Here at Vaillant we are setting our own goals and targets to becoming climate-neutral. As a company we will be reducing our own greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030, from around 60,000 tonnes per year in 2018 to less than 30,000 tonnes by 2030. As such, we will contribute to achieving the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement, which include a target to limit global warming to 1.5°C.

A major factor for reducing CO2 emissions is electricity from renewable energy sources, which, when used at our worldwide production sites, enables an annual CO2 saving of up to 18,000 tonnes.

Our production sites and offices in Germany have been running completely on "green" power since 2017, in 2018 we upgraded our production plants in Belper and Nantes to also run on “green” power.

Other sites will also make the switch insofar as "green" electricity is available in the country concerned.

A second key factor is reduced energy consumption within the production processes and buildings of the Vaillant Group. Efficiency measures in production and within our buildings are designed to help lower gas consumption at the Vaillant Group and thus, significantly reduce the associated CO2 emissions. And of course, many of our sites use our own heat pump solutions to heat the buildings we work in.

There are a number of ways that we can reduce our carbon footprint. Firstly, we will look at our vehicle fleet, currently creating 22,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions, our vehicle fleet equates to 40% of total emissions from the Vaillant Group.

Watch our video to find out more

In the UK, we are currently transitioning to hybrid and fully electric vehicles, in November and December 2020, 31 vehicles were replaced for a hybrid solution, reducing the Vaillant Group UK emissions by a whopping 50%! As technology continues to improve, we will begin to trial electric vans for our Service Engineers.

Offsetting through afforestation

In the long term, the we will offset the remaining CO2 emissions by means of our own afforestation projects. Forests are able to capture the climate-damaging greenhouse gas CO2. As part of long-term projects, we will plant new areas of forest in emerging countries. In particular, the focus is on natural forest and agroforestry – an agricultural production system that combines elements of arable farming with elements of forestry. Until these planned new areas of forest capture all the company’s emissions remaining after the reduction measures, we will purchase CO2 certificates from existing and certified afforestation projects. As such, the Vaillant Group will become climate neu

The less climate-damaging CO2 generated by the Vaillant Group, the less offsetting is required. The more CO2 captured by means of afforestation projects, the fewer certificates the Vaillant Group needs to buy. By 2030 at the latest, it is intended that the remaining emissions will be completely offset by the company’s own afforestation projects.

Alongside the emissions for which the Vaillant Group is directly responsible, there are also emissions that are generated in the upstream or downstream sections of the value chain. We share responsibility for these emissions with suppliers, employees and customers. These include emissions connected with purchased goods and services, as well as those that are caused by transport, business trips and our employees’ commutes to work. In particular, they also include emissions that are caused by the use of Vaillant Group products. The extent of the emissions generated during the operation of a heating system depends on the energy source, the energy standard of the building concerned and personal heating habits. With highly efficient products and state-of-the-art control technology, the Vaillant Group enables its customers to save energy and CO2 emissions.