It is hard to believe that 1.5 German nuclear power plants alone are needed to generate electricity for the stand-by operation of electrical equipment. With the amount of electricity wasted in Germany for stand-by power, 5 million households could be powered for one year.
The economical use of energy is just as much of a given for VAUDE as the use of renewable energy for electricity and heat.
The total energy consumption of VAUDE at the company headquarters in Tettnang Obereisenbach increased just 4 percent compared to the base year 2013.
At the same time, the amount of products manufactured here since 2013 has risen by 28 percent. Energy consumption per ton of production output has fallen by 18 percent in comparison to the base year 2013, partially by means of better utilization of machines.
We have been able to reduce our energy consumption per employee by 1% compared to 2013.
We have thus achieved a separation of resource consumption from growth – which can be understood as very positive. The plurality of our energy management activities shows their effect here - from the use of renewable energy, to power conservation and our own photovoltaic system.
Unfortunately, this positive trend didn't continue in comparison with 2014. In 2015, we consumed 9% more energy than in 2014. The reasons for this: an increase in heating energy and electricity consumption for the intensive 2015 renovation of our office building and the production building that burned in April 2015. (Our Made in Germany product range, the new organic canteen with its modern, yet electricity-intensive food processors.)
With the help of our Energy Management System, our goal is to decouple resource consumption from the growth of the company now that the renovation is finished.
VAUDE achieved 100% renewable energy in electricity and gas consumption in 2014.
Because our waterproof bags production facility burned down in April 2015 due to lightening strike 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 percentage decrease in 2015 to 90% (electricity) and 93% (heating).
Second exception in 2015: because of the renovation work, fuel oil was temporarily used in the office building for the heating of some premises and for structural drying.
Thanks to renewable electricity and gas, the percentage of renewable energy from total energy consumption is 50%. The rest is from electricity and gas in the rented building, heating oil, and, in particular, fuel for the company's vehicles as described above. Unfortunately, there is currently still no way to avoid using diesel and petrol from fossil energy.
VAUDE has renovated a part of the building that had been used as a warehouse, in accordance with DGNB- standards (German Sustainable Building Council) to make offices. In this context, the entire administration building was modernized and energy efficiency played a prominent role in this process. The building has attained a very high energy efficiency standard due to better insulation and clever lighting solutions, as well as DGNB Silver Certification. More at: Sustainable Business – Future Oriented Working Conditions.
Production, distribution and consumption of energy in its various forms have significant dire ecological impacts: the depletion of limited, non-renewable resources like oil, gas or coal is negatively encroaching on ecosystems.
As a company, we have a shared responsibility to use it sparingly and switch to alternative sources such as energy generated from wind.
In addition to the environmental impact, energy consumption also has a high impact on the profitability of the company: the higher the energy consumption, the higher the costs.
| GRI: | G4-DMA Energy |
