India in two minds about energy Industrial town in the countryside ...

Growing Appetite for Energy

India in two minds about energy

Local Municipal Energy Supply

Industrial town in the countryside heralds in the future

Pervasive Corporate Culture

How BILLY and Co. set sustainable standards

Interview with Nawal Al-Hosany

Diplomat for renewable energy in the Middle East

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UNLIMITED NO 06 _ 2013

Request your free subscription at:www.rehau.com/unlimited

Title picture: Muni Seva ashram in Zand, Gujarat, India, 13 August 2013, 10:20 am

Unlimited is one of Europe’s best company magazines

“Sustainability by definition also means continuity. Now more than ever, every country around the world needs to be united in this global issue.”

Nawal Al-Hosany

Dear readers

Over the last few years, the energy market has changed im-mensely, much more than any other market sector. Renewable energies already meet a fifth of all energy requirements around the world today. According to the London-based financial infor-mation service, Bloomberg New Energy Finance, global invest-ments for this market will amount to over 630 billion US dollars by 2030.

Germany’s “Energiewende” (energy transition) is seen as a postulate far beyond the borders of Europe. Countries that benefited from the oil boom of the past century are now making the decision to carry out research into renew-able energies. It would appear that a paradigm shift is occurring.

However, the rapidly growing world population’s appetite for energy must be stilled by sustainable means. Conven-tional power plants cannot be shut down from one day to the next. Every week, two new coal-fired power plants begin operation in China. And India finds itself venturing towards gigantic nuclear power plants on the one hand and alternative energies in rural areas on the other. Our title story shows how decentralized supply systems usher in the future in these regions. In another article, we reveal how a regional town supply system can serve as a model for large industrial sites.

In this issue we would like to present you, dear readers, with reliable and efficient solutions that make one thing clear: renewable energy is unquestionably on the rise; sustainability is the motto – penetrating deep into the cor-porate culture of global companies. This is true at REHAU, too. At the mention of “energy transition”, most of us think of solar plants and wind farms, or maybe even alternative mobility concepts, but few are reminded of the plastics industry. We hope you enjoy discovering how REHAU’s intelligent systems solutions help pave the way to an age of renewable energy and energy efficiency.

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uNLIMITeD NO 06_2013a magazine from Rehau aG + Co

PublisherRehau aG + Co

Project ManagerKaty hahn

editorial teamKlaus GollwitzerWolfgang NarrNils Wagner

editor-in-ChiefKaty hahn

ContributorsTanja heinleinBenjamin KemminerMarkus Kemminer

PhotographyChristian Grund

Design conceptart DirectionSimone Fennel

RealizationGothuey & Partner

LithoDetail aG

PrintMayr Miesbach Gmbh

Published biannuallyPrint run: 35,000

Rainer Schulz, CEO, Rehau GroupEnjoy the read!

Rainer Schulz, CEO, Rehau GroupEnjoy the read!

REHAU _ Editorial

06/13 _ REHAU unlimited 03

Editorial 03News 05People 21Competence 25Statistics 38Locations 39

Contents

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Pioneer IKEAClear statements for man and the environment.Page 22

InterviewNawal Al-Hosany on the changes in oil-rich countries.Page 34

India’s TrailblazersEnergy pioneers far away from economic centers.Page 08

LocationThe Pune plant, India.Page 32

Highly innovativeEnergy concept for industrial sites.Page 16

CompetenceRalf Winterling on the future of the energy transition.Page 25

1,000,000 treesSince 2007, the Jane Goodall Institute in Shanghai has been attracting attention with its “Million Trees Project”.

In an eff ort to prevent the imminent spread of drylands and curb the rise of China’s greenhouse gas emissions, the Jane Goodall Institute intends to have planted one million trees in the desert of Mongolia by 2014. The tree-planting initiative aims to make people aware of how important and easy it is to counter ever-increasing environmental pollution. The institute, named after the famous British primatologist and conservationist, is a recognized non-govern-mental organization and China’s fi rst and only foreign environmental protection organization.

www.rootsandshoots.org

01Environmental initiative

REHAU _ News


05Innovation

Power BallMillions of kids around the world have no access to electricity. And many of them are also crazy about football.

Now imagine a football that generates and stores ener-gy while it’s being kicked around. This brilliant idea has now become reality. Just 30 minutes of play with this ball is enough to power an LED lamp – which can be directly connected to the ball – for three hours. The high-tech ball, “Soccket”, was developed by Harvard University students. Anyone can donate a ball to needy children around the world and in return receive one themselves.

www.unchartedplay.com

Hydrogen – The FutureIn 2014, REHAU will build a test centre for hydrogen pressure tanks at its site in Viechtach.

In doing so, the company is expanding its capacity to test new devel-opments in alternative drive technologies. Developed by REHAU, the hydrogen pressure tank type class 4 is already approaching its fi nal test phase before going into production. Its manufacturing concept is, to date, unique.

www.rehau.com

02Automotive industry

BannedDenmark means business: since the beginning of 2013, new buildings may no longer contain boilers fuelled by oil or natural gas.

Starting in 2016, the Scandinavian country will take it even further and ban the renewal of oil heating systems in existing buildings – at least for those that can connect to the public district heating grid or convert to natural gas heaters.

www.energie-experten.org

03Politics

Bhutan wants to produce only organic

food in future.

04Sustainability

REHAU _ News

06 Rehau unlimited _ 06/13

09Science

Going bananas!A 16-year-old Turkish student created A 16-year-old Turkish student created waves at this year’s Google Science waves at this year’s Google Science Fair – an online science competition Fair – an online science competition for students.

Her idea was to produce plastic from banana peels. Elif Bilgin has been researching the production of the biopolymer for two years. One possible fi eld of applicat-ion is in the insulation of cables. She got the idea from biopolymers made from the remains of mangoes, whose starch is already in use in the production of plastics.

www.green.wiwo.de

07Research

Solar paperResearchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have succeeded in printing solar cells on paper.

The paper can be folded, rolled or creased and provides up to 6,000 hours of solar energy – enough electricity to power a laptop monitor. In the future, the thin solar panels could serve as solar wallpaper in living rooms, supplying LED lamps with energy.

www.mit.eduwww.mit.edu

monitor. In the future, the thin solar panels could serve as solar wallpaper in living rooms, supplying LED lamps with energy. monitor. In the future, the thin solar panels could serve as monitor. In the future, the thin solar panels could serve as solar wallpaper in living rooms, supplying LED lamps with energy. monitor. In the future, the thin solar panels could serve as solar wallpaper in living rooms, supplying LED lamps with energy. monitor. In the future, the thin solar panels could serve as solar wallpaper in living rooms, supplying LED lamps with energy. monitor. In the future, the thin solar panels could serve as solar wallpaper in living rooms, supplying LED lamps with energy.

In 2011, the light metropolis of Las Vegas replaced more than 80% of its street lighting with LED lamps and in the process reduced its energy con -sumption by 20 million kilowatt hours – amounting to savings of 1.7 million US dollars each year.

REHAU’s surface programs RAUVISIO crystal REHAU’s surface programs RAUVISIO crystal and RAUKANTEX visions Duo-Design won the and RAUKANTEX visions Duo-Design won the “red dot award: product design 2013” for “red dot award: product design 2013” for their high product quality. Both products also their high product quality. Both products also received the “honorable mention” award.

www.rehau.com

06Design

08SavingsAWARD

REHAU _ News


300 days of sun per year: energy for self-supply

Deepak Gadhia with the ashram’s director, Vikram Patel.

Right in the middle of the green movement

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India’s appetite for energy is huge. Large-scale nuclear and solar projects aim to ensure economic growth. In rural areas, attempts are being made to use renewable energy to strengthen the infrastructure.

TEXT Benjamin Kemminer, Markus Kemminer PHOTOS Christian Grund

here, in front of the entrance to Muni Seva ashram, about 40 kilometers from Vadodara airport, things look bleak. India has a waste problem, especially in rural areas. The towering mountains of rubbish along the roadside are visible to everyone. across the road looking for food is a donkey, which is not the norm; the people who live here prefer cows as pets. On the main road is a small settlement which supplies visitors to the ashram with products they can’t buy inside. The stores are often simple corrugated-iron shacks, whose entrances have been transformed into puddles of mud by the monsoon rains.

In the ashram, a kind of hindu monastery where people live long term in order to grow and develop (spiritually), one finds oneself in quite a different, clean and undamaged world. Catching one’s eye at the entrance are 100 large parabolic mirrors. The tarred roads on the grounds are immaculate and swept daily by hand. The buildings, up to Western standards, are of solid brick and have round-the-clock electricity, air conditioning and sanitat-ion facilities supplying clean water. The entire area is landscaped; various species of trees and plants provide shade and in the mead-ow, exuberant children play. “We currently generate 30 percent of our energy needs ourselves; by 2014, we want to reach 100 percent.” Deepak Ga-dhia is fluent in German. In the early ’80s, the engineer from Mumbai completed a postgraduate course in energy Consulting

Muni Seva Ashram: a different world, clean and perfect.

REHAU _ Renewable energies


Entrance to the microcosm of Muni Seva Ashram.



Green idyll far away from economic centers.

Talent development:students in Muni Seva Ashram.

Lernziel: effizienter Umgangmit vorhandenen Ressourcen.

Electricity at last: energy for families in the village.

Learning objective: efficient use of available resources.


and Management at the Technical university of Berlin “right in the middle of the green movement,” as he says himself. Gadhia is on the board of the Muni Seva Trust, a donation-funded foundation and the nerve center of the community. In 2011, after the death of his wife, he sold his solar technology company and dedicated his life and abilities entirely to the ashram. Gadhia recalls his first years as a sales rep for a German solar equipment manufacturer in the mid ’80s. at that time, the Indian energy market was a purely local affair; only after laborious negotiations with the Indian au-thorities did the engineer manage to sell his first solar energy sys-tem in his home country. Deals in Malaysia and Indonesia followed, but Gadhia’s ambitions lay elsewhere: his dream was to bring his know-how to his home country.

It all began in 1980 when the founder, anuben Thakkar, was prompted into action by her guru’s afflatus; trying to create a kind of Indian model village, she built her house on what is the site of today’s ashram. “It is estimated that 80,000 Indian villages have massive energy and water supply problems,” says Gadhia. “Muni Seva aims to show that there are also decentralized solutions for regions with poor infrastructure.” The ashram sets the highest standards in terms of comprehensiveness and sustainability – and not just by Indian standards, either. energy supply, energy recov-ery, resource conservation are now at a level which, on the one hand is adapted to local requirements, but on the other, holds its own on the international stage. From the solar cooker designed for individual households to the solar installations for the operation of schools and hospitals, from the photovoltaic lamp to the compre-hensive lighting and ventilation systems, solar-powered water treatment and wood gasification systems: Muni Seva is literally a microcosm for renewable energy applications. as early as 1984, the uchchatar uttar Buniyadi Vidyalaya School became the proud owner of a solar-powered system, which supplied energy to the school’s canteen. It was, according to Ga-dhia, “probably the first solar installation in an Indian school.” The

idea of sustainability and the principles of renewable energy gen-eration are taught both theoretically and practically in the ashram’s three schools. In the dormitories and study areas, photovoltaic bat-teries supply LeD lamps and fans day and night. If the children forget to switch off the lights when leaving a room, it might happen that there’s no light and ventilation during night-time hours. “This way, the children learn to save the existing resources and use them efficiently in future,” says Gadhia. For the most part, cooking is powered by solar energy. India has on average 300 days of sunshine – optimal conditions. however, since the cooking equip-ment only works with direct sunlight, there is an alternative meth-od: wood gasification. This process requires approximately 70 percent less wood; plus, in contrast to an open fire, the cooker can be regulated. The central idea at Muni Seva is to create a cycle in which both man and nature chime together. here in particular, bio-gas plants play a major role. If in the past the massive piles of cow dung created a hygiene problem, today biogas plants provide an all-in-one solution. The dung is collected, mixed with hay and filled into tanks where it is turned into clean biogas and used for cooking, as a fuel for vehicles, to cool the ashram’s in-house infir-mary, and to power the generators which produce electricity. The by-product – organic fertilizer – is used for farming. It’s a two-bird-one-stone scenario: plant waste is being converted into en-ergy in tanks and sanitation and waste disposal is being improved.

A cycle in which both man and nature chime together.

Sources: IEA energy scenario (r)evolution 2012 DLR/Greenpeace/EREC

* incl. hydroelectric power stations with capacities up to 25 GW

Scenario 2050: switch to renewable energies worldwide

2030

2040

2050

2010

2015

2020

GeothermicsNuclear

500 EJ/a*

Oil & Gas

Coal

Solar

WindpowerBiomassHydropower

* Primary energy for electricity, heating, industry and transport in exajoules (EJ) per year worldwide

Power generation in India: Energy mix

Coal105,437 MW

Hydropower38,848 MW

Renewable energy*

22,233 MW

Gas18,094 MW

Nuclear4,780 MW

Oil1,200 MW

Source: Ministry of Power India, gtai, 2012



Biogas supplies energy for cooking.

ble energy sources. But this does not deter Gadhia from arguing in favor of renewable energy production. “The construction of large plants is initially expensive, but will pay itself off within a few years.” according to Gadhia, solar collectors covering a mere two percent of the total area would completely meet India’s current energy needs. energy has become a political issue in India. The de-pendence on the international oil market in particular has prodded the government into providing extensive subsidy measures. Wind energy is a rapidly growing market, already generating approxi-mately eleven gigawatts per year; photovoltaics produce almost 1 gigawatt. and now the Rajasthan desert is set to play host to the largest solar power plant in the world. The plant aims to achieve a peak power of 4,000 megawatts, which is equivalent to three large nuclear power plants. how much the megaproject will cost is still unclear, but one thing is certain: The goal is to become the largest producer of solar energy in the world by 2020 and increase the country’s share of renewable energies to 22 percent. Following the German example, green electricity is subsidized through extra charges per kilowatt hour.

Furthermore, the harmful smoke caused by burning wood or oil is eliminated. The same is true for the generation of light through pho-tovoltaics: it replaces the smoke-intensive kerosene lamps. Muni Seva is trying to promote these kinds of approaches in the surround-ing villages. Interest-free, installment payment plans are off ered in an eff ort to make these options aff ordable, since propane and kero-

sene are ridiculously cheap. Gadhia: “So far, only one in every thou-sand Indians cooks with electricity, one in two with wood, one in three with propane gas. The rest use diesel or kerosene.” The generation of renewable energy in India has a com-paratively long history: the establishment of the Ministry of New and Renewable energy (MNRe) dates back to 1992; nevertheless, the progress made in the interim has been negligible. In the first half of 2013, just 12 gigawatts of electricity – from a total annual demand of around 210 gigawatts – were generated from renewa-

India swaying between subsidized green energy and conventional power plants.

World’s top investors in renewable

energy in 2012:

Investments in billion US dollars Source: Bloomberg 2013

China 65,10

U.S. 35,60

Germany 22,80

Other EU-27 16,30

Japan 16,30

Italy 14,70

UK 8,30

India 6,90

South Africa 5,50

Brazil 5,30



School life: theory with a foundation in reality.

But the government has set its sights on other energy avenues, too. Currently, it’s planning to build the largest nuclear power plant in the world – 800 kilometers south of the ashram. It’s expected to generate ten gigawatts per year. By 2030, the overall output of Indian nuclear power plants is projected to increase from its current level of five gigawatts to an impressive 64. Whether that will be enough to meet the growing energy needs of the subconti-nent remains questionable. “The problem in India is not that we’re producing too lit-tle energy,” says Gadhia. “It’s that it’s not distributed fairly.” emerg-ing economic centers such as Mumbai or Bangalore are well looked after. although there are also functioning power supply net-works out in the country, they remain unaffordable for the rural population. In Gadhia’s view, only needs-based, renewable energy generation sources will allow people to help themselves and gain independence from the state energy market and its fluctuating prices. But: “The only thing that doesn’t work in India is logic: If you begin to ask ‘Why?’ then you’ll go crazy,” he says, laughing. <

RAUBIO – Digester Heating System

RAUBIO – Gas Condensate Collection Chamber

REHAU’s contribution:Generating almost 30 percent of its own electricity Generating almost 30 percent of its own electricity needs, Muni Seva Ashram is home to an array of modern needs, Muni Seva Ashram is home to an array of modern technology. At the heart of this is the biogas plant technology. At the heart of this is the biogas plant connected to a combined heating and power plant.connected to a combined heating and power plant.

REHAU delivered the key components of this system, which is slowly but surely gaining ground in India. Decentralized plants like this efficiently supply energy where it is needed the most: to people in rural areas.

RAUBIO – Digester Heating SystemRAUBIO – Digester Heating SystemBiogas is recovered through the fermentation of organic matter in an airtight and light-tight digester. The fermenta-tion processes require temperatures between 40 °C and 50 °C. The digester heating system RAUBIO Fix is a special PE-Xa heating system, which is easy to install and which guarantees that the digester is heated effectively. It is highly resistant to acid, temperature and pressure, and installation is connectionless. The material even pre-vents microbiological corrosion.

RAUBIO – Gas condensate collection chamber The recovered biogas cools down during transportation from the digester to the combined heating and power plant. The RAUBIO gas condensate collection chamber collects the water condensate from the gas stream and discharges it safely and reliably at the lowest point of the gas pipe. REHAU is the first company to manu-facture an industrial standard solution for condensate separation in biogas plants.



Operation Future

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In Rehau, a 10,000-inhabitant Bavarian town, local industrial enterprises are ringing in the energy transition in an unusual way: They’re making a virtue out of necessity. They’re creating heat and electricity out of waste.

TEXT Katy Hahn PHOTOS Christian Grund

Family homes, shops and traditional market life amid vegetables, spices and pastries: at first glance, the Bavarian town of Rehau looks pretty run-of-the-mill. Rural idyll instead of big-city bustle. But unlike most other municipalities in Bavaria, this 10,000-inhabitant town is characterized by strong industrial growth. Old brick buildings and factory halls recall the town’s his-torical roots in porcelain and leather processing, which date back to the 19 th century. Today, Rehau is home to the largest tannery in Germany, europe’s largest site for the production of stone tiles and the epon-ymous global plastics company. Comprising around 700 compa-nies, the town is considered an industry stronghold. With its energy consumption of 70 million kilowatt hours per year, it consumes several times more energy than other small towns with comparable populations. Rehau: run-of-the-mill? anything but. The same is true for its industrial enterprises: With their eco-conscious ambition and mid-size company innovative drive, they are paving the way for the future. The expressed goal is to successively establish a decentralized energy supply system, which

High-tech out in the country: huge digester silos.

is largely based on renewable energy. In essence, the idea is sim-ple: to generate heat and electricity from industrial waste. as a technology expert, energy Solutions Gmbh special-izes in just such projects. In collaboration with the tannery Südleder, the company is tackling what renowned universities up until recent-ly still thought impossible: the generation of biogas from tannery

waste. Located in Rehau, Südleder is a tannery company with a long-standing history. every year, it produces over fi ve million square meters of high-quality leather for the automotive and furni-ture industries. “The production creates waste, which is rich in or-ganic ingredients and which, due to its special composition, had to be disposed of by expensive means,” said eric Priller, CeO of en-ergy Solutions. “So, the idea was, could energy be generated from this waste?” In other words: Let’s make a virtue out of necessity. Construction of a plant to recover fat from glue stock be-gan in 2007. Fat acts as a replacement for fossil fuels. Five years later, a unique process is setting new standards. By developing a fermentation method which produces biogas from the organic in-gredients of process water and the waste material from the fatre-covery process, energy Solutions was able to cut in half the amount of tannery waste to be disposed of in 2012. Since then, the amount of electricity and heat generated has made Südleder virtually en-ergy self-sufficient. With this result, energy Solutions can boast not only to have refuted published reports, but also to have revolution-ized to some extent the entire waste management market. “We’re proving that it’s technically and chemically possible to produce biogas from tannery waste,” said eric Priller proudly. his company, founded in 2010, is firmly establishing itself as a solutions provider for previously unimaginable challenges.

Goal: a decentralized energy supply mosaicbased on renewable energy.

The town in numbers

Population 9,374Area 80.34 km²Population density 117 inhabitants/km²Country Germany State BavariaAdministrative region Upper FranconiaGeographic location 50° 15’ N, 12° 2’ ELocal companies approx. 700 companies (mainly plastic, ceramic, leather, textile, metal and wood industry)

REHAU _ On Site


Eric Priller, Director of Energy Solutions, in front of the Südleder biogas plant.

Traditional market scene: wednesdays in the historic town center.


REHAU’s contribution:By founding Energy Solutions GmbH, REHAU By founding Energy Solutions GmbH, REHAU chose to specialize early in the market and potential chose to specialize early in the market and potential of renewable energies.of renewable energies.

In Rehau, Bavaria, the company’s achievements are making a huge diff erence. Here, neither wind nor solar power is relied upon; instead, energy is primarily derived from waste.The pro-cesses developed by Energy Solutions are designed for this and are already catching on around Europe:

“TanERGY”Unique around the world, this process generates energy from waste. In Rehau, this waste is from the local tannery, 76 percent of which is turned into energy. Electricity and heat are recovered through fermentation processes.

“WastERGY”With this newly developed process, the domestic waste bin takes center stage in the production of renewable energy. Municipal bio-waste could in future supply the nutrients for a fermentation concept that generates energy out of com-post mountains.

“NetERGY”A superordinate, self-learning control system could in future record and regulate all the parameters of a local self-supply system of energy derived from bio-waste. The system monitors the environmental infl uences – such as wind, sun and outdoor temperatures – as well as the behavior of energy producers and consumers.

The bioenergy plant for the fermentation of industrial by-products is just one element in the mosaic of Rehau’s decentral-ized energy supply system. In 2012, energy Solutions built a 400-kilowatt biogas plant in the district of Kühschwitz and this plant is connected to the municipal power grid. Businesses and 650 households draw their power from here. Via a district heating network, the plant also supplies other households and businesses with heat. Located in the village, the company Rehau has been operating a bio-methane combined heating and power plant since 2012. With a total capacity of almost one megawatt, it covers the

electricity needs of all of the company’s administrative buildings and more than half of their heat requirements. any electricity pro-duced in excess flows directly into the public network, which has recently been bolstered by another component: the second 630-kilowatt-hour combined heating and power plant belonging to the company Südleder. Together these three plants – the Südleder bioenergy plant, the biogas power plant and the combined heating and power plants – already cover over 25 percent of the energy needs of the town of Rehau today. Note: Wind and solar power are not part of picture. “a coverage rate of over a quarter is pretty decent for an industrial town,” says Priller. he reveals that more development stages are being targeted in order to further increase the share of renewable energies of the town’s total energy consumption. No question: cost-effectiveness, entrepreneurial instinct and compre-hensive technical know-how go hand in hand in Rehau. Towards a clean future, where not only the enterprises participating in the free energy consortium benefit, but also the town itself and its inhabit-ants – the homeowner, the baker and the greengrocer. This is what’s run-of-the-mill in Rehau. <

Providing energy for businesses and citizens:Biogas, bioenergy plant and

combined heating and power plants.

Defining townscape: industrial architecture.

Specialist in energy generation from waste: REHAU Energy Solutions GmbH

– Founded: 2010– Subsidiary of REHAU Group

REHAU _ On Site


Dr Ansgar Niehoff

TEXT Katy Hahn PHOTO Christian Grund

“Chemistry is my great passion. even as a child I knew I wanted to turn my hobby into my profession. even though I’m still relatively young, I was able to gather a lot of experience during my studies, my PhD and stays abroad. In my private life, my heart races for things that can’t be reduced to formulas. For three years now, I’ve been involved with ‘Israel Connect’, an initiative that brings young people closer to the land of the Bible. So, not the typical tourist trail.

We organize meet-up tours funded by donations and get together with interesting people all over the country. I enjoy planning and preparing the trips. That’s probably the analyst coming through in me. Or maybe the philanthrope. I was a tour guide for a group for the first time in august and I was quite intrigued by the personal conversations I had with members of the Israeli parliament, with holocaust survivors and with young soldiers. Israel is home to fas-cinating personalities: americans who have emigrated to learn more about their Jewish roots. Or people who have experienced incredible suffering, but can still receive us young Germans today with great warmth. I think you only find that in Israel.

I got to know an arab man in Jericho, who at one time in his life, had been the bodyguard to the Palestinian president, Yasser ara-fat; today, he provides orphans with a sheltered home. I found this incredibly moving. Life stories like this are encouraging and need to be passed onto other nations and future generations. ‘Zeugen der Zeitzeugen’ (witnesses of contemporary witnesses) is another project by ‘Israel Connect’ which I would like to get more involved in – even if it does mean less free time. I’ll still find time for biking and baking – my hobbies at home – and of course, for my col-leagues. There are five of us in our team and we get along really well. Sometimes, we head off on our bikes just to have a barbecue some 60 kilometers away. Contrary to what your stereotypical chemist’s reputation might lead you to believe, we’re rather more creative and communicative than formula-crazy.”

Lives in RehauAt REHAU since 2011Position Chemist, materials predevelopmentREHAU location RehauMotto “It is more blessed to give than to receive”

(31) CHEMIST

REHAU _ People


For over 25 years Michel Moor has been working at IKea in Lausanne, Switzerland. and for over 25 years, as an environmental coordinator and sustainability manager, working both full- and part-time, he’s been dealing with issues such as a clean environment, renewable energy, and green economies. If anyone knows what “sustainability” means at IKea, then it’s him. It’s all the more surprising then that when asked when exactly IKea discovered sustainability, he has to think. ”I can tell you the dates, pas de problème. But actually, everything has always been there.” The notion of sustainability at IKea is probably as old as IKea itself. It probably began when the company’s founder, Ingvar Kamprad, insisted that no rainforest, no tree from a natural forest

shall ever fall victim to one of his tables, chairs, shelves. and since Kamprad is well known for saying what he thinks and for doing what he says, to this day, not a single piece of teak can be found in any IKea product – no matter how trendy teak is today. IKea is structure as a culture. Wood structure, textile structure, distribution structure. and above all else: corporate structure. Nothing is left to chance here, especially not the issue of sustainability. “Want an example?” Michel Moor, sitting in an IKea conference room, casts a brief look at the telephone, as he bends forward from his black IKea chair – KLaPPSTa – towards an IKea chest of drawers – GaLaNT. “I’ll give you one.”

“a pallet measures 120 x 80 centimeters. That’s the law here. every designer, every technician who works for us bears that in mind. every single component of every new piece of furniture is checked to see if it fits. So, how many components can we stack on a pallet? Only when we’ve reached the optimum amount here do the components go into production.” What that means is there’s no desk at IKea with a length or width of 1.25 or 1.30 meters. Or seen from another perspective, a total of 572 VaLLÖ watering cans can fit on one pallet. When Ingvar Kamprad came up with the idea of using cardboard instead of wood to make the pallet feet, he increased the space available by almost five percent. It practically revolutionized IKea logistics. at IKea, logistics equals ecology, and as Moor likes to admit, also economy. “Protecting the environment and reducing expenditure are two sides of the one coin for us. Think about the amount of energy and materials we save each year by transporting flat packs and pallets. That benefits the environment, too. Why not make the most of both sides?” a quarter of a century of service to one company – that’s another form of sustainability. If it wasn’t obvious before, then as soon as Moor dons his yellow work wear to begin his tour through IKea’s furniture exhibition in Lausanne, it becomes clear now just how connected to his employer he feels. as a recruitment specialist, he knows everyone, greets everyone (IKea staff use informal forms of address with each other); his pace is similar to a Mexican walker (lots of space, little time), and he knows not just every single product, but its histoire too. “Take our KLIPPaN sofa,” he says. “Designed in the mid-seventies by the Japanese designer Naboru Nakamura. Robust

Structure as culture

TEXT Markus Kemminer PHOTOS Christian Grund

>

Visiting the mother of all things sustainable: For more than three decades now, IKea has been setting standards when it comes to sustainability – in the truest sense of the word.

Logistics, design and production – nothing is left to chance.

REHAU _ IKEA


REHAU’s contribution:As one of IKEA’s partners, REHAU is required to adapt As one of IKEA’s partners, REHAU is required to adapt eco-friendly production methods and develop resource-eco-friendly production methods and develop resource-conserving products.conserving products.

REHAU supplies plastic solutions for the Swedish furniture company’s most popular kitchen and home programs. The use of recycled or secondary materials is already verified at the product development stage.

RAUVOLET Metallic-line 50 Ready-to-install tambour door systems with 50 mm wide slats as part of IKEA’s AVSIKT and GALANT series.

Edgeband materialsEdgeband materialsEdgebands serve as a functional and design-defining finish on furniture parts. The variety is huge.

The most stringent requirements for suppliers worldwide.

metal springs that provide real comfort. It fits in almost every living room. KLIPPaN is still around today. Its components have got increasingly smaller. So, we’ve been able to save space and simplify shipping since smaller components mean smaller packages. It all adds up to more sustainability.” While IKea designers have been exhorted to efficiently use recyclable or reusable materials where possible, technicians, too, have to commit to “keeping it simple.” The issue of sus-tainability also applies to the Swedish furniture store’s suppliers. The “IKea Way on Purchasing Products, Materials and Services”, as known as IWaY, presents an 18-page summary on the “minimum requirements”, which govern the relationship between the supplier and the furniture giant. It includes the prohibition of child labor, the regulation of working hours, compliance requirements, and in numerous variations, declarations of commitment to sustainability. Is this checked? “Oh yes,” says Monsieur Moor, looking earnest, “externally and internally. Frequently. always without warning.” Standards, measurability in general, play an overriding role at IKea, and not just when it comes to kitchen units or the height of chairs. No progress without measurability seems to be the guiding

principle born out of experience; and it applies to the environment, too. If the internal environmental goals, such as the annual share of certified wood of the total wood consumption, are not achieved, they are not swept under the carpet; instead, they are mercilessly published – and can easily be viewed online even by the happy family customers. One of the more recent developments in terms of standards is the “Sustainability Product Scorecard”, a scorecard like in golf only the “green” here means “sustainability”. This SPS contains a scale from zero to four hundred – the more points the better. Tested here, among other things, are the cost of materials, the quality, the reusability and separability of the product, as well as the entire level of energy efficiency and use of renewable energies during the production process. To date, the product leader in terms of sustainability is MaLa, a regular standing easel for kids. MaLa meets all the criteria to a high degree, it says in the description, most notably “thanks to its innovative construction”. Yet, despite so much effort, the reward from Sweden is a mere 253 points. a little too self-critical? Or just Nordic understatement? It would certainly appear that even when dealing with the mother of all things sustainable, there’s still room for improvement. <

Energy self-sufficient by 2020!REHAU’s geothermal probes are helping IKEA achieve its REHAU’s geothermal probes are helping IKEA achieve its 2020 goal: to become completely energy self-suffi cient 2020 goal: to become completely energy self-suffi cient by generating as much energy as is consumed in the by generating as much energy as is consumed in the company’s stores and buildings. company’s stores and buildings.

RAUVOLET Metallic-line 50 EDGEBAND MATERIALS

REHAU _ IKEA


“Mr Winterling, where is this journey taking us?”

TEXT Katy Hahn PHOTOS Christian Grund

Ralf Winterling, Expert for Infrastructure.

Mr Winterling, infrastructure is a major issue at REHAU. As Technical Director of the department, what are your responsibilities?Well, we deal with the next stages of the en-ergy transition, with the potentials and the development of the infrastructure on the basis of renewable energies. The things we’re driving forward are not mainstream today, but they could well be in five to ten years. Like for instance, the geothermal activation of urban tunnels.

You mean generating heat from tunnels? What does that entail exactly?The so-called tunnel thermics is an advance-ment of geothermal energy: tunnels are sur-rounded by soil. This energy potential can be used within the city in subway pipes, for ex-ample. Pipes, introduced into the tunnel dur-ing its construction, take in the geothermal energy obtained from the earth and supply heat to the buildings coupled to them. In summer, this heat can be passed from the buildings back to the ground.

Name Ralf WinterlingAge 40 yearsLives in ErlangenEducation Civil EngineerAt REHAU since September 2001Position Technical Manager Projects

REHAU _ Competence 01


In 2011, REHAU received the International Tunneling Award for this. Do we now have any reference projects?As a trailblazer in the field, we’ve launched some initial pilot projects; the Jenbach tunnel in Austria is one example. In the last two years, parts of Stuttgart’s subway network have been converted so that they are able to supply energy for use in the surrounding area. We’re currently in contact with Paris Métro, London Underground, and Copenhagen’s transport authority.

There’s a lot of interest, but the gap between what is technically possible and what’s actually doable is still quite wide. Why is that?These kinds of infrastructural changes don’t happen over night. It costs money and more importantly, it takes time. The planning phase for infrastructural changes alone takes up to ten years. Even if the technology has huge potential, it still has to prove itself first. Only in the next decade will it become clear whether our new technologies, including the much-need-ed expansion of the national grid, will prevail or not. You’re referring to the issue of burying high voltage lines, right? I believe REHAU offers special cable ducts for this. Does this mean overhead power lines will disappear?Burying the lines in the ground is certainly an alternative to the pylons, which are controversial among the population. Being underground, they don’t negatively affect the landscape, and there’s no electrical radiation. Currently, there are four pilot routes identified in Germany, which would suggest that this technology may just get the chance to prove itself.

And your company, too ...Naturally, we want to be involved in the construction of these lines; we want to prove how effective and efficient our innova-tive developments are. The fi rst line is planned for the north of Germany in 2014. We’re currently consulting with the operator.

Denmark is a step ahead of us on this one ...There, they’re investing a lot in underground high voltage lines and existing pylons are gradually being phased out. In general, the Danes are very anxious to move forward and bring the infrastructure into line with the rapid growth of renewable energy. But you have to keep things in perspective: Denmark is a lot smaller than Germany.

How do things look for the energy giants?The European Union’s goal is to increase the share of renew-able energy to 80 percent of its total energy requirements by 2050. The Americans will set themselves a similar goal. And the Chinese, too. It’s a global market worth billions and it will continue to grow.

In five to ten years, the share of energy derived from renewable sources will exceed 30 percent in Germany. And that figure is set to increase. The share is growing rapidly, but since wind and solar energy are dependent on the weather, we see a lot of fluctuation here. We only have this energy when the sun shines and the wind blows. That means, the yield varies enormously, sometimes being well above the requirement level, sometimes well below. As a result, we need ways to store the excess yield so we can use it when the yield doesn’t meet the requirement.

Using regulatable power plants?In part, yes. Regulatable power plants such as the combined heat and power plants, which generate electricity and in the process also useful heat, can compensate for these yield dif-ferences. But if the share of renewable energy produced ex-ceeds 40 percent, this ability to compensate reaches its limits. There would have to be lots of available regulatable power plants, which only operate for a few hundred hours per year. Economically, this is not viable, so more storage options are urgently needed. And we already have the technical know-how to do this today.

You’re heading in the direction of storable fuels such as hydrogen and geothermics ...We’ve built seasonal geothermal probe heat storage systems, which use the soil as a storage medium in Braedstrup, Den-mark, in Crailsheim, Germany, and in Drake Landing, Canada.

Energy out of the tunnel

1

2

1Pipes in the concrete structure extract heat from the soil or dis-sipate waste heat from buildings connected to the system.

2Precast concrete segments with built-in absorber pipes.



How does that work?We bury the probes approximately 50 meters underground. During the summer, these circulate water that’s solar heated to 85 °C; the probes then release this heat into the ground. In winter, they draw the heat back from the soil and feed it into the grid. Another project is currently running in Sheffi eld in the UK. In Patagonia, Argentina, we’re involved in the plan-ning of a hydrogen storage system, which should go into operation in 2014.

This is the so-called power-to-gas principle ...Exactly. Electricity from renewable energy can be converted into hydrogen or a substitute natural gas and then stored in the natural gas grid or in underground caverns. Starting any time between 2030 and 2040, solutions like these will be urgently needed.

Though what’s not yet clear is whether the distribution of pure hydrogen or a diluted version of methane gas will gain acceptance ...It’s difficult to say. As part of the Patagonia-based pilot project which we’re involved in, we’re providing special multi-layer pipes which are intended to both transport and store under-ground hundreds of thousands of cubic meters of hundred percent hydrogen gas.

Supplying CO2-free energy – REHAU also addresses this issue in its automotive business. Is hydrogen the fuel of the future?Well, profitability is the key issue. But if the reduction of CO2 emissions is further intensified in the automotive industry, then hydrogen and fuel cell technology is the future. With its special manufacturing process for hydrogen pressure tanks, REHAU is prepared for this scenario. The interest shown by car manufacturers also points in this direction.

As an energy and infrastructure expert, how do you get around? On foot or by bike, if possible. But I also love to be behind the wheel. <

RAUGUARD HV RAU-HY

REHAU’s contribution:REHAU is tackling those aspects of the energy REHAU is tackling those aspects of the energy transition that are relevant for the future:

Including the much-needed expansion of the grid, in which underground installation is becoming increasingly important. And new long-term storage technologies for the provision of an efficient regenerative energy system.

RAUGUARD HV – Cable ductThe cable duct RAUGUARD HV enables the safe, smooth operation of underground high voltage lines without impacting the environment. The material, adapted for operating temperatures of up to 90 °C, off ers long-term stability. A high-sliding interior coating allows the smooth feeding of heavy cable over long routes. Two kilometers of the special quality cable duct will be used during the construction of the first pilot line north of Hamburg.

RAU-HY – Hybrid pipe systemRAU-HY – Hybrid pipe systemThe RAU-HY, a metal-polymer hybrid pipe system, ensures the safe transport of renewable-fuel-derived hydrogen without conduction losses and without diff usion. It consists of up to fi ve layers: high-pressure crosslinked polyethyl-ene, adhesion promoters, longitudinally welded aluminum and a foamed protective layer for direct installation in the trench.



Completely renewable

01 Systems for the generation/ use of biogas02 District heating networks of combined heating and power plants/biogas plants

Whether it’s wind, geothermal, biomass or hydrogen, Whether it’s wind, geothermal, biomass or hydrogen, REHAU’s wide range of product solutions ensures that REHAU’s wide range of product solutions ensures that the generation of renewable energy is environmentally the generation of renewable energy is environmentally friendly, that its use and distribution are sustainable and efficient and that it is readily available no matter how it is stored.

03

01

02

06

07

06

05

03 Use of geothermal energy via tunnel thermics04 Safe conduction of current05 Systems for wind turbines

04



06 Use of geothermal energy07 Ground-air heat exchanger08 Systems for electric mobility09 Hydrogen pressure tanks in motor vehicles

10 Safe routing and distribution of hydrogen11 Seasonal heat storage tanks

08 09

02

11

10

Heat pipeElectricity lineHydrogen pipe



Expertise for climate protectionLearning to use natural resources responsibly Learning to use natural resources responsibly is pivotal for the sustainable development of our planet. New technologies and pioneering ideas planet. New technologies and pioneering ideas such as those born at REHAU permit a significant such as those born at REHAU permit a significant

Radio telescope station – Geraldton, Australia

Dried fruits provide essential vitamins and dietary fi ber for a healthy diet. One of the most modern plants for drying tropical fruits is located in Ghana, West Africa. Setting standards and operating sustainably with renewable energy, the Swiss-owned company HPW operates amid Ghana’s fruit fi elds. The plant uses a biogas unit fuelled by crop resi-dues like shells, seeds and stalks to generate its own power and heat. And aiding all of this is the latest technology from REHAU – a digester heating system and district heating pipes which safely transport the heat produced.

College – Fraserburgh, Scotland

The Banff and Buchan College attracts students from all over the world. Here, in 2011, Scotland’s largest ground-air heat exchanger system was installed. Every hour it sucks in 16,000 cubic meters of outside air and passes it through a special pipe network, which is buried about 1.5 meters deep in the ground. Environmentally friendly and energy effi cient, the heat exchange raises the air temperature by up to 9 ºC in winter and cools it by as much as 14 ºC in summer. A smart alternative to energy-guzzling coolant-based refrigeration systems.

Project Climatization of buildings Product AWADUKT Thermo ground-air heat exchanger systemVolume 42 x 30 meters of large pipe networkFunction Heating and cooling of fresh air, reduction of the building’s heating and cooling costs; reduction of CO2 emissions

The giant radio telescope station “ASKAP” (36 antennas, each with a diameter of 12 meters) in Western Australia uses renewable energy – among other things, for cooling. 96 geothermal probes buried 124 meters deep noiselessly lead the excess heat from the computer rooms to the surrounding soil. The service life of the double-U probes is over 100 years and long-term safe operation is ensured. In addition to the probes, eight kilometers of RAUGEO PE-Xa connecting lines and 12 RAUGEO midi manifold chambers were laid to join the brine circuits.

Project Cooling with geothermal probesProduct RAUGEO PE-Xa probesVolume 96 probes, 8,000 meters of connection lines, 12 manifold chambersFunction Use of geothermal energy for cooling

Project Biogas plant Product RAUBIO digester heating system, RAUTHERMEX district heating pipesVolume 1,000 meters RAUBIO PE-Xa pipes, 150 meters RAUTHERMEX pipesFunction Pipe systems for biogas plants, durable and permanently secure

Fruit-drying plant – Ghana

reduction in energy consumption and an efficient and environmentally friendly use of renewable energy – in almost all areas of daily life, worldwide:



The bioenergy community of San Javier boasts more than 30,000 inhabitants and is almost self-suffi cient, drawing its energy from renewable sources. All around the historic castle, the district heating network RAUVITHERM ensures a reliable supply of thermal energy from nearby fermenters. In the confined spaces of existing buildings and in the leafy palace gardens, the highly fl exible pipe could be installed largely without the use of machinery and without any major impact on the unique landscape architecture.

Europe’s largest seasonal geothermal storage –

Braedstrup, Denmark

At a depth of about 48 meters, 50 geothermal probes circulate water that has been solar heated to a temperature of up to 85 °C. The surrounding soil is heated and a huge reservoir of heat is created. In winter, this heat is transferred back to the circulating water. 1,200 homes as well as public buildings and factories are connected to the district heating network in Braedstrup. The final stage of the project will provide a total of 60,000 square feet of solar collectors and 300 to 400 probes to store the heat. The goal is to generate 60 percent of the total annual energy require-ments from solar energy.

Project Underground energy storageProduct RAUGEO PE-XaVolume 50 geothermal probesFunction Highly resistant, temperature-resistant geothermal probes for thermal energy storage

Tunnel – Jenbach, Austria

Tunnels are massive concrete structures with a large surface area surrounded by soil. The geothermal potential here is nothing short of huge. An exchange of energy via the concrete structure of the tunnel means that buildings connected to the system can be heated or cooled. The tunnel itself can also be cooled more easily – an important consideration, since high tempera-tures push air-exchange-based systems to the limit. In the high-speed railway tunnel under the town of Jenbach – a feeder to the Brenner Base Tunnel in the Austrian Inn Valley – are absorber pipes stretching 54 meters inside the concrete walls. A heat-transfer medium (water or water-glycol mixture) circulating in these pipes increases or decreases the temperature of the concrete. Warmth is then extracted from the surrounding soil or the air in the tunnel and used to heat Jenbach’s building yard, which is hooked up to it.

Project Thermal activation of tunnel segmentsProduct RAUWAY flex absorber pipesVolume 27 segment rings with integrated absorber pipes (7,000 m)Function Heat exchange with tunnel air or surrounding soil

Bioenergy Village – San Javier, Spain

Project District heating supplyProduct RAUVITHERM pipe system, jointing technology FUSAPEX and REHAU compression sleeve technologyVolume 250 metersFunction Transport of heat from the biogas plant to the consumer



PuneIn the state of Maharashtra, on the periphery of the Deccan Plateau, is the Indian city of Pune. With almost three million inhabitants, the fast-growing city, also known as the “Queen of the Deccan,” is an oasis of hustle and bustle in an otherwise deserted expanse of the Deccan Plateau. Located on the outskirts of the metropolis is REHAU’s plant, which has been specializing in the process of ex-trusion since 2001. Window profi les as well as edge-bands, profiles and tambour door panels for the furniture industry are manufactured, fabricated and assembled here. And all that in the middle of an orchard. Since 2007, plant employees, on their own initiative and for the good of the environment, have been planting mango, sapodilla, pomegranate and cherry trees. More than 100 young trees have taken root on the plant’s 50,000 square meters of spacious grounds since the initiative began. In Hinduism, both the fruit and flower of the mango are of great importance in the worship of gods.

Coordinates:

Plant founded 2001Employees 200Plant area 9,740 m²Production manufacturing of edgebands, window profiles, rigid profiles for the appliances industry, fabrication and installation of tambour door systemsCoordinates 18° 50’ N, 73° 54’ ETime zone UTC + 5.30Population 3 million Language English, HindiInformation www.rehau.co.in

REHAU _ Location India


Neu Dehli

Bangalore

Pune

Mumbai

REHAU _ Location India


A strong voice in the Middle East: Dr Nawal Al-Hosany.

“There’s a revolution in thinking occurring in the Emirates”

>

Construction of the eco-city, Masdar City, began in abu Dhabi’s desert in 2008. Though planned for 2016, the mega project probably won’t be finished until 2025. Dr Nawal al-hosany, Director of Sustainability, explains why.

TEXT Tanja Heinlein PHOTOS Christian Grund

>Dr Al-Hosany, let’s be honest: How can the emirate of Abu Dhabi with its huge ecological footprint claim to be a role model for sustainability?The uae is committed to a diversified energy mix. There are several environmental, economic or social benefits to broadening and strengthening our current energy mix to include more sus-tainable sources of power. While we are at the heart of the hy- drocarbon industry, the Middle east and North africa is esti-mated to hold nearly half of the world’s renewable energy poten-tial. Investing in clean, renewable energy is a natural extension of the uae’s energy leadership. It provides us an opportunity to leverage our existing energy expertise and know-how. By plan-ning ahead and broadening the energy mix to include more sus-tainable sources of power, we can all be better equipped to meet future energy demand.

>So, has the world recognized the need for action?everyone agrees that climate change is a threat that affects all countries. I’m convinced that through education we can bring

people to act sustainably out of conviction. The world is hungry for answers to the energy question, also in terms of finite re-sources. Today, seven billion people live on the planet; by the middle of the millennium, there’ll be nine billion. Providing eve-ryone with affordable energy hardly seems possible without large scale renewable sources.

>40,000 people will live in Masdar City in the future. What makes it one of the world’s most sustainable cities?Masdar City is designed to be one of the most sustainable urban developments in the world. The city combines traditional architec-ture and design, with modern technologies and applications to make optimum use of the resources available to us in the desert. To date, Masdar City is entirely powered by renewable energy. energy is generated by a ten-megawatt photovoltaic solar farm located onsite. In terms of living, Masdar City combines passive and intelligent design. It has natural shade, narrow corridors and a giant wind tower in the centre that captures prevailing winds, funnelling cool air through the city. By incorporating green and recycled materials that reflect heat and sustainable design

REHAU _ Interview


principles Masdar City residents can enjoy a noticeably cooler environment – up to twenty degrees cooler than in downtown abu Dhabi. Our buildings are designed to reduce energy demand by fifty-six percent and potable water demand by fifty-four percent.

>But we’ve seen approaches like this before on the international stage ...Masdar City was and is certainly a bold statement. Building a “green city” in the middle of the desert may sound utopian at first. But the reality is, we’re experiencing the challenges pre-sented by climate change more acutely here than we ever could in cooler regions. We’re offering the world a chance to view our approaches as recommendations and to adapt them to their respective local conditions.

>So, are countries following your green example?In april of this year, the “Sheikh Zayed Solar” power plant in Mauritania which we built, was connected to the grid; it accounts for ten percent of Mauritania’s grid capacity. With strong solar and wind energy sources, the country has the potential to draw a substantial portion of its electricity from renewable sources. To mention another project: The “Port Victoria Wind Power Project”, Masdar’s six MW wind farm in the Seychelles, is the country’s first large-scale renewable energy project. It accounts for more than eight percent of the grid capacity on the archipelago’s main island of Mahe, where ninety percent of the residents live. It truly is a major step toward meeting the Seychelles energy policy, which sets a target of producing fi fteen percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2030. With such projects, we want to em-phasize that renewable energy is an important component for the successful economic and social development of developing countries. But we’re setting standards in europe, too: With one hundred and seventy-fi ve turbines and a capacity of six hundred and thirty MW, the world’s largest off shore wind farm “London array” supplies energy to around half a million households!

>The original completion date for Masdar City was 2016; now that’s been pushed back to 2025. It would seem that the mega project can’t be transferred 1:1 from the drawing board to reality ...Well, the reality is that we’re building a city – and at the same time, a treasure trove of experience. Masdar City is living and learning from local realities. We see how quickly industry is de-veloping here, how much life the city is attracting. The last thing we want is to fi nish Masdar City as quickly as possible only to discover in the end that the implemented technologies are no longer up to date. Of course, since the start of construction, we

have been agile and responsive to changes in the industry or the current economic scenario, by re-evaluating or scaling back on projects that would not be viable. But in just seven years, we’ve managed to filter, enrich, and successfully implement our experi-ence and know-how in projects. Today we’re respected experts – not just in the Middle east, but worldwide.

>Living environments that change affect local people in very real ways. What’s the reaction been?Convincing people to choose for a sustainable lifestyle is a pro-cess that can’t be completed in a day. abu Dhabi is no different to any other culture in this respect: you need a healthy balance between the environment and the needs of the population. Only through clear messages and concrete recommendations, which also come from abu Dhabi’s leadership, can we bring about change, can we initiate collective efforts. Masdar City is a flagship project; it has sparked a rethinking which has reached both industry and parts of society in equal measure. Slowly but surely we’re integrating sustainability requirements nationwide into our structures – be it in construction, logistics or in the energy sec -tor. This, of course, has an effect on the other emirates as well.

>To what extent do you embrace these sustainability principles in your own private life?I’m currently building my house and working closely with the architects and the contractors to incorporate sustainability and energy efficiency in every phase of the project. I consult in choosing all my suppliers to ensure that the materials and appli-ances that are used in my house are sustainable. I hope that those who visit my house will be inspired and incorporate sus-tainability into their daily lives.

>As a leader, you’re held in very high repute internationally. Have women been accepted into the upper echelons of energy politics? Well, it’s always about the respective capabilities. But I personally find it very refreshing to see how female executives are being promoted in the uae. Our former president Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan said in 1971: “Nothing could delight me more than to see the woman taking up her distinctive position in soci-ety. Like men, women deserve the right to occupy high positions according to their capabilities and qualifications.” I personally feel this maxim is ingrained in our culture, in all areas of public life, in politics as well as in business. In international discourse, how-ever, women must step forward more. Climate change affects women just as much as men. So, they should be equal partners in dialogue. having said that, I believe women are affected by

REHAU _ Interview


climate change in a different way, especially in structurally weak countries. They make up the majority of the 1.2 billion people living in absolute poverty worldwide. Yes, perhaps for this reason women should have a stronger voice in the climate debate.

>You climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in 2010. And you were one of the first Arab women to do it. How has this experience affected you?It’s made me stronger as a person, changed my outlook on life. It was about dealing with fears and personal insecurities. Perhaps these things won’t change your life, but they definitely make you a better person.

>How do you envision “sustainable living”?Sustainable living means: having a choice. Be it in our choice of food, our choice of transportation, when we turn on the fan or buy a computer. It’s about making a conscious decision. every single day. <

Dr Nawal Al-Hosany is Masdar’s Director of Sustainability and an internationally acclaimed expert in her fi eld. In this capacity, she is responsible for the sustain-ability policies and standards for the eco-city, which is located around 17 km from Abu Dhabi. Al-Hosany grew up in the United Arab Emirates, where she completed an engineering degree. She earned her doctorate at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in England and also at-tended the prestigious Harvard Business School in Cambridge, Mas-sachusetts. Prior to her work in Masdar City, she was Deputy Director of Planning for Abu Dhabi’s police force; she was the first woman to hold this position. In 2008, she was presented with the “Emirates Businesswoman Award.” Two years later, in 2010, she was one of the UAE’s fi rst women to climb Kilimanjaro.

Modern urbanity in the desert.

Energy efficient architecture.

REHAU _ Interview


* The thermal energy generated is equivalent to a saving of 80 million liters of fuel oil per year.

In the last ten years 80,000* REHAU geothermal probes have been installed.

REHAU _ Statistics

REHAU locations:

In the last ten years 80,000* REHAU geothermal probes have been installed.

Stat

us 3

1.08

.201

3

ARGENTINA Buenos airesRosario

AUSTRALIAadelaide Brisbane Melbourne Perth Sydney

AUSTRIAGraz Guntramsdorf Linz Neulengbach Vienna

AZERBAIJANBaku

BELARUSMinsk

BELGIUMBrussels

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINASarajevo

BRAZIL arapongas Belo horizonte Caxias do Sul Mirassol RecifeSão Paulo

BULGARIASofia

CANADA Baie-D’urféMoncton Montreal St. John’s Toronto Vancouver Winnipeg

CHILESantiago

CHINABeijing Chengdu Guangzhou TsingtaoShanghai Shenyang Taicang Xian

COLUMBIABogotáManizales

CROATIAZagreb

CZECH REPUBLICJevíčkoMoravská Třebová Prague

DENMARK Copenhagen

ESTONIATallinn

FINLAND helsinki

FRANCE agen Bourges Lyon Metz Morhange Paris Poix de Picardie

GEORGIATbilisi

GERMANYBerlin Bielefeld Bochum Brake erlangenFeuchtwangen Frankfurt hamburg hanover IngolstadtLeipzig Marlesreuth Mosel MunichNuremberg Rehau Stuttgart Triptis Velen Viechtach Visbek Wittmund

GREAT BRITAIN amlwch Blaenau Glasgow London Manchester Rowy Slough Widnes

GREECEathensThessaloniki

HONG KONGhong Kong

HUNGARY BudapestGyör

INDIA BangaloreMumbaiNew DelhiPune

INDONESIA JakartaSemarang*

IRELAND Dublin

ITALYMilan Pesaro Rome Treviso

JAPANTokyo

KAZAKHSTAN almaty

KOREASeoul

LATVIARiga

LITHUANIAVilnius

MACEDONIASkopje

MEXICO/ CENTRAL AMERICA CelayaGuadalajara LeonMexico CityMonterreyPanamaQuerétaro

MOROCCO Casablanca

NETHERLANDSNijkerk

NEW ZEALAND auckland

NORWAYOslo

PERULima POLANDKatowicePoznań Śrem Warsaw

PORTUGALLisbon Oporto

QATARQatar

ROMANIABacău Bucarest Cluj

RUSSIA Khabarovsk Krasnodar Moscow Nischni NowgorodNovosibirsk Rostov-on-Don Samara St. Petersburg Voronezh Yekaterinburg

SERBIABelgrade

SINGAPORESingapore

SLOVAKIABratislavaLozorno

SOUTH AFRICA Cape TownDurbaneast LondonFort JacksonJohannesburgPort elizabeth Sebenza

SPAINBarcelonaBilbaoMadridTortosa

SWEDEN Örebro

SWITZERLAND BernVeveyZurich

TAIWANTaipeh

THAILANDBangkok

TURKEYIstanbulOsmaneli

UKRAINEDnepropetrowskDonezkKievLvivOdessaSimferopol

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES Dubai

USACullmanDetroitGrand RapidsLeesburgLos angelesMinneapolisSturgis

VIETNAMho Chi Minh City

* New locations

REHAU _ World map


India in two minds about energy Industrial town in the countryside ...

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