As a family-owned company and innovation leader with a 60-year history, it is a simple matter of course since its foundation for us at Rittal that economic success and progress depend upon corporate responsibility. We are firmly committed to this responsibility in our globally binding company principles. With regard to human rights, social responsibility, resource- and climate-friendly business practices, we formulated the following standard as early as 1989: “We are aware of our responsibility to the environment and society in which we live. We want, therefore, to take part in shaping and improving it.”
Our fields of action for more sustainability for the world in which we live and work:
What does environmental and climate protection look like at Rittal in concrete terms?
We have completely converted our power supply to green electricity at all our German locations. Seven Friedhelm Loh Group sites are also already equipped with photovoltaic systems; others are at the project planning and preparation stage. This has led to an almost 40% drop in carbon emissions at the Group’s global locations since 2019.
Further measures:
- Energy management: Starting with the new Rittal plant for small enclosures, we have installed detailed energy monitoring alongside and as part of Smart Production. The goal is to optimise energy consumption and loads. In the long term, this will also reduce the product carbon footprint of the products manufactured there.
- We avoid unnecessary transport. The new Rittal plant for small enclosures, for instance, has been directly connected to the Rittal Global Distribution Center (GDC) warehouse in Haiger to completely avoid in-house transport by truck from the manufacturing facility to the central warehouse.
- We have a certified Environmental Management System in accordance with IS0 14001 at all Rittal production facilities.
We support customers in their climate goals with our solutions
As part of the group of companies, we support our customers with digitalisation solutions for sustainable process optimisation along their value chain.
- For decades now, Rittal cooling units have been the benchmark for maximum energy efficiency for operating control and switchgear systems: they consume up to 75% less energy on average than comparable competitor devices. One unit saves an average of 1 ton of carbon annually. That corresponds to the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by a beech tree over 80 years. Users will find that this high level of efficiency drastically reduces the Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) and the energy costs over many years of deployment. Rittal has developed the hybrid technology needed, and simplifies any transition with calculations (ROI and savings), consulting and services for maintenance and conversion.
- The ZVEI project “Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) using the example of a control cabinet”. We are carrying out cross-company fundamental and pioneering work with the ZVEI (German Electrical and Digital Industry Association) on the issue of how PCFs can be formally certified industry-wide using standardised data.
- As part of the corporate group, we support our customers with digitalisation solutions to enable sustainable process optimisation along their value chains. Rittal ePOCKET, the digital wiring plan pocket, makes thousands of sheets of paper for equipment and system documentation superfluous. This data usage also forms the basis for smart maintenance solutions that optimise not only system uptime but also energy consumption.
Digital transformation calls for the rapid expansion of data centre and data infrastructure with maximum performance and up-time. These data centres should simultaneously consume as little energy as possible. Rittal speeds up this expansion by offering components and modular data centre solutions and increases energy efficiency with technology, consulting and analysis.
In Lefdal, Norway, the Friedhelm Loh Group is pushing ahead with one of the most climate-friendly large-scale data centres, sheltered in a former mine. It is naturally cooled with water from the fjord and powered by renewable energy.
Shaping the energy transition
The energy transition is indispensable for a secure, environmentally compatible and economically successful future - and a Herculean task. This also means that the opportunities for industrial companies are great - for example, for the accelerated expansion of grids and the smart management of energy. We at Rittal and Eplan are ensuring the speed of expansion by standardising systems and optimising value creation processes.
Rittal Foundation: Strengthening cohesion, promoting the future