On the way to a carbon-neutral future

Photo: Jürgen (left) and Dr Stefan Kannewischer

PASSIONATE ABOUT SWIMMING AND BATHING FOR 50 YEARS

Specialising in pool and wellness facilities, Kannewischer, a Swiss family-owned business, has been delivering consulting, planning and operational expertise from a single source for 50 years. Founded by Bernd Kannewischer in Zug, Switzerland in 1972, it has been managed for the past 15 years in the second generation by his sons Jürgen and Dr Stefan Kannewischer. Sustainability is a subject close to the hearts of both managers. With reference to a few examples, they explain how this issue is specifically addressed at the thermal spas of the Kannewischer Collection. And also mentioning combined heat and power plants, geothermal energy, photovoltaics and life with four daughters.

Spa guests prefer to think about nothing at all and forget about everyday life. You and your team make sure that this is achieved to perfection. What are the key points in your opinion?

Stefan Kannewischer: We are committed first and foremost to the relaxation of our guests. In the thermal spas of the Kannewischer Collection you can simply feel good in every respect. This also means that everything that’s necessary in terms of operational procedures and technology “behind the scenes” remains invisible to the guest. In the last few years, however, we have also become increasingly preoccupied with the issue of sustainability – an issue that, as we hear time and again, is also of great interest to our guests.

Jürgen Kannewischer: In a strategy meeting in September 2018, Stefan and I therefore decided that we wanted to become even better in the field of energy and resource consumption.

On the energy front, consumption at spas is certainly pretty high. A visit to a thermal spa is all about having an agreeable stay in a pleasantly temperature-controlled environment.

SK: That’s right. Baths basically have high energy consumption – and so we have always been concerned with this issue in our family business. Our father founded the company 50 years ago and received an award for energy efficiency back in the 1980s. At the time he was convinced that the resource-saving use of energy would make both environmental and economic sense.

JK: Concrete examples are our combined heat and power (CHP) units that we have been using at our KissSalis Therme since 2004 and at the Spreewald Therme since 2005. The advantage of CHP is that electricity and heat are generated where they are consumed. If, periodically, less electricity is needed, it can be fed into the public grid. The Spreewald Thermenhotel has also been connected to the CHP since 2012.

SK: Speaking of the Spreewald Thermenhotel – even during the construction of the hotel, we made extra sure it would later have the lowest possible energy demand. In terms of insulation, windows and façade joints, it was built to passive house standards. The architects also had the great idea of using daylight for natural illumination via large skylights. What’s more, they also look really good.

When building a new spa, what scope do you have for ensuring sustainability?

JK: Allow me to answer this question by taking the Emser Therme as an example. This is where we have designed the new building with a compact external envelope to achieve optimum insulation. In addition, we use the very warm and abundant thermal water in Bad Ems to save energy – geothermal energy. We have managed to reduce the demand for fossil primary energy by 55 %. This is made possible by a well thought-out technical system that networks the plant systems for heat and energy recovery.

SK: Our spa buildings are insulated so that the pumps and machines in the basement heat the floor above. This means we can do without underfloor heating.

JK: On a guided tour of the equipment at KissSalis Therme, you can get to know another example of innovative energy saving, namely the drainable outdoor pools. Since the circular outdoor pools are equipped with water mushrooms, neck showers and other features, a classic cover with tarpaulins is not possible. At the end of the day, the water is therefore drained off into underground basins, where it continues to circulate in the thermally insulated basement. In this way, hardly any thermal energy is consumed until the water is pumped up again the following day.

Let’s talk a little bit more about running your spas. What everyday activities are there at the Kannewischer Collection spas in terms of sustainability?

JK: Of course, it is important to pay attention to ecology and sustainability not only in the design and construction phase, but also in day-to-day operation. For us, this includes the sparing use of resources, waste separation and also the regular monitoring and care of the equipment and the building so that energy consumption is kept as low as possible.

SK: In addition, over the last four years we have sharpened our focus on “avoid and reduce” on the basis of our climate and environmental strategy.

JK: A first, key step towards improving our carbon footprint was to switch to hydroelectricity in 2019-21. An obvious step actually – using the element that spas are all about, i.e. water, as a source of electricity. By switching to hydroelectric power, we have succeeded in taking a big step towards carbon-neutrality.

SK: We’re currently examining further steps. For example, the roofs at two locations will be equipped with photovoltaic systems in 2022 so that we can generate our own carbon-neutral electricity for the thermal baths. We’re examining the possibility of using hydrogen or other primary energy sources to generate electricity and heat, and we could further reduce power consumption by switching to LEDs.

After all the examples from the spas, let’s finish with a more personal question: What does sustainability mean to you in management?

SK: In a family-run company, it almost goes without saying that sustainability is also practised in the management field. As for myself, I take my electric bike or electric car to the office and travel almost exclusively by train on business. You will certainly understand that, as a father of four daughters, it is also very important to me personally to really practise sustainability. It is their future, after all, that’s at stake.

JK: I’d also like to briefly mention something that is also very important to us – raising awareness among and active cooperation with our employees. To point the way forward, we donated and planted a tree for each of the 715 employees of the Kannewischer Collection in 2019. Further trees were donated to mark the company’s 50th anniversary in February 2022. This time the number was based on the 300 planned pool projects and 110 business management studies carried out by Kannewischer Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH and Kannewischer Management AG since the founding of the company. HARO Sports Flooring & Protective Walls:

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