Energy management in production

One of the permanent initiatives that have brought substantial savings is the introduction of systematic Energy management at all VELUX factories in Europe. The factories have held ISO 50001 certification for three years now, and the investment has paid back in more than one way.

Energy management helps VELUX factory save on the energy bill

Every day, thousands of VELUX windows leave the factory in Sonneborn, Germany. The window production is energy intensive, and although the wood chips from the window frame production can be used for heating and hot water, the power consumption of the plant is significant.

In the quest to cut down energy consumption and CO₂ emissions as part of the VELUX climate strategy, the Sonneborn plant was the first VELUX factory to implement the ISO 50001 energy management standard. Since implementation, the energy management has returned impressive results.

All in all, six years of energy management at the Sonneborn factory has resulted in significant savings on the energy bill. With a pay-back time of only one year, the implementation of the energy management system has turned out to be a sound business case and has come to stay not only at the Sonneborn factory, but at all VELUX European production sites.

Next steps at the Sonneborn factory comprise optimisation of the ventilation systems, heat recovery on compressors and replacement of compressed air supply, heat pumps and lighting to more energy efficient solutions. Furthermore, a new bio-boiler installation is in the pipeline to increase the on-site renewable energy production by utilising the wood chip waste at the factory.

Energy management pays back at Danish factory

At the Skærbæk plant in Denmark, the focus on Energy Management in 2018 paved the way for annual energy savings of close to 150.000 euro.

The factory’s energy review carried out in 2018 revealed that the bio-boiler fueled by wood chips from production had excess capacity, which could be used to heat up additional square meters. By laying new pipelines to supply storage and production areas, a substantial part of the gas used for heating could be replaced by renewable bio-mass.

After the extension, the bio-boiler covers 70% of the heating demand and saves 312 tonnes of CO₂ every year. The savings on the energy bill paid back the investment after only 1.5 years. Since 99.5% of the wood used in VELUX products is certified, sustainable wood, the wood waste is considered a CO₂ neutral and renewable energy source.

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