Sustainability and decarbonisation
Our sense of responsibility.
Installing lifelines for the buildings of tomorrow. As a family company and entrepreneurs, we firmly believe that sustainability is an integral part of our DNA and a crucial success factor for the future of Viega. We see it as our duty to ensure that buildings are energy-efficient, comfortable and safe, with a hygienic supply of drinking water. We also develop new solutions for all of these areas. In everything we do, sustainability is a key element of our corporate strategy.
Sustainability and decarbonisation at Viega
Viega has been operating successfully for over 120 years. From the experience we've gained over this time, we know that you need to think ahead to do business sustainably. Our solutions for clean water and more sustainable production, as well as our commitment to digital construction, underpin our market-leading position.
We have translated our vision for sustainability into a set of objectives for our company. Viega will be carbon-neutral by 2035. We believe that taking responsibility is the key to success, and we're embarking on this journey together with all of our employees. We create incentives, encourage a sense of responsibility and promote collaboration and exchange.
We help our customers to become more sustainable in a number of ways, including providing them with more energy-efficient solutions. Viega develops high-quality technologies and products that are made to last. These products help customers to reduce water and energy consumption in their buildings.
As a family company, we think about future generations in every decision we make. Using resources responsibly is part of the Viega DNA. The majority of our products can be recycled time and time again. In production, we strive to reduce the amount of packaging we use and opt for recyclable materials. Sustainability is part of our responsibility as a business.
Anna Viegener, Chair of the Shareholder Committee, Viega Holding GmbH & Co. KG
The building sector accounts for a third of Germany's CO2 emissions and energy consumption. Energy-efficient drinking water treatment systems have an important part to play in reducing energy consumption and protecting our climate. Our products help our customers to contribute towards the achievement of our national climate objectives.
Claus Holst-Gydesen, Chair of the Board, Viega Holding GmbH & Co. KG
Sustainability and decarbonisation in business
The actions we take today determine how we will live in the future.
With its Agenda 2030, which includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the United Nations (UN) has adopted a global plan to improve living conditions across the entire planet. The cornerstones of this are global economic progress, social justice and protection of the environment. Companies are urged to contribute to the SDGs.
Our sustainability strategy is based on the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. Customers, suppliers and employees expect to see our company taking responsibility for sustainable action and climate protection.
We want to lead the way with a high-quality and consistent approach to sustainability. In our view, this approach provides us with significant business opportunities, which in turn drive us to produce more innovative products for customers, establish long-term relationships with loyal employees and ensure our competitiveness on the market.
Viega is one of the "50 Sustainability & Climate Leaders"
We want to optimise and improve quality of life by doing business responsibly and developing sustainable solutions.
This is why we're particularly proud that Viega has been named as one of the world's "50 Sustainability & Climate Leaders" alongside 49 other global companies. The United Nations awards this accolade to companies that demonstrate an exceptionally high level of commitment to climate objectives and that implement effective measures to bring us closer to these targets.
Our objectives
We've defined four fixed objectives for our company in our sustainability agenda. We're implementing a wide range of measures to meet these objectives.
Viega will be carbon-neutral by 2035
Viega will be carbon-neutral by 2035*. This is how we will reduce the negative impact of our activities on the climate.
*in terms of Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions, as defined in the Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
We want to be pioneers and make sustainability an integral part of our corporate strategy.
Marius Gabriel Bucur, Chief Strategy Officer, Viega Holding GmbH & Co. KG
Sustainability – the solution for our customers
Viega offers solutions that significantly reduce energy and media consumption in buildings. We strive to continuously expand our range of products and services to actively support our customers' sustainability efforts.
As innovation drivers, not only do we develop innovative products and sustainable solutions, we also see it as our duty to share our knowledge and expertise. In other words, by integrating our products and solutions into our customers' projects, we are helping our customers become more sustainable and efficient. Take, for example, our new AquaVip Solutions system, which increases the energy efficiency of water treatment in buildings. The use of renewable energy in hot water systems therefore provides an ecologically and economically viable solution. What's more, we are currently expanding our services for our customers: our intelligent Viega Building Intelligence planning tool uses building information modelling (BIM) to assist our customers in designing innovative and energy-efficient buildings.
Oliver Otte, Vice President of Media Management, Viega GmbH & Co. KG
Responsibility and commitment – our keys to success
A common cause and part of our company's DNA: everyone at Viega works together for sustainability! Thanks to our training sessions, our employees and managers play their part in spreading the importance of sustainable action and decarbonisation. At Viega, dialogue and participation go hand in hand as our core values and our Viega Sustainability Heroes are active across the entire company. What's more, our sustainability goals are included in our managers' goal agreements.
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Viega approaches sustainability in a transparent manner
Starting in 2024, we will publish an annual sustainability report to improve our transparency and map the development of our sustainability activities. Our report will be based on the European Commission's Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive and include information on environmental goals as well as essential social and governance issues.
In the future, we will also have external bodies verify and certify our products using Environmental Product Declarations (EPD). This involves an environmental assessment over the entire life cycle of our products.
Our Highlights
On the way to climate neutrality: Viega India covers 100% of energy consumption for daily production with solar energy
With over 3,453 hours of sunshine per year, our plant in Sanand, Ahmedabad, India is located at an ideal longitude for setting a significant milestone on our path to climate neutrality. Since the beginning of July 2022, the power supply for daily production has been running via an innovative solar installation on the roof of the plant: in just 94 days, our employees got the project off the ground, from installation to start of operation of the system.
With an area of almost 4,500 m², the solar installation with over 1,000 monocrystalline PERC panels covers about 33 percent of the flat roof. Around 712,000 kWh of electricity can be produced per year - enough to cover 100 percent of the daily energy requirements for the entire plant over the next two years. In this way, we achieve a CO2 offset of around 600 tons per year in India!
Thanks to its modular design, the plant can be further expanded to supply the growing site with sufficient energy in the future. This is another important step on the successful path of Viega India: Since 2015, the number of employees has increased from 20 to over 170 today. Pre-wall systems, wastewater elements, pipes and fittings are manufactured locally, most of which are distributed to many European countries via Viega Germany.
Our Indian colleagues are doing a great job here. The new solar installation is a good example of what we want to focus on even more with the Viega Group: We have set ourselves the goal of being climate neutral by 2035 at the latest. Projects like this show how serious we are about this and approach it consistently. As a family business, we take responsibility for a future worth living.
Marius Gabriel Bucur (Chief Strategy Officer), Viega Holding GmbH & Co. KG
Other ways we ensure sustainability
The SDGs as a framework
Our sustainability strategy is based on six of the Sustainable Development Goals and the associated indicators. Across these six goals, there are eight targets that we want to contribute to. Our ambitious objectives and actions aim to bring us closer to achieving SDGs 6, 7, 9, 11, 12 and 13.
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SDG 6: Clean water and sanitation
SDG 6 Clean water and sanitation: Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
Target 6.3: By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimising release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated waste water and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally.
Target 6.4: By 2030, substantially increase water-use efficiency across all sectors and ensure sustainable withdrawals and supply of freshwater to address water scarcity and substantially reduce the number of people suffering from water scarcity.
Our contribution: Our products and services help to maintain a clean supply of drinking water. We use water with care in our production processes: we deploy sensor-operated fittings, circulation pipes, reverse osmosis and vacuum evaporators to significantly reduce our consumption of water and chemicals.
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SDG 7: Affordable and clean energy
SDG 7 Affordable and clean energy: Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
Target 7.3: By 2030, double the global rate of improvement in energy efficiency.
Our contribution: Our products reduce our customers' energy consumption for drinking water hygiene and heating. In our production process and across our company, our energy consumption has only increased slightly in recent years (8%) even though our revenue has increased by 40% and our workforce has grown by 30%. The efficiency measures we've implemented to achieve this have prevented around 22 thousand tonnes of CO2 emissions between 2015 and 2020.
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SDG 9: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
SDG 9 Industry, innovation and infrastructure: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialisation and foster innovation.
Target 9.4: By 2030, upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable, with increased resource-use efficiency and greater adoption of clean and environmentally sound technologies and industrial processes, with all countries taking action in accordance with their respective capabilities.
Our contribution: We consistently invest in sustainable industrial facilities and innovative technologies. The sums we invest are above average for our sector.
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SDG 11: Sustainable cities and communities
SDG 11 Sustainable cities and communities: Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
Target 11.6: By 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities […].
Our contribution: Our products significantly reduce energy and water consumption over the operating life of the building.
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SDG 12: Responsible consumption and production
SDG 12 Responsible consumption and production: Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
Target 12.4: By 2030, achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle, in accordance with agreed international frameworks, and significantly reduce their release to air, water and soil in order to minimise their adverse impacts on human health and the environment.
Target 12.5: By 2030, substantially reduce waste generation through prevention, reduction, recycling and reuse.
Our contribution: We continually improve the efficiency of our production processes and products for a long – and therefore more sustainable – product life cycle.
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SDG 13: Climate action
SDG 13 Climate action: Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
Target 13.2: Integrate climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning.
Target 13.3: Improve education, awareness-raising and human and institutional capacity on climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning.
Our contribution: We have set out a clear strategy for becoming carbon-neutral by 2035. We want to be an environmental leader, and we continually implement new measures to reduce our energy consumption and CO2 emissions. By the end of 2022, our targeted training sessions will equip employees and managers with sustainability and decarbonisation knowledge that they can apply and share with others.