Remodelling production – efficiency on the consumption side

On the consumption side, energy demand has been consistently minimised at the Allendorf site. Important measures taken to achieve this were the remodelling of processes and company structures, the forward-looking renewal of production facilities, the increased utilisation of waste heat, a consistent supply structure for heating and air conditioning, and the insulation of the building envelope.

	Remodelling the production facilities
Remodelling production has resulted in improved utilisation of production facilities and reduced workflow paths. New machines with high efficiency drives consume less energy, and in addition, demandmatched machine control has been able to reduce idle time losses. Even the lighting is controlled subject to demand. Workflow efficiency has been significantly increased by condensing the production area from 109 000 m² to 78 000 m². Energy savings: 6300 MWh p.a. CO2 reduction: 1 995 t p.a.
	Optimised system hydraulics
The efficiency oriented modernisation of production facilities optimised the system hydraulics in the entire factory, e.g. through the use of variable speed circulation pumps and variable speed compressed air production. Energy savings: 345 MWh p.a. CO2 reduction: 134 t p.a.
	Central heat recovery
The extract heat from generating compressed air, the cooling of the IT centre and the test beds in our production, as well as R&D, are routed via a common return to a central heat recovery plant. There, they are used to raise the temperature level for heat provision of the site, for which an electric heat pump is also utilised.  Energy savings: 9582 MWh p.a. CO2 reduction: 3.000 t p.a.
	Supply structure – heating and air conditioning
By controlling space heaters separately and according to demand, plus improved pipework insulation, further savings have been achieved in the heat distribution around the site. The extract heat from the powder coating plant is also utilised for heating fresh air through the deployment of rotary heat exchangers. In addition, a heating centre with heat sources in a cascade has realised further savings potential. Energy savings: 3221 MWh p.a. CO2 reduction: 481 t p.a.
	Insulation of the building envelope
The new entry sluice with door air curtains and quickacting door closers ensure that less heat escapes when entering or leaving the factory buildings. Thermally insulating the walls and replacing single glazing with thermal glazing has further minimised the heat losses from the factory. Energy savings: 1663 MWh p.a. CO2 reduction: 248 t p.a.

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