Ecology
Tradition that sows the future: our promise to the environment
The environment and sustainability are very important to us. Our company founder Rudolf Brugger grew up on a Black Forest farm with forestry. There he learnt at an early age what sustainability means: following the principle of "responsibly and consciously harvesting what has been sown".
We continue to run our company in this tradition today. More than ever, the responsible use of resources, the optimal use of materials and consistent recycling chains are an important part of our work. We humans live on the basis of our planet - protecting this basis of life is therefore consistent and without alternative for us. At Brugger, we act accordingly - for our future and that of our children and grandchildren.
Sustainability report
What makes us a climate-neutral company?
The effects of climate change are now clearly noticeable. The obligation of politicians and companies to do something about it is becoming ever greater. As a company, we therefore see it as our responsibility to create a world in which global warming is minimised. This can only be achieved to a large extent by reducing theCO2 emissions of the economy in industrialised countries.
Our aim is to operate with a lowCO2 footprint: For example, we purchase electricity generated from renewable sources and our heating systems are fuelled by heat recovery, district heating via wood chips and wood pellets.
Thanks to such efforts, we achieved a value of 54.3 tonnes ofCO2 in 2022 - which is very good for a company of our size. To put this into perspective, the average German produces around 11.6 tonnes ofCO2 every year through their lifestyle.
The greenhouse gas emissions that we cause through our company's activities and upstream products are calculated by Fokus Zukunft GmbH & Co. We feel fully responsible for the emissions caused by us and the emissions caused by the transport of our products and offset these accordingly by purchasing certificates.
Our energy balance: utilising the power of the sun
At Brugger, we consistently rely on our own electricity: with our three photovoltaic systems, we now cover almost 30% of our entire electricity requirements ourselves. But that's not all: we also feed a further 15% of the electricity we generate into the public grid as clean energy.
Efficiency knows no direction
It is often said that photovoltaics on north-facing roofs make no sense - we prove the opposite! Our system on the north-facing roof (120 kWp) delivers an impressive 80 % of the yield of a comparable south-facing system over the year.
Background check: To put this into perspective: 1 kWp of installed capacity facing south generates around 1,000 kWh of electricity per year in the Black Forest.
Live insight: Our energy flows
In the following graphic, we make our energy transition transparent. You can see an overview of the data from the last 24 hours:
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Orange: Our current building reference power (our current consumption).
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Green: The solar yield of our three systems.
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Blue (balance): The ratio between grid consumption and solar yield.
A look at the blue line: as soon as it falls below the zero line, we generate more electricity than we consume and feed the surplus energy directly into the grid.
(To view the solar data, you must fully accept the website's cookies).
Best practice: measurable data for climate protection
A current project on our company premises shows how we implement this responsibility on a day-to-day basis:
Precise local data is essential to better understand the challenges of climate change. A modern weather station on the meadow behind our company building has been providing detailed measurements of regional weather dynamics since May 2024.
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The benefit: This data helps to create a reliable basis for planners, cities and companies to be better prepared for climatic changes.
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Local commitment: A special thank you goes to Jan Hagnberger, who runs and looks after this station privately with great passion.
For us, this project is a wonderful example of how private commitment and entrepreneurial space can come together to make a valuable contribution to the community.
BRUGGER works in accordance with the Kyoto Protocol
As greenhouse gases are evenly distributed in the atmosphere, they do not necessarily have to be offset where they are produced. For newly industrialising and developing countries, emissions trading is a key driver for the transfer of clean technologies and sustainable economic development. It therefore makes sense to support projects in newly industrialising and developing countries to improve the economic, social and ecological situation.
The greenhouse gas balance sheet drawn up for Brugger provides a transparent overview of all of our company's greenhouse gas emissions. The emissions are categorised into 3 so-called "scopes": Scope 1 - Direct emissions from operations, Scope 2 - Indirect emissions from purchased energy and Scope 3 - Other indirect emissions are taken into account.
Based on the values determined for us and by purchasing twice the amount of climate certificates, our company has become greenhouse gas neutral. We have received the "climate-neutral company" award for offsetting our greenhouse gases.
This makes our company one of the first in our industry to voluntarily offset its emissions in accordance with the Kyoto Protocol.
