AIXTRON SE has been distinguished with the Energy Efficiency Award 2017 of the German Energy Agency (dena) in the category “Energy efficiency 4.0” for its digital measurement and remote monitoring of energy data as well as for carrying out extensive energy efficiency measures in heating and cooling systems.

(Image: Wall Street Journal)

In 2014, AIXTRON initiated the project to examine the energy management at the company’s headquarters in Herzogenrath (in the urban region of Aachen), as the generation of the required cooling and heating volumes required a high amount of power despite the modern and highly efficient systems. Together with the energy service provider SPIE Energy Solutions GmbH, different energy efficiency measures were developed based on a thorough analysis and subsequently implemented, as well. 

The result is a lasting reduction of the power consumption by at least 6.4 GWh/year which leads to a reduction of CO2 by 1,884 t/year1 as well as cost savings in the amount of 211,000 €/year2. These figures also impressed the judges panel at the Energy Efficiency Awards, who especially emphasized the continuous and committed planning and execution of the energy efficiency measures in their evaluation of the excellent project.

“With the help of extensive analysis and the subsequent implementation of energy efficiency measures in collaboration with SPIE Energy Solutions, we were able to reduce the energy and gas consumption of our heating and cooling systems by at least 74%3 as well as the corresponding energy costs by more than 40%. That way, our investments in an innovative, digitally controlled energy management system will be amortized in just a few years” explains Karl-Heinz Göbbels happily, the head of facility management at AIXTRON and one of the successful project’s initiators.

Dr. Bernd Schulte, President of AIXTRON SE, says: “This award confirms the excellent work our project team does, which does not only benefit our company. For by reducing the energy consumption and consequently also decreasing the connected CO2 emissions, we actively contribute to easing the environmental burden in Aachen’s urban region as well as handling the crucial resource that energy is more consciously and efficiently.”