Efficiency
Resource efficiency
We support your company on the way to a CO2-neutral factory. We can kill two birds with one stone for you and, in addition to an improved ecological balance sheet, also ensure lower energy consumption. In this way, we can support you both with the development of a comprehensive energy concept and with the introduction of an energy management system according to ISO 50001 or the execution of an energy audit according to DIN 16247-1.
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What are you doing against rising energy costs in your company?
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Do you meet all legal requirements with regard to energy efficiency?
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Do you know where in your production the highest energy consumption occurs?
As energy consultants we are listed in all major funding programmes (EU, BAFA, BMWi, municipal and supra-regional programmes) and have already helped more than 100 german and international customers to increase their material and energy efficiency technically and organisationally. Therefore, we systematically investigate your company for areas where there is still potential and identify sensible and economic measures for improvement in order to increase material and energy efficiency in your factory and reduce your costs at the same time.
Our range of services
Development of energy concepts
The aim of an energy concept is to develop an overall plan for the energy supply of your factory. Decisive questions in this context may concern, for example, a (de)central compressed air supply, an increasingly energy self-sufficient production and the mix between procured and self-generated energy. In addition, we conduct feasibility studies in order to discover which improvement potentials still exist in your factory to increase energy efficiency.
Your benefits at a glance:
- Future-oriented design of your energy generation and supply
- Securing your current energy production and supply
- Development of innovative ideas and concepts for your future energy supply
- Overview of possibilities for cost reduction
- Critical review by independent experts
Material and energy efficiency analyses
We investigate your factory and the technologies used in it (cross-sectional technology, production engineering, also building services engineering) and, based on our analysis results, derive proposals that will enable you to use less material and energy. These improvements can take place both on an organizational level (e.g. changes in employee behavior) and on a technical level (e.g. replacement of old technology). We evaluate all suggestions with a sound ROI calculation over the life cycle and summarize the collected information in a transparent, clear and manageable way.
Your benefits at a glance:
- Defined savings potentials in the areas of material and energy costs
- Recommendations for action to reduce waste in the use of materials
- Concepts for a future-proof energy supply for your production
- Reduction of material and energy costs
Energy management system ISO 50001
Do you want to continuously lower your energy costs, reduce your CO2 footprint and use your energy more efficiently? We would be happy to advise you on the introduction of an energy management system according to ISO 50001, which will enable you to achieve a continuous improvement of energy-related services in your company. We use our expertise to set up the entire system (e.g. creating process instructions and documents), train your employees and carry out the internal audit. We then prepare the external audit and accompany your certification. We are also happy to support you in integrating the system into your existing management systems in order to make use of synergies.
Your benefits at a glance:
- You have your energy-related processes under control
- Compliance with the conditions for reimbursement under the StromSt and EEG
- Introduced management system
- Positive effects on the corporate image
- Systematic reduction of your energy consumption
Energy audit DIN 16247-1
For all companies, regardless of their type and size, who want to improve their energy balance, an energy audit according to DIN EN 16247-1 is an optimal first step on the way to a more efficient use of energy. With the help of the energy audit, we uncover potential energy wastage in your company and help you to identify your biggest cost drivers. With this knowledge, you can kill two birds with one stone and expect lower CO2 emissions and a lower energy bill. The energy audit is also the cornerstone of an energy management system according to ISO 50001.
Your benefits at a glance:
- Fulfilment of legal obligations
- You have your energy-related processes under control
- Introduction of a first management system
- Positive image effects
- Systematic reduction of energy consumption
Peak compensation according to SpaEfV
In order to be able to benefit from electricity tax relief in accordance with the German Peak Equalization Efficiency System Ordinance (SpaEfV), companies and organizations must demonstrate a functioning energy or environmental management system. We would be pleased to accompany this introduction and advise you on questions regarding possible subsidy programmes. Would you like to benefit from electricity tax relief, but do not yet have an active energy or environmental management system? We will help you to select and implement the best system for your individual needs.
Your benefits at a glance:
- Fulfilment of all requirements for refunds according to StromSt and, if applicable, EEG
- You have your energy-related processes under control
- Introduction of a first management system
- Positive effects on the corporate image
- Systematic reduction of energy consumption
Staff workshop “Energy”
We train your employees in how and where they can find wasted energy in production. However, this is not a Powerpoint training, but an interactive workshop in which we actively look for improvement possibilities on the shop floor of your factory. We evaluate the potentials found according to their feasibility and financial added value. Our workshop is therefore perfectly suited as training in the sense of ISO 50001.
Your benefits at a glance:
- Active involvement of your employees
- Sensitization of your employees for the topic “energy efficiency”
- Training of your employees according to the requirements of ISO 50001
- Identification of cost relevant saving potentials
- Activation of your employees through the direct implementation of training contents in production
Individual service request
Didn’t find the right one? We would be happy to develop individual service packages for you according to your wishes and requirements.
Feel free to contact us: We look forward to your ideas.
Achieve goals – with GREAN
Efficient energy management in your company enables you to achieve several goals at once through one measure. We help you to achieve your company goals by identifying energy inefficiencies and eliminating them:
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Reduced CO2 emissions
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Save energy and taxes at the same time
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Creating energy awareness
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Transparency over all energy flows
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Official certification
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Improving energy efficiency
Get in touch with us!
Our recipe for success
In order to create a systematic improvement of your energy use, energy consumption and energy efficiency, we basically investigate your company in six different analysis steps. Starting with a fundamental analysis of your energy load profiles, we begin by drawing up an energy balance sheet with detailed evaluations of the peak and base loads in your company. After an investigation of all cross-sectional technologies that span various production areas (such as lighting or compressed air), we also analyse your specific production technologies. In both phases, our experience enables us to quickly identify potential improvements and energy saving opportunities. This also applies to the following analysis of building services engineering, which we examine both for energy losses and unused potential (e.g. waste heat recovery). Since even the best energy saving methods can often only be implemented by your team, we investigate the behaviour of your employees in the following phase and uncover process-related waste. Finally, we round off the process with the introduction of an energy management system, through which you can continue to monitor and use your resources optimally in the future.
Phase 1: Fundamental analyses
We lay the foundation for improving your energy management in a well-founded analysis of your initial situation. This includes, among other things, a precise chronological analysis of your energy load profiles as well as an examination of the current management of peak and base loads. In this way, we are able to identify daily, monthly or seasonal power peaks caused by high demand from stronger consumers and compare them with occurring power troughs. At the same time, we also verify the exact electricity and energy consumption of your company. On the basis of this data collection, we prepare an individual energy balance of your company, on the basis of which we can validate possible optimization approaches.
We investigate concrete consumption structures, which we can derive analytically from your load profile (so-called RLM load profiles). For this purpose, we compare daily, weekly or monthly consumption structures and determine peak and base loads and define measures for their respective reduction.
From the results of the load curve analysis we characterize certain consumption structures in your production. In doing so, we determine in which part of your production process the most energy is required. A typical picture that presents itself to us is that the production technologies themselves account for the largest consumption, followed by cross-sectional technologies. In the latter case, lighting, compressed air and drives with high energy consumption are the most prominent. In the following, we systematically derive how consumption is divided up precisely between the individual areas in order to determine where the lever for improvement measures is greatest.
Phase 2: Cross-sectional technologies
In the following, we will initially focus on the cross-sectional technologies in your company. These include all energy-consuming technologies that extend across several departments, processes or functions in your factory. A classic example is lighting, which generates cross-functional energy consumption. Other examples of cross-sectional technologies are compressed air, drives, steam or cooling and heating technologies. Based on this analysis, we determine the main drivers of your energy consumption through cross-functional technologies and advise you with suitable methods for reducing consumption based on our many years of industrial experience.
A classic and quickly realizable improvement, which can result from a lighting analysis, is the replacement of old lights with new energy-saving LED lights. In addition, the behaviour of employees with regard to switching lights on and, above all, off also plays a major role here. (For more information, see Phase 5)
Through a comprehensive analysis, we can measure the energy generated by leaks in the pressure system and thus provide a concrete statement on the current quality level of your system. We also determine the technical quality of your compressed air production and assess whether your compressor still meets today’s requirements. In addition, we develop comprehensive proposals to reduce the total consumption, for example, through better control systems, by lowering the system pressure and simultaneously increasing the pressure at system components.
In order to save energy in drives and motors, we investigate the efficiency of the motors in your production. For example, a new motor with improved efficiency can generate the same mechanical power at a lower invested energy. In addition, we also assess whether your drives can be better controlled and thus better adapted to the actual task. This can be achieved, for example, by retrofitting a frequency converter.
Phase 3: Production technologies
In the third project phase we focus on your specific production technologies. In detail, we examine your individual production processes and derive potential energy savings from both a technological and organizational point of view. In this way, potentials can be uncovered both in terms of the energy consumption of individual processes and in terms of suboptimal utilization of individual process steps.
At one of our customers in the metal processing industry, we were able to identify the largest consumers within the production technologies of the processing centre by means of an energy balance at plant level. Based on this evaluation, we were able to derive technical and organizational measures and significantly increase energy efficiency. Some of the questions we dealt with and whose answers led to increased efficiency were:
- At which standstill time is it worthwhile to switch off a machine and when is the stand-by mode more suitable?
- How can the machine settings be optimized so that a smaller amount of energy is required for the same output (this can be achieved, for example, by optimizing cutting speeds and process speeds).
In another project example, a detailed analysis of all production processes of one of our customers in the plastic injection moulding industry enabled us to implement technical and organisational measures to increase efficiency. This also resulted in numerous ideas from various direct workshops with the customer’s employees.
- From a technical point of view, we were able to retrofit insulating mats to the plasticizing unit. This measure requires hardly any investment costs and still represents an enormous savings potential due to a higher economic efficiency.
- From an organisational point of view, we were able to greatly improve energy efficiency by switching off the hydraulic pump during the set-up process while maintaining the heating of the plasticising unit.
Phase 4: Building
In the following analysis phase we will deal with the building services engineering of your company. Here we consider above all the possibility of your own power and heat generation. Questions are, for example, whether currently unused waste heat can be utilised or whether there is a possibility of producing electricity yourself. We also examine the current distribution of cold and heat in your company from the source to the consumer. Further points of analysis are ventilation systems.
By using a combined heat and power plant it is possible to generate mechanical energy and usable heat at the same time. For this purpose a combined heat and power plant (CHP) is operated with natural gas, which drives a generator through the combustion process, which in turn converts the mechanical energy into electrical power for production. The resulting heat is dissipated in the CHP and can be used directly in the production process.
We are experts in adapting the size and function of such a CHP plant to your production in an economically optimal way. With this design, we try to keep the input of natural gas as low as possible in order to optimise the economic efficiency of the plant.
We are experts in designing a suitable photovoltaic system for electricity production for your factory. Depending on the location of the factory, we estimate how much energy can be generated by the system and then calculate the economic efficiency of a possible system. Here too, it is crucial to dimension the system in such a way that the power generation is maximized in relation to the power requirement, as this increases the economic efficiency of the system and the profitability of the factory.
The optimisation of ventilation systems in an industrial environment can save energy in various ways. First and foremost, better adjustment (switching on and off) and organisation can be achieved and the system can be adapted to the actual air volume requirements. We also investigate the options of purchasing a more efficient drive or fan with a higher efficiency or the optimisation of the current drive by a frequency converter. Consequently, we calculate the economic efficiency and ROI of all possible measures for you and make a definite recommendation for further action.
Phase 5: Employees and behaviour
We understand employees as a decisive asset in connection with the goal of saving energy in your factory. Every measure or process improvement is only as good as the way it is implemented by your employees. Therefore, in the fifth phase we focus on the behaviour of your team. In addition to the detailed investigation of processes and the resulting optimization potential for dealing with all energy consumers, we also offer you the opportunity to sensitize your employees to the new, energy-saving processes in a workshop.
In order to teach your employees how to independently discover future improvement potentials in production, we would be happy to conduct a training course with your teams. This is deliberately not a theoretical training, but invites your employees to search for current wastes directly in the production environment. On site, we take up the found potentials and visualize the waste directly. Finally, we systematically evaluate the identified potentials according to cost and benefit. We often notice that many employees are highly motivated and enthusiastic about the topic of energy saving through this training.
Phase 6: Introduction of an energy management system
In order to be able to implement the analysed potentials in the long term and to independently uncover further improvement potentials in the future, we will be happy to set up an energy management system together with you. We are specialists in deciding which of the management systems is suitable for you. Since the introduction of an energy management system can be partially subsidized by the state, we offer you comprehensive advice on financial support options for your resource management.
In the course of the introduction of an energy management system according to ISO 50001, concrete goals for saving energy are defined. Targeted measures for implementation are then developed and continuously monitored on the basis of the PDCA cycle (Plan, Do, Check, Act). In case of deviations or problems, direct intervention is thus possible.
In this process we design the entire system for you, prepare all necessary documents, train your employees, carry out the corresponding internal audit and coach your energy team. In addition, we also accompany your external certification audit so that you can be sure of receiving the certificate.
The energy audit in accordance with DIN 16247-1 represents a 7-phase process in which we provide complete support. For this purpose we are listed as consultants at both the BAFA and the BMWi. We begin our analysis with an initial meeting and the initial contact, followed by an analysis phase in which we systematically examine the use and potential of the energy input. We evaluate these and summarize them in a detailed report, which we present to you at a final meeting.
An energy audit in accordance with DIN 16247-1 can serve as a subsidy consultancy as energy consultancy for medium-sized companies or as a mandatory audit for non-SMEs.
The german government supports small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in providing energy advice in order to reduce information deficits, identify potential savings and point out measures to improve energy efficiency in the company. One focus of this advice is on the areas of “buildings and systems” and user behaviour as well as the use of renewable energies. We would be pleased to accompany you through the entire process of energy consulting for medium-sized companies.
The alternative system according to SpaEfV represents the smallest system in which only energy input, energy consumers and saving potentials are balanced. The system is typically suitable for production companies seeking a refund of the electricity tax according to §10 StromStG, the so-called peak balancing. We compile all necessary documents for you and prepare all steps for external certification.