Ecolabel contributes to record in Salzburg!
"Our service is working," says Sabine Wolfsgruber, Managing Director of umwelt service salzburg, the regional support agency, about the most successful year so far: in 2022, more than 700 consultations were completed by the advisory and support agency for corporate environmental and climate protection - the highest number since the independent association was founded. There was also strong demand for Ecolabel certifications.
Comprehensive advice with added value
More Salzburg businesses than ever are committed to environmental and climate protection. The savings and environmental effects are impressive: around 1,350 individual measures were analysed and proposed in 13,000 subsidised consulting hours. In total, the consultations reduce the consumption of all forms of energy - electricity, fossil and renewable forms of heating as well as fuels - by 41 GWh per year, compared to 31 GWh in 2021. 200 tonnes of residual waste and 960 tonnes of raw and auxiliary materials are also saved per year. The investment costs triggered by the consultations of umwelt service salzburg amount to more than 60 million euros. All the savings now reduce CO2 emissions by 9,000 tonnes every year.
" Raus aus Öl und Gas" ("Out of oil and gas")
Through heating conversions alone, gas consumption in Salzburg companies was reduced by 11,600 MWh annually (compared to 4,000 MWh in 2021), oil consumption by 6,550 MWh. Whereas in 2021 around 50 gas reduction measures were proposed, in 2022 there were around 130 - always with the aim of minimising consumption and combining it with renewable energy sources.
Standardised environmental certifications are worthwhile
One trend in 2022 was towards sustainable processes with visible signs in external perception, such as certification with the Austrian Eco-label. In the past year, tourism companies in particular, but also wood-processing companies, were able to receive support in this area:
UZ Tourism incl. Ecolabel: 24
UZ Furniture: 3
UZ Green Meetings/Events: 2
UZ Schools: 2
UZ Educational institutions: 1
UZ Printed products: 1
Recertifications: 18
In addition, in October last year the Salzburg Landestheater became the first cultural institution in Austria to be certified according to the new eco-label guidelines for "spoken and musical theatre". Important measures were already implemented in the first year, such as:
- Changeover from plastic to glass bottles (vending machines): Savings of 20,000 bottles/year
- Conversion of the stage lighting and in the auditorium to LEDs
- Creation of a waste management concept
- Reuse and recycling of costumes, construction elements and stage sets
- Use of environmentally friendly paints, varnishes, office materials, cleaning products and make-up
- Energy efficiency in lighting, machinery, heating, WRG...
Even if the procurement of the necessary data, key figures and decisions by stakeholders can sometimes be demanding and time-consuming - they pay off several times over: in marketing, in staff motivation and through cost savings.
Winner!
Among the best consulting projects in the province of Salzburg last year were two Ecolabelled businesses:
The Graber joinery in Wald im Pinzgau was very pleased to receive the "umwelt blatt salzburg2022" award for its environmental and climate measures. In addition, the Graber Zirben bed was certified with the Austrian Ecolabel for furniture. "For the production of this product, some internal processes were adapted to increase resource efficiency, switched to environmentally friendly means of production and since then we have also only worked exclusively with sustainable wood suppliers," explains junior boss, Thomas Graber.
Andreas Tschulik, head of department at the Ministry of Climate Protection, was also enthusiastic about the successful climate and environmental commitment and emphasised: "The Graber joinery is a showcase example of how to successfully operate sustainably and at the same time manufacture close to nature. Protecting the climate and the environment is perfectly compatible with profit-oriented corporate goals. The award of the Austrian Ecolabel for wooden furniture, in this case for the Graber bed made of Swiss stone pine, guarantees the highest quality and resource efficiency as well as environmental friendliness and sustainability. I warmly congratulate the Graber joinery on the umwelt blatt salzburg2022 and its successful development into a modern, climate and environmentally conscious company."
The traditional Hotel Tauernhof of the Hettegger family in Großarl has been focusing on energy efficiency, resource conservation and sustainability for many years. For an extraordinarily successful and effective mix of environmental measures, the hotel receives the umwelt blatt salzburg2022 in the category "environmentally sustainable tourism management". Among other things, the change from oil heating to district heating as well as accompanying energy efficiency measures around the heating exchange save 120,000 litres of oil per year. The higher efficiency of the new heating system reduces the energy demand by 150,000 kWh, the window replacement saves another 25,000 kWh per year.
Cold well water is used to cool the hotel, which consumes about 220,000 kWh less energy annually. A PV system, measures for climate-friendly mobility and consistent waste management complement the comprehensive and effective measures. "In the course of our conversion and renovation, we have implemented a wide range of environmental measures and are now pleased to have been certified with the Austrian Ecolabel. This seal of quality shows to the outside world all the measures we have implemented for the climate and the environment," explain Katharina and Christian Hettegger from the Hotel Tauernhof.
All this is made possible by the experts in the umwelt service salzburg consultant pool. One of them, who has played a major role in the success of the Austrian Ecolabel in Salzburg for many years with a lot of passion and commitment, is Erwin Bernsteiner. Where he gets his motivation for the many consulting projects from, he expresses it like this:
"It gives the greatest pleasure to experience the enthusiasm of customers when they really become aware of the effect of intelligent environmental concepts."
100% for Ecolabel schools
The great and generous promotion campaign of umwelt service salzburg for the Ecolabel for schools in the past anniversary year (20 years) should not go unmentioned either. Here 13 schools applied, 11 of them are still in the consultation process, two have already been awarded.
Already 130 registrations in the first eight weeks of 2023
The number of applications for advisory services in the first weeks of this year is also encouraging: "On 20 February 2023, we already had the 130th application from a company for a subsidised environmental advisory service. Those interested in the Austrian Ecolabel are also among them. This demand makes me confident that we will be able to achieve a lot with effective solutions this year as well," says Sabine Wolfsgruber.
link to umwelt service salzburg: umweltservicesalzburg.at - Umwelt . Umwelt schützen, Image stärken: Beratungen zu Umweltmanagement und Umweltzertifizierungen ...