The World Economic Forum has recognized Siemens' Fürth location as a Sustainability Lighthouse. The recognition highlights the efforts of the team in Fürth, which have led to significant reductions in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions while increasing production. Cedrik Neike, member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG and CEO of Digital Industries, stated, "The Sustainability Lighthouse Award recognizes the outstanding work of our team in Fürth. By implementing our intelligent energy system, we reduced energy consumption by 64 percent, and cut greenhouse gas emissions by 72 percent per throughput; on top we increased production by 145 percent. In this way, we’ve demonstrated that sustainability and productivity can go hand in hand."
Siemens' Fürth site employs around 1,700 people and focuses on developing industrial-automation products such as Simatic HMI panels. The location aims to achieve net-zero emissions by 2026, ahead of Siemens' overall target. An interdepartmental sustainability team established in 2012 has been instrumental in introducing measures to reduce energy consumption and CO₂e emissions.
At the core of these sustainability measures is an innovative energy system for manufacturing and buildings using Siemens systems like Simatic Energy Manager Pro and Siemens Navigator. These systems have enabled annual savings equivalent to powering about 2,000 households for a year through reduced electricity consumption.
Fürth's efforts also include improving grid quality with an electromagnetic filtering system that minimized power losses from grid incidents. Circularity approaches have been introduced to extend product service lives and reduce waste. Plant manager Lorenz Rappl noted that "we avoid emissions that would arise during scrapping or during the manufacturing of new products that would otherwise be required."
Additional projects at Fürth include a photovoltaic system installed on-site and producing nitrogen internally for manufacturing needs. These initiatives contribute to reducing emissions and enhancing resource efficiency.
Siemens continues its progress toward corporate sustainability goals with investments aimed at reducing CO₂e emissions across its operations since 2019 by 60 percent.