Starting the energy revolution ourselves: 100% green electricity since 2009

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 160 households (assuming an average electricity consumption per household of 3,500 kWh per year). In 2016 the VAUDE solar installations covered an equivalent of 73% 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. In 2016 we were able to cover 30% of our electricity consumption with our own solar energy. 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). When our own solar power is insufficient, we purchase green electricity from Lichtblick.

The share of renewable energy in electricity consumption at the headquarters was 100% in 2014. Because our waterproof bag production facility was hit by lightning and burned down in April 2015, production was temporarily moved to a rented building where we had to use the (non-renewable) energy provided by the landlord for electricity and heating. This is the reason the percentage of green energy fell to 88% (electricity) in 2016.

Compared to 2015, electricity consumption fell by 1%. Now that the remodeling work on the new office building and the new construction of the Manufaktur production facility is finished, we hope to once again decouple our power consumption from company growth.

Compared to the base year 2013, electricity consumption per employee increased by 17% in 2015. The reason for this is the new canteen, our employee restaurant "Mittagspitze" 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.

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 Blauen 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