Energy Savings Cup: UGA executive office takes part in European competition

Since May 2015, more than ten small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from Germany and hundreds more from other European countries have been competing against each other in a competition sponsored by the European Commission, running in Germany under the name Energy Savings Cup (Energiesparcup).

In Germany, the competition participants are being supported by the not-for-profit consulting company co2online. They benefit from free energy consulting services, Europe-wide public relations work and opportunities for further education for employees. The German business with the highest energy savings will win the “Energy Savings Cup” and a prize to the value of €2000. Additionally, the national champions will be invited to a European awards ceremony in Brussels, where they stand a chance to win the “European Enterprises Climate Cup”.

As part of the competition, during which the energy savings of the participating offices will be assessed, a six-week awareness campaign will be launched in which employees will be informed about saving measures and be encouraged to participate. The theme for the first Energy Savings Cup Week is “monitoring”. In order to monitor energy consumption within the scope of the competition, the executive office will be using the Energy Savings Account (Energiesparkonto). This free online platform, which is supported by the German Federal Ministry for Environment (BMUB), allows the total energy consumption of businesses as well as private households to be documented and assessed.

Participating in the competition is one of the measures recommended by the EMAS environmental management system of the UGA executive office. Moreover, the EMAS-registered Saxon Education Society for Environmental Protection and the Chemical Industry in Dresden, which won the 2014 European EMAS Award for their environmental innovations, is participating in the Energy Savings Cup.

For more information, please visit: www.energiesparcup.biz