A due to corona small but illustrious circle of participants from industry and politics was on site at Zedler-Institut in Ludwigsburg when the DGNB confirmed from a third party what the sustainability report of the bicycle testers published at the beginning of 2020 had already made transparent in words and pictures: “The Zedler-Group is a pioneer in terms of sustainable management - and that not only in the cycle industry, but far beyond.”
In a welcoming address, Juergen Walter, as a member of the Landtag (Alliance 90/The Greens), also presented Zedler-Institut "the dotted jersey because the company started at the bottom and has been riding uphill successfully for many years, the green jersey because of many stage victories as well as the yellow jersey because of the overall successful and diverse commitment to social, transport and environmental issues".
The certified building where the about 25 team members of the Zedler-Group are working within four business fields, reached best marks in the criteria “ecological quality, economic quality, socio-cultural and functional quality” of the absolutely demanding DGNB audit.
The “Building in service”-certification, for example, not only examines energy-related and climate-friendly aspects, but also, for example, the mobility situation, the quality of living in the rooms and much more. In this context DGNB chairman Johannes Kreissig: “It is virtually impossible to achieve one hundred percent, with 80 percent the top award level “platinum” is achieved. The degree of performance of 92.2 percent of Zedler-Institut is the second best result ever.”
In addition, the sustainability representative Lea Heinle and managing director Dirk Zedler were awarded the “climate-positive” status. Lea Heinle points out: “We produce more company-own electricity than the building consumes, including heating, lighting, computer and for example the dish washer and the coffee machine. Even with the enormously intensive test operations we are still climate-neutral and this without certificate trading, but by our own efforts.
Company founder and managing director Dirk Zedler is therefore also full of proud when looking at what he has created. According to his own statements it had been twenty-seven years ago that he had set out not only to improve the quality of bicycles, but also to run a business that takes as little from nature as possible. Even in times when the words sustainability and mobility change were not yet part of the daily vocabulary, the team worked with hydroelectric power, prepared shipments exclusively in already used packaging material, mostly cycled to work and preferred to use the train on the way to business appointments. With our building, which was officially inaugurated a good two years ago, we have only built the roof over our broad commitment. The awards confirm that the consistent succession of many small steps results in consistent sustainability,” Zedler states happily. And encourages other companies (of the cycle industry) to imitate them. “It’s simply also endurance sports - and as cyclists we know this all too well.”
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Author: Jo Beckendorff/Zedler-Group
Photo: Zedler-Group