In the last few years Miele has not only reduced the power and water consumption of its products, it has also greatly reduced the company-wide energy consumption by introducing numerous energy saving measures. In recognition of its successful energy management, Miele was recently awarded the “Best Practice Label” by the German Energy Agency (dena). “The numbers – the company has explained in a press release – speak for themselves: the specific energy consumption, that is the consumption per ton of product, dropped since the year 2000 by 32.7% – even though new factory buildings were built and production was extended. In addition, just between 2012 and 2014 alone, Miele implemented a total of more than 50 energy efficiency measures across all their sites. With 43 measures that could easily be quantified, savings of over 2.8 gigawatt hours of electricity and hence 481,600 euros per year were achieved. The preliminary calculation of the potential and the introduction of energy saving measures were managed by the energy management system for which Miele had already received certification in 2012. Right from the introduction, the system was set up in a particularly lean way and linked with a central database system so that those involved could use it in a straightforward and effective manner to produce documentation and evaluate data. The most important elements are standardised documents and tools (software) that can be understood by all, which were developed by the energy officers in the individual factories”.
