Electricity is still generated using fossil fuels in most regions of the world. And also in Germany: who would have known that 58% of gross electricity generation in Germany still comes from coal, oil and natural gas? So it's all the more important that we as a company make our contribution to the energy revolution.
Since mid-2009, VAUDE has used only electricity from renewable sources. We obtain our electricity from the green electricity provider, Lichtblick.
VAUDE operates several large photovoltaic installations on company roofs. These produce more than half a million kilowatt hours of solar power annually – enough for about 170 households (assuming an average electricity consumption per household of 3,500 kWh per year). In 2015 the VAUDE solar installations covered an equivalent of 77% of our electricity needs.
Since mid-2014, we have been using a part of our own solar power at VAUDE ourselves, whenever the sun shines while the machines are running. When the sun produces more electricity than we need, this gets fed into the German power grid, in accordance with the Renewable Energy Law (EEG). If our own solar power is not sufficient, we purchase green electricity from Lichtblick. In 2015, we were able to cover 32% of our electricity consumption with self-produced solar power (2% more than in 2014).
The share of renewable energy in electricity consumption at the headquarters was 100% in 2014 . Because our waterproof bag production facility burned down in April 2015 and was temporarily moved to a rented building, we had to use the (non-renewable) energy provided by the landlord for electricity and heating. This is the cause of the decrease to 90% (electricity) and 93% (heating) in 2015.
Compared to 2014, electricity consumption increased by 17%. This was mainly due to the intensive remodeling work at the office building and the complete restoration of the burnt production building. The new canteen, our employee restaurant "Mittagspitze", also contributed to higher power consumption: despite our state-of-the-art kitchen appliances and efficient monitoring of consumption, the kitchen is our largest electricity consumer.
Now that the remodeling is complete, we again want to decouple our power consumption from company the growth.
There are ways to reduce power consumption in our offices as well. To help ensure that maximally low-power equipment is used, we have developed VAUDE guidelines for the purchase of office supplies: office equipment should bear either the Bluaen Engel or the EU eco-label (Euro-Flower). Energy Star is considered a minimum requirement. Regular tips on conserving electricity are published in our intranet – for example, regarding how much electricity is wasted on stand-by power modes of office equipment, in order to inform individual employees about energy saving potential and influence their behavior.
