Press: Enclosure manufacturer significantly reduces its burden on the environment

"The responsible use of resources is firmly anchored in Rittal's company principles and is proven by consistent energy-efficiency measures in production," explains Michael Weiher, Rittal's President International Operations. For the company, energy efficiency represents a measurable quantity in the production process. The amount of the energy consumed is recorded as a matter of course, ranging from electricity, gas and water from external sources to the consumption of the compressed air and solar energy generated, as well as renewable energy from cogeneration heat and power plants. Corresponding figures - even narrowed down to individual pieces of equipment - can now be recorded. Energy consumption per factory, which can be calculated as the ratio of energy consumption to production, serves as a benchmark for comparison with other Rittal production sites.

Friedhelm Utsch, Head of the SEUB Department, with responsibility for industrial safety, energy, the environment and buildings, and who is internal independent service and energy adviser to the Friedhelm Loh Group, of which Rittal is the largest company, is very pleased with the energy figures at the Rittershausen plant. "We were able to continuously reduce all types of consumption from 2006 to 2010: electricity by 16 percent, gas by 28 and water by 30 percent."
Efficiency measures include:

- Running a CHP unit plant with an output of 380 kW, as well as using more than 7,000 hours of internally produced heat per year, together with a reduction in CO2 emissions that even exceeds the objectives of the Federal Government.
- Converting the paint shop to using a catalytic waste gas cleaning system that consumes 90 percent less gas, and introducing a wet-on-wet process that uses significantly less energy in terms of heating processes, so saving 485 tonnes of CO2 annually
- Using low-temperature powder coating processes
- Converting heating units and pump controls to regulated systems. Shutting down heating units with a capacity of 4 megawatts
- Restricting the use of compressed air applications on equipment and tools
- The use of power-controlled compressed air generation with heat recovery
- Converting the cooling circuits to free cooling
- Use of energy-efficient drive systems in new plants

The ideas needed in order to save resources often come from the employees themselves. At Rittal, all staff are called upon to make suggestions for savings in the context of a continuous improvement process (CIP). Appropriate action is pursued by energy working groups, which exist at every plant, action that is implemented by internal specialists. The certification of the plants - including the international production centres - in line with the ISO 14001 environmental management system ensures that objectives, measures and implementation are monitored and evaluated.

Independent testimonials confirm the effectiveness of Rittal's efficiency measures. The "Best Energy Efficiency Project 2010" and "European Energy Manager of the Year 2010" awards were received by two employees from the Rittershausen plant who had analyzed the enclosure painting process and greatly improved its efficiency. Besides this, in 2007 Rittal won the first prize in the state of Hesse climate protection award for energy efficiency measures in business.

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Rittal GmbH & Co. KG

Rittal GmbH & Co. KG, which has its headquarters in Herborn, Germany, is one of the world's leading system suppliers for enclosures, power distribution, climate control, IT infrastructure and software & services. Customers from all sectors of industry, from mechanical engineering, as well as from the IT and telecoms market, are making use of system solutions from Rittal.

Its broad product range also includes complete solutions for modular and energy-efficient data centres: from innovative security concepts for data systems (formerly known as Litcos) through to physical data and system security for IT infrastructures (formerly known as Lampertz). The leading software providers Eplan and Mind8 - Rittal subsidiaries - are supplementing the Rittal product portfolio with interdisciplinary engineering solutions.

Founded in 1961, Rittal is now active worldwide with 10 production sites, 63 subsidiaries and 40 agencies. With 10,000 employees worldwide, Rittal is the largest company of the proprietor-run Friedhelm Loh Group based in Haiger, Germany. The entire group employs more than 11,500 people and expects to generate revenues of € 2.2 billion in 2011. Further information at www.rittal.com and www.friedhelm-loh-group.com.