chair of Sustainable Construction), Edwin Zea Escamilla (Chair of Sustainable Construction)