The Vaillant Group acknowledges its special responsibility towards the environment, the company’s employees and society as a whole. Sustainability is the foundation of our business activities. The SEEDS sustainability programme is therefore an important part of the overall strategic direction of the Vaillant Group and underpins the company’s sustainability activities.
SEEDS stands for “Sustainability in Environment, Employees, Development & Solutions and Society”. In these four focus fields, the company sets itself concrete, quantifiable targets. In 2020, ten years after its launch, the Vaillant Group relaunched the SEEDS programme.
Halving CO2 emissions by 2030 through:
reduced energy consumption within production processes and buildings
investment in an environmentally friendly vehicle fleet
100% of electricity from renewable energies
compensation of the remaining CO2 emissions through certificates and our own afforestation project
Diversity and inclusion: equal treatment and appreciation of all colleagues
Customised programmes for the further training and development of all employees
Preferred internal filling of management vacancies
Clear goal in occupational safety: zero accidents at work
Leading supplier of environmentally friendly heat pumps
6 green rules - Integration of sustainability criteria in product development
Preferred use of recyclable materials in product manufacturing
Comprehensive digital services for economical energy consumption
Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact as the basis of business activities
Mandatory environmental and social standards at our suppliers
Exclusive partnership with “SOS Children’s Villages worldwide” since 2013
* compared to the base year 2018
In its climate strategy, the company is guided by the requirements of the Science Based Targets initiative. These scientifically sound requirements define the extent to which a company needs to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions – and the time frame in which it needs to do so – in order to limit global warming. The Vaillant Group offsets its CO2 emissions within its own area of business responsibility (Scopes 1 and 2) .
The Vaillant Group’s Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gas emissions are determined annually on the basis of energy consumption (fuels, gas, electricity and district heating) in accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol .
Scope 1 covers the direct release of climate-damaging gases through the company’s own business operations. This includes emissions from the company’s own vehicle fleet and the energy consumption of the buildings.
Scope 2 includes climate-damaging emissions that are not produced by the company’s own business operations, but in the generation of the electrical energy that the company uses.
Scope 3 comprises greenhouse gases that are emitted outside the company in the upstream and downstream value chain. This includes, among other things, emissions generated during the production of purchased goods and greenhouse gases emitted during the use of the products.
Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol)
GHG Protocol establishes comprehensive global standardized frameworks to measure and manage greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from private and public sector operations, value chains and mitigation actions.
Building on a 20-year partnership between World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), GHG Protocol works with governments, industry associations, NGOs, businesses and other organizations.
A major factor in terms of reducing CO2 emissions is electricity from renewable energy sources. The company’s plants and branches in Germany have been running completely on green power since 2017, with the plants in the French city of Nantes and the British town of Belper following suit in 2018. Since 2020, all Vaillant Group sites have been using electricity from renewable energy sources.
A second key factor is reduced energy consumption within the production processes and buildings of the Vaillant Group. Efficiency measures in production and within buildings are designed to help lower gas consumption at the Vaillant Group and thus significantly reduce the associated CO2 emissions.
A third factor is the vehicle fleet. It is intended that its emissions will fall considerably by 2030 – thanks to a gradual switch to more economical vehicles and, wherever possible, electric vehicles. The plan is for electric cars to account for at least 25 to 30 per cent of the Vaillant Group vehicle fleet by 2030.
In the long term, the Vaillant Group will offset the remaining CO2 emissions by means of its own afforestation projects. Forests are able to capture the climate-damaging greenhouse gas CO2.
As part of long-term projects, the Vaillant Group will plant areas of forest in emerging countries. The company is a partner in new landscape and afforestation projects in Costa Rica. Until these planned new areas of forest capture all the company’s emissions remaining after the reduction measures, the Vaillant Group will continue to purchase CO2 certificates from the existing Gold Standard-certified Tropical Mix afforestation project in Panama.
Gold standard
The Gold Standard for the Global Goals sets the standard for climate and development action to quantify, certify and maximise its impact – creating value for people around the world and the planet we share.
The Vaillant Group is aware of its special responsibility towards the environment, employees and society. We are therefore committed to a socially just and sustainable society in partnerships with the “SOS Children’s Villages worldwide” and WWF.
The Vaillant Group has been calculating its carbon footprint since 2018 in order to gain a valid data set and understand how many greenhouse gas emissions are caused by specific activities. The provisions of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol – a globally recognised standard for the determination and accounting of greenhouse gas emissions – are decisive in this regard.
The Vaillant Group’s own reported CO2 emissions comprise greenhouse gases that occur through the use of gas and electricity in production, at our administrative locations and through the usage of vehicles.
In the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, these emissions fall within Scope 1 and Scope 2. In accordance with the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, the Vaillant Group factors in all other relevant greenhouse gases under the Kyoto Protocol alongside CO2. Emissions of these gases are converted into so-called CO2 equivalents and included in the calculation of the Vaillant Group’s carbon footprint.
In addition to those emissions for which the company bears sole responsibility, there are some over which the company has only indirect influence. They are classified as Scope 3 emissions and are caused in the upstream or downstream value chain. The Vaillant Group shares responsibility for these greenhouse gases with suppliers, employees and customers. These include emissions from purchased goods and services and those that are generated in connection with transport, business travel or commuting 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.
Our aim is to ensure respect for human rights within our company, work towards compliance across our global supply and value chains within our scope of influence, achieve transparency in respect of potential risks and take action wherever human rights have been breached. The Vaillant Group human rights policy statement is binding on all employees and its subsidiaries.
