Massive Energy Savings: How EFAFLEX Doors Make Your Building More Valuable

Sustainable practices are becoming increasingly important, especially in buildings, where there is significant potential for savings. One solution is a certified high-speed door from EFAFLEX, which drastically reduces energy consumption and thus makes a building more valuable.

The EU’s Green Deal, mandatory regulations in national laws, high energy costs, and the advancing climate crisis – the importance of sustainable action is growing. Initially dismissed as a buzzword by green ideologists, it is now clear that slowing down climate change cannot succeed without more sustainability. Industry, in particular, bears the responsibility and obligation to develop and implement effective and meaningful measures against climate change. Renewable energies, such as wind or solar power, are extremely important but alone are not sufficient to significantly mitigate the effects of the climate crisis.

Buildings Cause Around 40 Percent of CO₂ Emissions

An equally important and decisive role is played by the construction and renovation of buildings, as they are responsible for approximately 40 percent of emissions in Germany alone. With proper insulation, resource-conserving construction methods, and, for example, the installation of energy-efficient door and gate solutions, enormous amounts of energy and thus CO₂ can be saved.

Legal requirements, such as the Supply Chain Act, further increase the pressure. It stipulates that companies with 1,000 or more employees must ensure compliance with environmental standards in their supply chains. In addition to the Supply Chain Act, in the coming years, all larger companies in the EU will be required to submit an annual sustainability report, detailing the specific achievements in this area within their company. The goal is to commit companies to sustainable action and to create transparency and comparability in the field of sustainability across Europe. Through the measures described above, this value must also be improved in the company’s own buildings.

EFAFLEX High-Speed Doors Significantly Aid Energy Savings

One solution is the high-speed doors from industrial door world market leader EFAFLEX. With these doors, it is possible to consume significantly less energy, thereby saving CO₂ and costs. Two factors are decisive here: firstly, the high-speed doors have excellent insulation, with measured U-values of up to 0.62 W/m²K. Secondly, EFAFLEX doors are known for their high speeds. Combined with sophisticated sensor technology, the open times are limited to the minimum necessary duration. The doors open as briefly as possible and only when truly needed. This restricts air exchange and the loss of energy to the outside air to the absolute minimum. Especially in areas with numerous door cycles per day, week, and month, this effect is significantly amplified.

Additionally, the reliability and longevity of the world market leader’s doors contribute to more sustainability within the company. Fewer resources are needed, and less energy is required for production. Furthermore, transport routes are saved, and water consumption in production decreases, as the doors need to be replaced less frequently.

Making Sustainability Visible

A major task is to make sustainability visible and usable in real numbers, as the values often determined in theoretical tests appear somewhat different in real-world use. At least for the installation of industrial doors, this requirement has now been solved. EFAFLEX has developed the EFA Energy-Saver, a digital tool that simply and self-explanatorily presents savings through high-speed doors from the world market leader. These values were created based on a study by the Technical University of Munich and were accompanied and verified by a neutral party. The operation of the freely accessible tool on the company’s website is straightforward: depending on the usage environment, factors such as door size, number of doors, desired indoor temperature, door openings per day, productive days per year, and heating costs per kWh can be individually adjusted. Additionally, a conventional sectional door is available as a comparison object. Once all values are entered, the Energy-Saver determines the energy-saving potential in the specific case and presents the result in three units:

• Energy consumption in kWh/year
• Reduction of CO₂ emissions in tonnes/year
• Energy costs in euros/year

In the coming months, EFAFLEX will expand this tool to include a cooling function, so it will also calculate savings for cooling energy.

Certificates Confirm Product Sustainability

In addition to reliable data on the specific sustainability of a product, many companies require certificates confirmed by neutral parties. These documents from independent institutes ensure that a particular product meets internationally valid sustainability criteria. The product undergoes an intensive examination that goes far beyond the mere end product. Already the origin of the raw materials for production as well as the production process are subject to strict reviews. For example, water, energy, and raw material consumption for the creation of the product are precisely documented and evaluated. Only when these values meet the defined criteria is a sustainability certificate finally awarded.

Industrial door world market leader EFAFLEX has several products certified by the ift Rosenheim Institute. Among them are, for example, the two high-speed spiral doors EFA-SST® and EFA-STT®, which have both an Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) and the Sustainability Product Pass. An EPD serves to transparently and comparably present the sustainable properties of a product. The Sustainability Product Pass, on the other hand, demonstrates to what extent a product supports building certification, for example according to LEED or DGNB.

Sustainability Labels Increase the Value of Buildings

A label from LEED or DGNB increases the financial value of a building by proving that sustainable materials and processes were used in its construction. The importance of sustainability certificates is growing because both commercial and private customers expect reliable evidence before making a purchasing decision.

In summary, the demand for products that are fair, durable, socially responsible, and resource- and environmentally friendly is increasing as described. Meanwhile, there are over 2.8 million product units with a sustainability label – trend rising. The customer now has the opportunity to make a direct comparison: Which product is truly more sustainable – based on neutrally tested values – and ultimately offers the greatest savings in CO₂, electricity, and the resulting energy costs? Because only through sustainable action can economic success be ensured in the future.

Industrial door world market leader EFAFLEX offers the complete solution in the field of high-speed doors: energy-efficient products, reliable and neutral data on energy savings, and generally recognized sustainability certificates.