Do energy efficiency and climate protection matter? Do you want to make your own contribution? But how? For three trainees at Rehm Thermal Systems, these questions were answered during the advanced training to become ‘energy scouts’. For companies, the first priority of climate protection measures is how to save energy. The task of the energy scouts is to find hidden potential in the company for greater efficiency. The motto: discover ways to save, document them, and then put them into practice. This leads to a win-win-win situation for climate protection, for the trainees, and for the companies.
As part of the work of Chambers of Industry and Commerce in Baden-Württemberg to help local businesses with offers and services to improve energy efficiency, the idea of ‘energy scouts’ was developed as a special further training concept for apprentices. As ‘energy scouts’ within the companies that are training them, their task is to help spot and document energy-saving potential and suggest improvements. The focus is on both saving energy and reducing the CO2 emissions that will come with the reduced energy use.
The apprentices attend lectures and workshops and join groups studying various topics to learn the basics of energy use. At the same time, they learn how projects are tackled and subsequently communicated within the company and how work packages are adopted. Which area is chosen – compressed air, lighting, heating, machine optimisation, operational mobility or resource efficiency – is not primarily what matters, since the variety of topics is almost limitless.
At Rehm Thermal Systems, the three apprentices from the industrial and commercial departments who were trained as energy scouts presented their results at the end of April to the Ulm Chamber of Commerce, where they enjoyed an outstanding success. Based on the strength of the content, the presentation, the result of the project work, and the outlook for the future, they won the audience award.
“We are pleased that with this project our apprentices have made an important contribution to the company’s sustainability strategy, and at the same time, through this independent work, they have been able to develop personally and in terms of their technical skills,” says Günter Dieckmann, Head of QSHE at Rehm Thermal Systems, who initiated and supervised the project. “We see the qualification of energy scouts as an investment in the future,” he adds, in conclusion.
