The new building is the largest project in häwa's 60-year history and comprises the already completed hall with the powder coating plant, the final assembly hall, which will be completed in summer 2025, and the new administration building with canteen, which is scheduled to be inaugurated at the end of 2026. Arno Müller, Managing director of häwa GmbH, is visibly pleased with the progress of construction and the goals already achieved on the path to climate neutrality.
Sustainable climate targets and automation as drivers of the project of the century
With the new building, häwa is creating the spatial and technical conditions for greater energy efficiency and climate neutrality in production. "These issues played a significant role right from the planning stage. For example, the new powder coating plant has 40 percent lower energy requirements than the previous one, despite a 60 percent increase in output," says Dr. Georg Härdtle, partner at häwa and responsible for environmental protection and energy management at the company. In addition, the plant is designed in such a way that it can even be converted to green hydrogen one day. “We are very satisfied with the milestones we have already achieved. A good 30 percent of our previous gas consumption has recently been converted to biomass-based local heating thanks to our collaboration with the local wood processing company Baur. This enables us to replace 50 percent of our previous gas requirements,” Georg Härdtle continues.
“All in all, we have almost halved our greenhouse gas emissions,” adds Managing Director Arno Müller, referring to häwa's efforts in the area of sustainability. As part of its sustainability strategy to become climate neutral by 2045, the company has already switched to 100 percent certified green electricity and CO2-neutral electricity generation from photovoltaic systems. In addition, electric vehicles have been added to the vehicle fleet and ten charging stations have been installed at the company.
Impressive dimensions and technological standards
The company premises have already been expanded to 20,000 m2 in recent years. The new building will add another 15,000 m2, 4,000 m2 of which will be used for the administration building alone. A tour of the company premises reveals the enormous dimensions of the buildings and production facilities.
häwa Managing director Arno Müller points to the degree of automation in the individual production areas – from the automated cutting hall for sheet metal to the welding shop, where the control cabinets are welded together by robots, to the painting robots and cobot workstations in the new powder coating plant. “In addition to energy efficiency, the plant also sets new standards in terms of flexibility and automation, ensuring that we are ideally equipped for the tasks ahead in the coming years,” says Arno Müller.
Following the tour of the final assembly hall, HR manager Jürgen Litz presented the designs for the interior fittings in the shell of the three-story administration building. “The company management is keen to offer employees an attractive working environment and to facilitate communication between the teams,” explains Arno Müller. The administrative wing, which is being built to KfW 40 standards, already offers an impressive view of the green surroundings on the outskirts of Wain.
