One of these new solutions will soon be put into practice: on the roofs of the factories and the office building in Markt Schwaben. By the end of 2023, around 1,600 solar modules are expected to generate about 600 kilowatt-peak of electricity there. “We want to operate sustainably, but can only do that if we work with renewable energies,” says Berger, who manages the project.
As honorary chairman of the Association for Energy Transition in the Bavarian district of Starnberg, he has been advising municipalities, private consumers, and companies on energy self-sufficiency for 15 years and planning photovoltaic systems for farmers from his district, for example. For Berger and the Environmental Circle members, the installation of the photovoltaic system is a particular success. Since conducting a feasibility study in 2020, Berger has also been contributing his technical expertise to the entire Group. Together with his colleague Peter Bär from Group Procurement and Supply Chain Management, he is already planning further photovoltaic systems for other Business Areas’ sites.
Sustainability as a personal driving force
Solar panels also generate electricity on the roof of his own home, enabling him to be self-sufficient for two thirds of his energy. Two electric cars and a heat pump, which he has operated for eleven years, round out his private energy portfolio. For him, climate change and its consequences are the most important and underestimated challenge of our time. “Right now, we are living at the expense of future generations,” he says. “We have a responsibility to act now.”
The commitment of Oliver Berger, Patrick Hess, and their colleagues is now having an effect. Employees outside the Environmental Circle are already approaching the group with some ideas. One trainee, for example, came up with the idea of saving electricity by switching off devices such as monitors or docking stations overnight using a timer. “He did the math and presented us with his plan.
Currently, we are recording our electricity consumption and discussing measures to implement the idea for whole rooms. Even small sustainability ideas can grow into something big,” says Hess. This is an attitude that Oliver Berger and Patrick Hess from the Environmental Circle carry into the company — and a further contribution to the overarching goal of Körber’s sustainability strategy of making production CO2e-neutral by 2025.
