BWI Group commits to carbon-neutral production

Sustainability ambition launched as new plant sets benchmark

  • Concrete measures taken to achieve zero carbon emission goals.
  • BWI 2.0 strategy advanced by new management team with global background.
  • Global footprint expands to provide safe, comfortable, smart and sustainable mobility solutions.

Nov. 21, Beijing. BWI Group announces its latest sustainability ambition with expectations to achieve carbon-neutrality in operations by 2027 and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 across its supply chain. This announcement was made along with a series of other worldwide initiatives at the start of the production ceremony of the company’s Zhangjiakou Manufacturing Base.

George Chang, Board Director and Global CEO of BWI Group said at the ceremony on Nov 17:

“BWI Group is actively taking the responsibility of corporate citizen as a key link in the auto industry upstream value chain. We launched concrete measures worldwide in all our sites to empower customers to realize their carbon emission goals.”
BWI Group is set to achieve carbon neutral emissions in operations by 2027

BWI Group has developed an ambitious carbon neutral plan to promote customers’ sustainable development activities around the world. The first step is to power all BWI Group manufacturing facilities with 100% renewable energy by 2027, which will help the group achieve carbon-neutral emissions in operations in the same year.

The second step is to remove an equivalent amount of all 7 greenhouse gases from emissions in production and supply-chain activities to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in supply chain by 2050, according to BWI Group’s ambitious sustainability plan.

BWI Groups sustainability plan is directly related to 8 of the 17 United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals

To reach these ambitions and targets, BWI Group has developed 8 workstreams to drive decarbonization in its organization. This initiative is directly related to 8 of the 17 United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals and indirectly related to all 17 goals.

BWI Group has established a Sustainability Board and appointed a Global Sustainability Director to oversee the initiatives mentioned above. A dedicated project champion with a specific scope of work has been selected to drive each initiative.

The sustainability initiatives have involved several reporting and auditing initiatives that measure the group’s progress towards sustainability targets, including the following globally accepted approaches: Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP), NQC (SAQ 5.0), EcoVadis, Responsible Business Alliance (RBA), Responsible Mineral Initiative (RMI), and Conflict Mineral Reporting Template (CMRT).

BWI Group plans to empower clean smart mobility by promoting concrete sustainable measures

As an active component of the sustainable development strategy, Zhangjiakou Manufacturing Base will make full use of abundant local green energy, ensuring that the plant operates on 100% renewable energy by 2027. As BWI Group’s largest plant, Zhangjiakou Manufacturing Base not only sets a benchmark in terms of its total floor area, but also when it comes to decarbonization efforts.

The Zhangjiakou Manufacturing Base was optimized for intelligent assembly and green building standards from its blueprint through its construction process. It is equipped with sustainable development features such as rooftop photovoltaic for green power generation, solar hot water systems, and LED energy-saving lamps for the workshop.

In addition, it is expected that the entire photovoltaic roof area will reach 22,000 square meters after the completion of the plant. The installed capacity totals about 2 megawatts, which will generate green power of nearly 2 million kWh annually.

 
“Our Zhangjiakou Manufacturing Base’s photovoltaic roof alone will directly cut carbon dioxide emissions by about 1200 ton per year,” – said Mr. Chang.

Pro-Ecological Solutions and Initiatives

Implemented by BWI Group at R&D Center

  The BWI Group Research and Development Center in Balice, Poland, a northwestern suburb of Kraków, was opened in 2020. From the very beginning, the design of the facility was guided by the idea of maintaining the principles of sustainable development, which was so successful that in the same year the building was awarded first place in the 2020 Prime Property Prize competition in the Green Building category. At the very beginning, good pro-ecological practices were introduced, and the course continues to this day.

  The building in which the BWI Group Research and Development Center operates is equipped with a trigeneration combined cooling, heating, and power (CCHP) system. It is a modern gas-powered power generator enabling optimal management of utilities by heat recovery from the engine, which is used to regulate the temperature in the rooms: heating through a heat exchanger, cooling through an absorption unit. Planned improvements will soon extend the functionality of the system to include heat recovery for cooling machines in laboratory areas. It is here that cogeneration was used for the first time in an office and laboratory unit in the BWI building.

  Several other pro-ecological solutions and initiatives have been implemented:

  In the common rooms, automatic light sensors have been installed. These sensors regulate consumption depending on the intensity of natural light and the presence of personnel.

  Throughout the building, water valves in social rooms automatically shut of in the event of not closing the valve (tap), protecting against the waste of precious water resources.

  Air conditioning has been limited to working hours only. This is sufficient to ensure the comfort of room users. In off-hours, air conditioning is shut off.

  A flower meadow is maintained in the immediate vicinity of the building, positively impacting the daily functioning of the staff with its greenery and colorful mix of flowers. Interesting insect houses are present next to the meadows, which is very conducive to preserving the natural environment.

  For bicycle commuters, BWI Group provides a very spacious shelter with various types of bicycle racks. Cyclists have at their disposal changing rooms, showers, hair dryers and clothes dryers. In addition, many BWI Group employees regularly take part in the annual NCU Bike to Work campaign, in which the most persistent cyclists are rewarded. BWI Group also sponsors riders with cycling T-shirts and sweatshirts.

  In May 2023, the first BWI Group Ecology Day was organized. As part of the day, volunteer employee crews cleaned rubbish from the areas directly adjacent to the BWI Group facility. Additionally, 14 new trees of various varieties were planted.

  Steps are being taken to eliminate plastic in the facility’s immediate surroundings. Plastic water cups have been replaced with ceramic ones. Employees received a commemorative mug with their initials from the company at the annual company party.

  In our company canteen we have placed information about the amount of CO2 generated by the preparation of a specific dish. In this way, we build awareness of the impact that each of us has on the environment.

  The company car fleet now includes hybrid vehicles so that employee business trips may be done with an eye towards generating the lowest possible exhaust emissions.

  Energy consumption is closely monitored on an ongoing basis so that our facilities operate in the most sustainable and efficient ways possible. For example, test machine operation is optimized to minimize energy consumption and maximize savings.

  The facility is certified according to the BREEAM standard, a system used to assess and improve the environmental, social, and economic sustainability of business assets at every lifecycle.