Danfoss helps home improvement chain save a lot of energy and money
25 November 2011
A leading company in the European home improvement sector has saved 762,890 euros after reducing the energy consumption at 24 stores by a massive 6.9 million kWh. As competition grows and energy prices soar, many retailers are looking for cost-efficient ways to reduce their energy consumption and strengthen their bottom lines. Heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and lighting systems consume significant amounts of energy and are obvious candidates for energy-saving activities.
This is also why the Praktiker Group has installed a Danfoss energy management system at 24 of its German stores. So far the chain has saved 6.9 million kWh of energy, which has reduced the chain's CO2 emissions by 4,250 tons, in addition to the money that now lands on Praktiker's bottom line.
Mr Kunze, who is responsible for energy management for the Praktiker Group, says: “We are very satisfied with the results that have exceeded our expectations. The cooperation with Danfoss has enabled us to pick the low-hanging fruits and we now have a reliable system that helps us control our consumption and save energy continuously."
No cure, no pay
When Danfoss won the contract with the Praktiker Group in 2006 to review the chain’s energy consumption, the deal was that if Praktiker did not achieve the promised savings, Danfoss' services were free.
"When we say 'no cure - no pay', we mean it. Not only do we guarantee significant savings, we also promise a payback time of no more than three years on the customer's investment. So far we have never failed to keep our promises. In fact, some of the stores achieved payback in only two years," explains Rainer Mähringer, Business Development Manager and building management expert at Danfoss.
Optimizing energy use through system manager
Danfoss' experts started by taking a closer look at the energy bill in Praktiker stores and calculated the energy consumption per square meter per year to identify improvement potential. The next step was the installation of power meters to see where energy was being wasted and based on this information, improvement initiatives were built up around an energy management system that controls most of the stores’ systems including heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and lighting.
The management system makes it easy to get an overview and optimize how the many different systems use their energy. For example, it automatically ensures that the lighting is only on when needed.
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