The Swiss Alpine Club (CAS) have finished an eco refuge at 2883 meters on Mont Rose. The refuge will open its doors in March 2010.

The building has 5 floors and 120 beds. Using solar panels on the south side of the aluminium and wood structure the refuge is designed to cover 90% of its energy requirements. Energy is stored in batteries for dull days.

During the summer meltwater is collected in a reservoir. This water is used in showers, basins and the ####### and you can even take a hot shower.

The building work took 35 workers two summer seasons to complete with 3000 (!!!) helicopter flights. The refuge cost 6.5 million Swiss francs to build, a third of the cost was covered by the CAS.

See this video report from the TSR

http://www.tsr.ch/tsr/index.html?siteSect=500010&bcid=703261&vid=11259396