Can we invest in decarbonization and remain competitive? A German industrial company, based in Sequedin, near Lille, in the North, is trying to demonstrate this by investing 13.5 million euros in work to renovate its factory. Objective: reduce the carbon footprint of buildings by 85% by 2026. And why not by 98% a little further away?
“Our factory has been committed to environmental issues for more than twenty years,” announces Philippe Rouvier, production manager at KSB, a company that manufactures submersive pumps. In this industrial cathedral of 16,000 m2 (the equivalent of 3 football fields), we are preparing to experience a small revolution in the months to come.
Eco-design of products since 2003
A titanic project should make it possible to reinforce the insulation of all the buildings and replace gas heating with heat pumps. The investment must be amortized in five years and “the work should normally begin before the end of the year”, hopes Philippe Rouvier.
The man, who has worked in this factory for more than 30 years, has experienced all the innovations. Or almost. “This factory, which was bought by KSB at the turn of the 1970s and 1980s, has always tried to combine economy with ecology,” he explains to 20 minutes. And to say that in 2003, the manufacturing of submersive pumps had already benefited from local eco-design, in particular by reducing the thickness of cast iron and virtually eliminating solvents (less than 2%) in the paints used.
“We really have this desire to have the least possible impact on the environment and to be as profitable as possible,” he continues. Down to the smallest detail, such as the recycling of cardboard, but also cast iron. “It’s a material that can be recycled perfectly within a very old sector. Moreover, our cast iron comes between 95 and 97% from recycling”, assures this manager who also highlights the use in the mechanism “of a food grade oil to prevent it from polluting the water in the event of failure of the pumping system.
Element of competitiveness
Because, you should know, under the feet of the Lille metropolitan area, 1,500 lifting stations (i.e. pumping stations) allow wastewater to be evacuated to the treatment plants. And in these lifting stations, KSB pumps do the work.
“We always have to come out with new products and we are happy, also for ourselves, to do that”, assures Philippe Rouvier again. And at the highest level, this desire to innovate is seen as an element of competitiveness. “The higher added value of our production excludes competitors who are not of the same level,” notes Boris Lombard, president of the KSB company.
For all these pumps, which run on electricity, the added value is found above all in energy sobriety. According to Boris Lombard, “if we compare today’s pumps to those manufactured twenty years ago, the saving in electrical energy corresponds to the annual consumption of a country like Ireland”.
“A bit of a pioneer in this field”
However, this effort is also part of the evolution, in 2013, of the European regulatory framework aimed at improving energy efficiency. “I think that we have nevertheless been a bit of a pioneer in this area,” said the president. In 2020, the eco-design of pumps in Sequedin reduced the carbon footprint linked to the manufacturing and use of the product by 98%, compared to 2010.
Investment in buildings therefore only seems to be a logical consequence of this decarbonization operation, also encouraged by public authorities. A second phase of work on the Sequedin site, scheduled for 207, is also under study. On the program, a new powder painting booth to reduce waste by replacing liquid paint and the installation of photovoltaic panels on a possible factory extension.