Viessmann awarded German Sustainability Award 2011 – most sustainable brand

Sustainability is built deep into Viessmann’s company culture, says jury of leading academic, policy and management thinkers.

Viessmann, one of the leading international manufacturers of heating systems, has been awarded a German Sustainability Award in the category ‘most sustainable brand' at the German Sustainability Congress, 2011 in Duesseldorf, last week.

The jury based its decision on the company’s day-to-day sustainability processes and the extent to which it genuinely prioritises – as opposed to pays lip service to – sustainability issues in brand management. Viessmann was praised for its sustainability practices dating back to 1966, which are evidently anchored into its core brand today. They were also impressed by the company's commitment to solving the very critical problems facing society in managing change of energy utilisation.

Dr. Martin Viessmann, Viessmann managing partner, said: "A brand has to live its values if it is to build trust, loyalty and sympathy with its target groups. What makes the Viessmann brand special is its distinctive family culture based on six clearly defined principles, one of which is sustainability.

This affects not only our commitment to economic, environmental and social responsibility, but also the environmental impact of all our products and processes. We firmly believe in our dual strategy of energy efficiency and the substitution of fossil fuels with renewable energies."

The German Sustainability Award is a comprehensive initiative of the German Sustainability Award Foundation in collaboration with the Federal Government, the German Council for its Sustainable Development, trade associations, NGOs, and research facilities. The prize intends to encourage companies to operate sustainably and help to raise awareness of the principles of sustainable development. Awards are presented to companies that consistently and extensively implement the principles of sustainability throughout their business to a high standard. Competing in this year's competition were 700 companies.

Viessmann and the environment

Viessmann has a long history of taking bold, impactful steps to address environmental and sustainability issues:

It has been developing and manufacturing heating systems for the utilisation of renewable energy (e.g. heat pumps, solar thermal systems and biomass boilers) for more than 30 years.

It has pioneered many environmentally compatible products, such as the MatriX burner for clean combustion, which won a European Business Award for the Environment.

It was the second company in Germany and the first in its sector to be certified according to the EMAS (Eco-management and Auditing Scheme) standard.
It received the German Sustainability Award 2009 for its production facilities and the German Energy Agency’s (dena) ‘Energy Efficiency Award’ for its factory’s central heat recovery system which saved 10 GWh of gas and power and in excess of 3000 tonnes CO2 emissions per annum, compared to the initial situation.

The company’s ‘Efficiency Plus’ programme represents a total investment over three years of €220 million. Efficiency Plus is an integrated energy concept that combines savings in fossil fuels through improved efficiency (on the generation and consumption side) with sensible substitution through renewables. Initiatives within its own operations have resulted in operational efficiency improvements of up to 20 percent and the saving of 40 percent of oil, gas and power, whilst at the same time reducing CO2 emissions by a third.

Viessmann is committed to training its customers and employees on energy efficiency at the Viessmann academy and training centre at its German headquarters.

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