Sustainability is high up on Niko's agenda. We actively look for solutions to make our ecological impact as small as possible.
With our smart solutions, we ensure that our customers' buildings run with greater energy-efficiency, but we intend to use energy as consciously and sustainably as possible at our own factory too. One major part of our sustainability policy is our investment in green energy and technologies that make us less dependent on mains power.
What are these? Our colleagues Bart Verstuyft and Filip Van Haute run through a few of our initiatives.
A factory that runs on solar energy
Solar panels are now a familiar sight on many buildings. Niko's roofs were equipped with a photovoltaic installation years ago as well.
"We recently renovated those to produce even more green power. The intention at first was to fit new panels next to the existing ones, as our installation was not yet at the end of its life," Filip kicks off.
"But the technological evolutions in terms of solar cells are progressing rapidly. Modern-day solar panels generate a great deal more electricity than those from several years ago. This was why we decided to update the entire photovoltaic installation. The existing solar panels were replaced by new ones with a greater yield, meaning we are producing more electricity with the same surface area. In addition, we have equipped some extra roofs, such as those of our bike sheds, with solar panels," he continues.
The figures speak volumes: whereas we used to have a 950kWp solar installation, our capacity now amounts to 2,600kWp. Filip: "The investment thus meant that we generate almost three times as much electricity today as we did before. On sunny days, our factory itself provides the electricity we need for all of our processes.
" And our old solar panels are not just being discarded," Filip adds. "A specialist partner took care of the recycling. In a large-scale pilot project, they recovered all manner of raw materials, such as gas, metal and silicon. These will then be used to make new products."
Electric cars
To further reduce our CO2 footprint, we are also electrifying our car fleet. By 2025, all company cars for Niko employees must be electric. This is why we now have 40 charging stations on our grounds. "This presents an additional challenge for us," as Bart knows.
"When all those cars are plugged in to charge in the morning and the production starts up at the same time, that means a heavy load for our electrical installation. Moreover, we would cause a high consumption peak, sharply raising our electricity bills. In order to prevent that, we have a system for load balancing. We use this to determine how much capacity we send to the charging stations, so our installation always remains in balance."
More solar power
"In the future, load balancing will also allow us to charge the cars in line with the available solar electricity. When we are producing more power than we need with our solar panels, we will send the surplus to the charging stations. That way, we will avoid injecting power into the grid that we later have to buy back," says Bart.
Filip adds: "In addition, we are currently investigating a number of options for storing our solar power, as it were, for later use. These include converting excess solar energy into a source such as hot water, so this hot water can be used later on. That will turn our factory itself into a huge battery."
New bike sheds with solar panels
With the bike leasing plan, Niko is encouraging its employees to come to work by bike. Indeed, cycling to work has a great many benefits. No traffic jam stress, healthy exercise and no emissions – everyone's a winner. The plan is highly successful, as more and more employees are coming by bike.
"This is why we have built some new, covered bike sheds, fully equipped with our own Niko Hydro bike charging stations. The roof has been fitted with solar panels, so our colleagues can charge their electric bike or scooter with green power. The surplus solar power is sent directly to the factory," Bart explains.
More sustainable every day
"At Niko, we want to do better every day and act more consciously around energy. And that means not just making optimum use of our own solar energy, but bringing our general energy consumption down as well.
For example, another project we are currently undertaking involves identifying the standby consumption in our buildings using energy meters and putting a stop to it. This, too, is one of the major steps we are taking to make our activities as sustainable as possible," conclude Bart and Filip.
