Energy Efficiency of the Buildings

Arvato uses the power of the sun

The topic of sustainability is actively promoted at Arvato. It is our declared goal to fulfill our social responsibility, minimize environmental impact and optimize the benefits for our customers. This also includes the provision of energy-efficient buildings, with which we reduce operating costs while increasing sustainability.

Bertelsmann aims to be climate neutral by 2030. On the way there, 100 percent of electricity consumption is to be switched to green electricity, greenhouse gases are to be reduced by 50 percent, and environmental protection is to be promoted with other measures. To achieve this ambitious corporate goal, the Executive Board has defined specific measures in the areas of sites, products and employees, which are also being successively implemented at Arvato. These include making the logistics properties more sustainable, which can thus make an important contribution to ecologically sustainable development. This not only serves to signal a high level of environmental awareness, but also leads to significant cost savings from which our customers benefit in the long term.

A sustainable logistics property is a durable building that is energy-efficient and can be operated with low consumption costs over its entire life cycle.

Various measures can be taken to achieve this, ranging from the design of the building envelope and the implementation of building smart management to LED lighting and greater energy efficiency of the facilities.

Photovoltaic system in Gennep, Netherlands

Savings thanks to increased efficiency

A very high ecological benefit comes from the operation of photovoltaic systems. The CO2-free generation of electricity from solar energy drastically reduces energy consumption as one of the main sources of greenhouse gases.

The large roofs of our logistics properties offer ideal conditions for installing high-performance photovoltaic modules because of their shadow-free surfaces.

Just a few months ago, we commissioned a unique solar power plant in the Dutch municipality of Gennep on our premises in Heijen, installing 27,076 solar panels. The expected yield of over 10,000 megawatt hours (MWh) per year covers the energy needs of more than 3,300 households.

Innovative solar technology offers great potential

This benefits not only Arvato itself, but also other companies that want to purchase green electricity. A photovoltaic system was also installed in Venlo, planned and implemented in collaboration with our customer Microsoft. It consists of 3,054 solar collectors that generate 1,374 MWh per year, covering the energy needs of 500 households.

One of the smaller photovoltaic systems in Poland

Extensive measures have already been taken in Poland to help achieve the company's goals.

In addition to carrying out energy audits at all logistics centers and defining specific ecological targets in a specially developed climate neutrality policy, it has already been decided to expand the photovoltaic plant in Plewiska by 2022, which will increase electricity generation from 50 to 500 MWh.

These projects not only contribute to Arvato's climate protection goals, but are also an important step in promoting sustainability in the respective communities.