Stiebel Eltron is one of the world’s market leading suppliers of technology products for building services and green tech, and the purpose of the trip was to visit their Energy Campus and Holzminden production facilities, and to attend the ISH Exhibition, the world’s leading trade fair for water and energy-efficient technologies and HVAC.

After a long flight from South Africa to Frankfurt, the group travelled for four hours to Holzminden where Stiebel Eltron is headquartered. They were welcomed with lunch and then taken on a tour of the Energy Campus building, which is a DGNB (German Sustainable Building Council) Platinum Green Rated Education Facility.

The Energy Campus at Stiebel Eltron’s headquarters in Holzminden is a flagship project for sustainable and energy-efficient construction. The training and communication centre combines architectural excellence and futureproofing and, as a PlusEnergy building, it generates more energy than it needs. The main heating and cooling system for the campus is a water-to-water heat pump system, and the energy source for this system is borehole water. The group also visited different theme worlds in the showrooms before heading to their hotel for dinner.

Click here for a virtual Energy Campus tour

The second day of the trip included a tour of Stiebel Eltron’s production facility in Holzminden, which produces everything from heat pumps to ventilation systems. Some of the manufacturing processes are robotic, and the group was impressed by how clever these robots are. After lunch at the Energy Campus, the group learned about heat pumps and different solutions for hot water, ventilation, and space heating. They also had the opportunity to see different products showcased in the Energy Centre’s training rooms. The visitors noted that Europe requires more complex solutions than South Africa, and they were impressed by how Stiebel has engineered solutions that are appropriate to different scenarios.

On the third day, the group transferred back to Frankfurt to attend the ISH Exhibition. They encountered snow on the way, which resulted in a snowball fight and the making of a miniature snowman. The hotel was within train distance of the ISH Exhibition, which took place at the Frankfurt Messe, one of the largest exhibition centres in the world. While the visitors found the exhibition overwhelming, they spotted several interesting technologies such as solar panels that can generate both hot water and electricity. They noted that, while this technology is still new and expensive, it will likely be something to watch in the future.

In the evening, the group attended the Stiebel Eltron Customer Event, which hosted 400 people from around the world. The event showcased the company’s family-owned culture, which impressed the South African delegation.

The trip concluded with a walking tour of Frankfurt and lunch. The group left feeling that they had learned a lot about heat pumps and had made connections with incredible people. Overall, the trip was a great success and provided valuable insights into Stiebel Eltron’s technologies and processes.

Solid Green has installed a centralized ventilation unit from Stiebel Eltron, called VCR 400, at its Johannesburg head office. The unit ensures better productivity and wellbeing for the team members by maintaining a lower CO2 level and improving the air quality by filtering the room air 24/7. The air is provided through the flexible piping system LVE. Solid Green plans to combine the VCR 400 unit with a cooling and heating system powered by a heat pump in the near future.

We would like to thank our generous hosts at Stiebel Eltron for their hospitality and for sharing their expertise and experiences with us on this truly memorable trip!