New lighting is reducing electricity consumption
How can Kräuter Mix save energy? This is the question that the company’s apprentices set out to answer. As a result, three apprentices became energy scouts (an apprenticeship qualification under the SME initiative). Luis Schmidbauer, industrial business management assistant, Noah Nicola, electronics technician for operating technology, and Johannes Wach, industrial mechanic, took part in a further training course on energy efficiency at the Würzburg-Schweinfurt Chamber of Industry and Commerce.
The goal was to develop a method of improving the outdoor lighting at the company’s Abtswind premises in an environmental, economic, suitable, and coherent way. The problem was that the lighting had been installed years prior when energy-saving light bulbs were much more ineffective and more expensive than today. This resulted in both higher electricity consumption and higher costs. Therefore, the solution was for Kräuter Mix to install more efficient lighting. With long-lasting LEDs, consumption could be significantly reduced – and the annual electricity costs lowered by more than €8000. In addition, motion detectors were to be used in certain areas.
The project took 6 months alongside the energy scouts’ apprenticeships – from the initial inspection of the company premises and calculating the total energy consumption and costs, to choosing the right lighting and finally presenting the project to the Chamber of Industry and Commerce. “Kräuter Mix is a company that uses natural and sustainable products,” energy scout Luis Schmidbauer said, “that’s why we wanted to play our part in reducing CO2 emissions as much as possible.”
The energy scouts’ lighting project forms the basis for the outdoor lighting conversion on the company’s Abtswind premises. The motivated apprentices received professional support from Andreas Spitzhirn, head of Electrics, and Thomas Kleedörfer, head of Technical Maintenance. “The apprentices put a lot of energy into this project,” both instructors noted.
Kräuter Mix has been meeting the European Union’s EMAS standards since 2015. This certification highlights that the company has exemplary eco-management that goes far beyond the legal requirements and systematically improves the company’s environmental performance. Kräuter Mix switched to exclusively using renewable energy sources years ago and has also installed solar panels on many of its warehouses to generate electricity.