Focus on essentials: brainstorming on our main fields of influence.
Our philosophy is “Every space deserves great light”. It has accompanied us right from the start – and is more relevant now than ever before. We understand “space” to mean not just the immediate surroundings where our outside luminaires are being used, but the entire environment out there. In our view, luminaires can only be “great” if they bring added value not only for their users but also for nature in general, or at least have the smallest possible negative impact.
Great in every respect: We are making every effort to constantly improve our luminaires also in ecological terms.
The way we see it, really great lights are those that show consideration for flora and fauna, with the greatest possible protection for the resources of our planet during production, transport and usage. And with a manufacturer who operates according to a business model that aims as far as possible to have a positive impact on this planet.
Without doubt, those are high aspirations. And we know, of course, that we are still a long way from achieving this noble objective. But just as we continue to improve our luminaires bit by bit with technical innovations, we are also making constant progress with their sustainable features. In recent years, we have already taken a number of steps towards protecting resources and the environment, with energy-efficient LEDs and bugfriendly lamps, with dark sky compliance and our fairly unique repair service.
We want to take an even more systematic approach to this in future. To do so, we have turned to the sustainability consultancy BAM! Bock Auf Morgen (“Are You Up For Tomorrow?”) – a spin-off from the Helmholtz Institute - for support. Working together with the sustainability analysts, we began by identifying the essential impact of our activity in what is called a materiality analysis. In other words, we discovered where our business has relevant impacts on the environment and resources, and what we can do to turn these from negative to positive.
We reached three conclusions. Firstly: there’s room for improvement at IP44.DE! Secondly: some kinds of progress can be achieved relatively quickly, others need a lot of work, and some seem almost unattainable at the moment. And thirdly, despite that, we’re setting things in motion, here and now. In the meantime, we will give honest reports about which snags we’ve encountered, what we’ve accomplished and where we are possibly making progress faster than we thought. As the saying goes: It always seems impossible until it’s done.
95% of the defective luminaires which are sent in can be repaired in our own technical department.
What’s it all about?
The greatest contribution to protecting resources comes from long-life products that can be repaired. Then at the end of their lifecycle, it should be possible to separate them into the individual materials for subsequent recycling without further ado.
Where have we got to?
Our outside luminaires are designed for a long life. If luminaires still get damaged, this is where our IP44.DE repair service comes in. Here, our service technicians attend to every defective IP44.DE product – and actually make most of them work again. It’s simple, uncomplicated, and happens directly on site in Rheda-Wiedenbrück in Germany. We make sure that any luminaires that can’t be repaired are disposed of according to the individual materials.
The few luminaires that even we can't get working again are disposed of in correctly sorted state.
What’s it all about?
Artificial light is a problem for nocturnal insects that are normally guided by moonlight for orientation and distracted by artificial light. Besides, the way artificial light illuminates the night sky is increasingly perceived as light pollution. We are therefore striving to minimise light pollution from IP44.DE luminaires.
Where have we got to?
Since early 2023, we have been gradually putting bugfriendly 2700 Kelvin light in all new IP44.DE luminaires. Insects tend not to perceive this relatively warm colour temperature as a point of orientation, and we therefore call it bugfriendly. Furthermore, we also offer some dark sky-compliant luminaire models that stand out with features such as minimum light scatter, full cut-off technology and our bugfriendly colour temperature of 2700 Kelvin.
What’s it all about?
Most plastics are made from mineral oil and are disposed of by incineration at the end of their service life. This converts them into CO2. At IP44.DE, we use plastics among others for diffusers, cables and electric components, such as cable grommets or terminals.
Where have we got to?
Since the start of 2024, we have gradually shortened the cables for our movable luminaires from a standard length of five to three metres. By doing so, we have already saved around 10,000 metres of cable. For the cut, in A + in S and shot models, we have changed the reflectors from plastic to aluminium.
What’s it all about?
Aluminium is both lightweight and durable, which makes it first choice for our ceiling, wall, poller and in-ground luminaires. Another advantage of aluminium is that it can be infinitely recycled. And although the extraction of raw aluminium from bauxite is hugely energy-intensive, the amount of energy consumed in the recycling process is only about 5%.
In addition to aluminium, we use small quantities of stainless steel for our ground spikes and base plates.
Where have we got to?
Our aim is for as much recycled aluminium as possible to be used in the production of our luminaires. However, our potential influence is rather limited with us being a relatively small operator. According to our production partners, 40 to 90 per cent recycled aluminium is currently used in our luminaires.
What’s it all about?
IP44.DE luminaires are top quality products that have to be protected from damage on their way from their production site to the consumer. At the same time, we are trying to reduce the ecological footprint of our packaging materials.
Where have we got to?
Our aim is for packaging to be reduced and reused as far as possible. We try to make sure that transport packaging that protects our luminaires during shipment from our production partners to Rheda-Wiedenbrück is used a second time. We arrange for any packaging material that cannot be reused to be recycled.
At the start of 2024, we changed over from four-colour printing to single-colour printing on the sales packaging for our portable luminaires. This not only reduces the use of printing inks but also makes recycling easier. Between 1 January and 31 October, we thus saved more than 4,220 square metres of printed cardboard.
Our stationary luminaires, which make up the majority of our portfolio, are supplied in neutral cardboard boxes with just a sticker on them. Instructions for use, which we put in plastic envelopes up until 2023, are now enclosed in paper.
Significantly more environmentally friendly: new single-colour printing on the sales packaging of our portable luminaires.
What’s it all about?
The production, transport and sales of our products generate greenhouse gases, first and foremost carbon dioxide (CO2) which damages the climate.
Where have we got to?
We are currently drawing up a balance sheet for our CO2 emissions coming under Scope 1 (emissions generated directly at our site in Rheda-Wiedenbrück) and Scope 2 (indirect emissions caused by the purchase of energy). We will be publishing these balance sheets during 2025.
Drawing up a balance sheet for our Scope 3 emissions is far more complicated. This refers to those greenhouse gases that are generated when our production partners manufacture our luminaires, during transportation and also when they are being used by the end customer.
However, we also want to reduce our CO2 emissions as far as possible, and not just record them in a balance sheet. We have therefore installed a photovoltaic array on the roof of our company headquarters in Rheda-Wiedenbrück. It has an output of 60 kWp and generates around 50,000 kWh of electricity in the course of a year, which accounts for more than we actually consume. Surplus solar power is fed into the grid.
To cover residual power needs in periods when the sun isn’t shining and our storage batteries are depleted, in November 2024 we concluded a delivery agreement with Green Planet Energy (formerly Greenpeace Energy) to supply us with 100% renewable energy from more recent power stations.
The temperature in our logistics building is controlled by an air heat pump and thus by electricity. The showroom and office are heated with gas.
Every space deserves great light
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