At Festo, we take environmental protection seriously: as such; we have been operating a certified eco-management system since 1996. As part of that system, we constantly evaluate the latest environmental technologies, for both new and existing buildings.
In 2007 a new milestone was reached with the installation of Europe's largest solar-powered climate control system in Festo's headquarters at Esslingen in Germany. It has an array of more than 1,200m2 of evacuated tube collectors. This solar climate control system produces 500 MWh of primary energy per year, thus reducing the need for fossil fuels. Combined with an adsorption cooling system, this solar climate control system cools the building in summer, while in the winter months it maintains warmth in the concrete floors via water pipes.
At Festo's largest production and logistics site in St. Ingbert (in Saarland, Germany), another innovative energy strategy has been implemented. Combining multiple technologies, energy is produced on site by a fuel cell, a cogeneration system and a photovoltaic system, ensuring a constant supply of electricity, heat and cooling.
The efficient use of compressed air has enormous potential for combating global warming. Here too Festo has taken action, by optimising the efficiency of our compressed air production systems. For Festo's customers, this means benefits from energy-efficient system concepts, energy saving services and compressed air consumption analyses, offered as part of Festo's portfolio. For our customers these are the keys to solutions with optimised utilisation of energy.