The Swiss take sound seriously 

I can’t get over how clean this job site is.

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.

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.

Swiss here, I live in a House that was built in 1759.

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.

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.

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. 😂

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 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.

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.

… 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.

This just oozes quality, wow

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 :)

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.

real journeymen keep sites clean. period

Thanks for the tour! Interesting to hear about our building standards and observations through a different pairs of eyes.

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

That half finished building is looking better than most buildings in my town

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.

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.

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

more tours like this please!

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.

12:30 That power cable is for a shuttering system that are effectively exterior black out shutters made from metal.

The outside shades are for cooling, ventilation and security. They are awesome.

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.

Floors are also insulated in cold climates of europe. They might put some foam under the floor and propably floorheating also.

Nice video! Interesting to see you in Europe and your thoughts work practises

In another video I saw on living in Switzerland, they have strict noise laws for residential buildings/areas at night.

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. 😉🇫🇮🤠

Good vid thank you

I love the ceilings

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.

Lots of cranes in Switzerland, because of building for density, instead of the urban sprawl that is suburbia.

PewDiePie on that Engineering side hustle tho. Respect

I like that double stud with the membrane, I’ll use that in my home build

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 want to know more about those studs withe the sound-break integrated into them. Manufacturer?

stunning

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.

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".

12.20. It's a shade shutter system. We don't realy do bug screens in the alps or north of the alps.

The Swiss take sound seriously. "Serious" is an adjective. Excellent video, though.

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.

What are those interior studs with integrated insulation called?

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.

those plastic ducts are for "ventilation" ? as i made thousands of these for suction systems low profile .

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.

The decoupling is huge in the audio room design industry

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.

plastic is warmer than metal so less condensation

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.

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.

Does anyone know what those studs are called?

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...

Can't find the sound attenuation part in the video

Most certainly the wires outside the windows are for blackout shades.

Sounds serious Seriously

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'm here just for his Rolex on a construction site.

9:48 its called H&S 🤣🤣 plus it just better productivity and smooth delivery

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.

I can't help but notice a similarity among all the workers

ru sure its not thermal insulation?

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.

"Spiral" ductwork is a misnomer. They are helical, as a helix does not change diameter, as does a spiral.

I'm assuming a Job like in Switzerland each sub cleans up after themselves

Too bad this level of detail/quality wasn't the baseline

Modern american builders: *shocked pikachu face*

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.

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.

It amazes me the amount of gravel they use on the floors. Just thinking about all the weight that adds

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.

Wait...you can staple drywall?

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

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.

Privacy is everything in Europe. No Google map crap and no noise!

Those German windows are just magical! Glad the Swiss adopted them. American... when will you catch on?

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.

This is what i hate about UK. Here walls instead of muting sound amplify it. Literally ZERO soundproofing.

*-ly. “The Swiss take soundly serious.” 😉 jk

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

the electrical wiring fixed directly to the wood ceiling..........isnt it a problem in case of fire? I mean, I are these tubes fireproof?

First off...the scaffolding....

Some interesting stuff like the soundproofed studs, but also a lot of weird and janky looking things. I really wouldn’t call this better quality than modern US commercial buildings. And this is likely the best they have to offer.

Seriously*

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?

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!"

Typical carpenter wage in Switzerland is $40/hour. A millionaire pays 46% taxes. In the US Donald Trump pays $750 in federal taxes.

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.

*Too Much assumptions and you should of asked before the video!*

*seriously

Seriously! Not serious.

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

It's hilarious how americans think we have windows like that because we don't have AC. We have AC, these windows are just vastly superior to other types, that's why we have them. Nothing to do with AC, but only with the fact that the windows are actually functional.

Slab grabbers brother

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.

Wtf i just watched