As one of the 2023 award’s sponsors, Danfoss Climate Solutions once again hosted the Heating Installer Awards winner’s trip at its headquarters in Denmark.
The trip consisted of a tour of Danfoss’ Silkeborg manufacturing site, a stay at the remarkable Alsik hotel, and a day at Danfoss carbon-neutral headquarters in Nordborg where the group enjoyed a DNA Tour of Danfoss museum and the founder’s office, a panoramic view of the site, and a showstopping walkthrough of the manufacturer’s astonishing decarbonisation journey.
T
he decarbonisation journey follows the process Danfoss has adopted to systematically reduce and recycle energy at the head office in Nordborg, Denmark. While this has taken several years to achieve, today, the 250,000sqm facility is completely CO2 neutral.
This goal has been achieved through a method that is also being used to lower emissions in Danfoss’ other buildings and production sites around the world.
The first two steps are to reduce energy consumption and then re-use or recycle as much energy as possible. One of the key elements of achieving this is the harnessing and utilisation of excess heat, in fact, Danfoss’ own data centers provide 25% of the headquarters heating requirements.
The third step is to ensure that the site is supplied with green and renewable energy, such as wind turbines. And, as a last resort, climate compensation, conversion to green forms of energy, and carbon offsetting is done for any remaining emissions that cannot be removed in any other way.
In addition to the decarbonisation tour the group, which included Heating Installer Awards national winner 2023, James Bowen, was lucky enough to visit Danfoss Smart Store. This is a real-life demonstration of how Danfoss can help to build the supermarkets of tomorrow by reducing costs, minimizing environmental impact, and finding a competitive advantage, while safeguarding food safety.
The new “Smart Store” supermarket, which opened earlier this year, is approximately 50% more energy efficient when compared to a typical supermarket and has a first-generation CO2 refrigeration system. Some of the key features of the Smart Store are as follows:
- Runs entirely off sustainable energy sources
- Reuses the excess heat created by cooling cases, reducing supermarket heating costs by up to 90%
- Not only operates as a functioning supermarket, but is also a development center for testing new technology
In addition to exploring some of Danfoss’ groundbreaking sites, the group also enjoyed evenings out including food and drinks in the stunning Danish towns of Nordborg and Vejle.
James Bowen, Heating Installer Awards national winner 2023, commented: “I felt privileged to be flown out to Denmark, the home of Danfoss, and to visit so many different areas of the business including the manufacturer’s facilities that accommodate heat recovery and district heating plants. The engineering onsite is next level to say the least.
“On top of this, I met lots of great people and had some brilliant conversations that have definitely started a few side missions in my brain.”
Gareth Ash, Marketing Communications Manager, at Danfoss Climate Solutions, added: “For many years now, the Heating Installer Awards winner’s trip has been a highlight of our year – and sponsorship of the awards. Danfoss is making huge strides in terms of decarbonisation and being able to showcase this, as well as Danfoss incredible history, to visitors is always a great pleasure. We were delighted to give James Bowen, a highly talented installer and well-deserving winner, an exclusive tour of our sites.”
After a record-breaking eighth year, the Heating Installer Awards is now OPEN for entries.
The awards will once again search for the best installers in each region of the UK, with regional winners being crowned in April, before heading to an exclusive regional winner’s event to celebrate their brilliant achievements. The winner from each region will then go on to do a technical challenge set by James Bowen, and moderated by award’s partner, CIPHE, in a bid to be crowned the National Heating Installer of 2024.
Think you’ve got what it takes to be crowned Heating Installer of the Year 2024?
Complete the entry form here. Or give the awards team a call on 0161 871 1188 and they’d be happy to take your entry over the phone.