TÜV SÜD: Green fleets point the way to the mobility of the future

TÜV SÜD: Green fleets point the way to the mobility of the future

The winning projects of the fourth GreenFleet^®-Award on 20 September, presented this year at the International Motor Show (IAA) for the first time, demonstrate that vehicle fleets are the trailblazers and drivers of the transport revolution. Berlin's city cleaning services (Berliner Stadtreinigung, BSR), print shop Lokay, Linde AG and WALA Heilmittel GmbH received the coveted award for their innovative transport solutions. Bernhard Kerscher, CEO of TÜV SÜD Auto Service GmbH, and Roland Vogt, Managing Director of FleetCompany, presented the awards at the fleet management strategy forum in Frankfurt, which was attended by fleet managers from all over Germany and Europe.

"The four winners, powerful market players, show that alternative fuel systems are ready for everyday use and indicate what to expect in this sector in the near future. Fleet operators play a very considerable role in ensuring that the 'future comes as standard', to take up this year's motto of the IAA." In his award speech Bernhard Kerscher, CEO of TÜV SÜD Auto Service GmbH, particularly emphasized the important role that vehicle fleets play in changing the face of mobility."This year, even the award itself received fresh impetus.

The accolade was awarded at the IAA for the first time, offering the winners the opportunity to present their projects to an international specialist audience. Over 100 trade visitors and journalists attended the award ceremony in the Portalhaus foyer of Messe Frankfurt. "The ceremony at the world's largest meeting-point of the automotive community increases the significance of the award, and thus also of green fleet management", emphasized Kerscher.

This year, TÜV SÜD subsidiary FleetCompany, which joined forces earlier this year with European fleet service provider Fleet Logistics to form the largest independent provider of fleet services in Europe, presents the GreenFleet^®-Award for the fourth time. The partners, now providing services to around 100,000 vehicles throughout Europe, register a pan-European trend towards greener vehicles: "Green fleets are reality. They provide innovative ideas, supply new approaches and, most importantly, offer companies long-term cost-effectiveness", says Kerscher. This fact is also demonstrated by the winner projects of the GreenFleet^®-Award. Roland Vogt, Managing Director of FleetCompany, comments, "The suggestions submitted show that a mix of innovative ideas promises the largest saving potential". The winners of the GreenFleet^® Award 2011 not only rely on smarter driving training and smaller engines, but also opt for alternative fuel systems, sometimes even returning to traditional means of transport such as company bicycles to reduce their carbon emissions."

Berlin's city cleaning services save 2.5 million litres of diesel

Alternative fuel systems again play a major role in this year's award projects, with hybrid, gas-fuelled and purely electric vehicles being increasingly used in vehicle fleets. This also applies to the winning project from Berlin's city cleaning services (Berliner Stadtreinigung, BSR). BSR is currently testing hybrid and fuel-cell vehicles in its waste collection fleet. In addition, the BSR fleet boasts four electric Smart vehicles and is gradually converting 150 of its 300 waste collection vehicles to run on natural gas. However, this is far from all: in late 2012, the company will launch operations of a biogas plant to convert the collected biowaste into fuel for its waste collection vehicles, thus saving 2.5 million litres of diesel per year. "Biofuel from biowaste. In the future, BSR will use energy derived from discarded fruit and coffee filters to fuel its waste collection vehicles. This is recycling at its best and protects the environment by slashing the carbon, noise and particle emissions caused by the waste collection vehicles in the German capital of Berlin", says Kristian Kijewski from the BSR executive office.

Comeback of the company bicycle at Lokay

The print shop Lokay in Reinheim near Darmstadt relies on public transport to cut its carbon emissions and has introduced the "Lokay KlimaRad" 'green' bike. The company acquired twelve bicycles and provides them to its staff for business and private use. The print shop also provides its staff with free public transport tickets. When purchasing new vehicles, the green print specialists base their choice on fuel consumption and carbon emissions. Through these measures, Lokay's vehicle fleet of six passenger cars and two commercial vehicles succeeded in cutting almost five tonnes from its total greenhouse gas emissions.

Saving 240 tonnes of carbon emissions

The vehicle fleet of Linde AG, another award-winner, is considerably bigger. Linde introduced carbon emission targets in the car policy of its vehicle fleet in Germany, numbering almost 1,000 cars, and replaced over one-third of its vehicles to comply with these new targets. The gas and engineering company further established a bonus-malus system for fuel-efficient driving.

Through these measures, Linde succeeded in slashing its average greehouse gas emissions from
167 grams per kilometre in 2008 to 147 grams per kilometre by 2011. The environmental benefits are total carbon savings of 240 tonnes between 2008 and 2010.

Opting for downsizing and electricity

WALA Heilmittel GmbH located in Eckwälden, Swabia, Germany, convinced the panel of judges with its mix of downsizing, natural-gas vehicles and e-bicycles and e-scooters. Through these measures, the cosmetics and drug specialists aim to reach average carbon emissions of 120 grams per kilometre by 2014. In-company transport also targets CO2 reduction with a total of 16 company bicycles, four e-bicycles and four e-scooters: The Swabian company is also considering using an electric car. "Making sales growth independent from resource consumption is one of the corporate goals of WALA. Given this, we have introduced a host of measures in recent years which have also impacted on the transport sector, and evaluate these measures consistently", explains Clarissa Bay, Environmental Officer at Wala.

Impartial expert judges

As in the past years, the winners were determined by a high-ranking jury of independent experts. The jury members come from the Hanover-based German Environmental Management Association (Bundesdeutscher Arbeitskreis für Umweltbewusstes Management, B.A.U.M. e.V.), the School of Industrial Engineering at the University of Applied Sciences Munich, ADAC e.V., TÜV SÜD Akademie and FleetCompany, the initiator of the award. 

The award criteria: CO2 savings within one year. What potential for savings does the project offer? Can the project be transferred to other companies? How innovative is the submitted suggestion? The GreenFleet^® Award recognizes excellence in several categories: successful reduction of fuel consumption, implementation of innovative technology concepts, and redesigning company-car schemes towards more cost-efficient and eco-friendly car models.

Caption: Premiere at the IAA: On 20 September TÜV SÜD presented the fourth GreenFleet Award for excellence in sustainable transport solutions. Winners of the 2011 award: Berlin's city cleaning services, print shop Lokay, Linde AG and WALA Heilmittel. The awards were presented by Bernhard Kerscher, CEO TÜV SÜD Auto Service (right) and Roland Vogt, Managing Director FleetCompany (left).

Note for editorial staff: The photo can be downloaded in camera-ready resolution from
www.tuev-sued.de/pressefotos (main category: "Current Press Photos").

Further information on the GreenFleet^®-Award and the TÜV SÜD strategy forum at www.tuev-sued.de and  www.fleetcompany.de.

"Use our know-how. Shape your future." is the motto of TÜV SÜD at the 2011 International Motor Show IAA  in Frankfurt am Main from 15– 25 September. The central themes of TÜV SÜD's presence at the trade fair in Hall 8, Stand A19 are innovative services for the automotive sector and electromobility. Visit us at the IAA. Further information is available at www.tuev-sued.de/iaa2011.

Contact: Frank Volk