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Basis and Evidence for Our Statements

Our statements are based on verifiable professional and technical foundations. On this page, we explain the basis behind selected SAUTER statements and the specific context in which they should be understood.

To ensure transparency, we provide the underlying sources and supporting evidence. These include international and European standards, legal frameworks and directives, publications by recognised professional associations, as well as scientific studies and specialist literature.

This makes it possible to understand the basis of our statements, the specific contribution made by our technologies and solutions, and the limitations of each respective statement.

The sources and references listed below make it possible to directly verify the professional and technical basis of each statement.

Basis

1. “Creating sustainable environments” 

What we mean by this:

SAUTER uses the phrase “creating sustainable environments” to describe how building automation and building management help improve the operational performance of buildings. This particularly includes demand-based control of technical systems, monitoring and optimising energy consumption, and supporting appropriate indoor conditions.

The claim does not mean that an individual SAUTER product by itself makes a building fully sustainable, or that it covers all environmental, lifecycle or social aspects of a building.

Technical background:

Building automation can influence how heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting and other technical systems are operated. Through monitoring, demand-based control and identification of efficiency losses, it can help reduce avoidable energy consumption and improve the operational performance of a building.

This contribution of building automation to energy performance and appropriate indoor conditions is described in European regulations, international standards and technical publications. The claim therefore refers to the contribution of SAUTER technologies to building performance rather than a general assessment of an entire building or product life cycle.

Sources and references

2. “Maximum energy efficiency and sustainability“

What we mean by this

The statement refers to the objective of achieving a high, or technically specified, level of energy performance through building automation within the relevant application.

“Maximum energy efficiency“ should not be interpreted as a general guarantee that an entire building will achieve optimum energy efficiency. The performance that can be achieved depends on factors such as the condition of the building, technical equipment, building use, operating practices, system configuration and the automation functions used.

Technical background

Defined technical methods and classification systems are available for assessing the contribution of building automation to energy performance. These make it possible to systematically assess automation functions and their contribution to the energy performance of a building.

A high level of automation performance can thus be technically described and evaluated. In addition, scientific studies show that advanced automation functions can enable significant energy savings under defined conditions. However, the savings that can actually be achieved are project-specific and cannot be stated as a universal “maximum“ for every building.

Sources and references

3. “Partner for sustainability“

What we mean by this

SAUTER uses the phrase “partner for sustainability” to describe its role as a technology and project partner when implementing specific building operation objectives. The main focus is on energy performance, operational optimisation, helping reduce operational emissions and ensuring appropriate indoor conditions.

The statement should not be interpreted as a comprehensive assurance that SAUTER addresses all environmental, social or governance aspects of an organisation or building.

Technical background

Improving building performance requires the effective interaction of a range of technical systems and operational processes. Building automation provides a technical infrastructure for monitoring, controlling, analysing and optimising building operation.

European regulations and professional organisations describe building automation and control systems as a key component in achieving measurable building performance. SAUTER supports building operators and project partners in translating relevant technical requirements into specific automation and building management functions.

Sources and references

4. “Environmentally friendly products“

What we mean by this

The environmental impact of a product is assessed individually on the basis of its specific characteristics. Detailed information can be found in the SAUTER declarations on materials and the environment.

The SAUTER declarations on materials and the environment evaluate and document relevant environmental and safety aspects such as fire protection, fire load and the use of hazardous substances. In addition, the material composition of the products is clearly disclosed. The section “Energy demand during the use phase“ contains information on the power consumption of the product and its typical annual energy consumption during operation.

The environmental impact is assessed across the life cycle of the product using a defined, representative utilisation scenario. In particular, production, use, dismantling and disposal are taken into account. The results presented are based on the ecological scarcity method. This combines various environmental impacts into a single indicator known as environmental impact points (UBP). The method is based on Switzerland’s environmental objectives and weights individual impacts by the degree of target achievement using the distance-to-target principle.

The contribution of the use phase to the overall environmental impact, relative to the contributions from production, dismantling and disposal, depends significantly on the intensity of use and therefore the underlying utilisation scenario.

Disposal and WEEE For waste electrical and electronic equipment, the applicable legal requirements for disposal must be observed. In particular, the requirements of the WEEE Directive 2012/19/EU and the corresponding national and local regulations must be taken into account.

The declaration on materials and the environment contains information on the proper return, recovery and disposal of the product.

Environmental benefits Alongside the environmental impacts associated with production, use and disposal, the potential environmental benefits of the product in the intended application context are also described. These may result, for example, from more energy-efficient control, demand-based building operation or a reduction in energy consumption. Any such environmental benefit always depends on the specific utilisation scenario, the system configuration and the actual operating conditions.

Scope and sources The scope of each declaration on materials and the environment is clearly stated. In particular, it specifies the products or product variants covered, the life cycle stages considered and the underlying utilisation scenarios and system boundaries.

In addition, the data sources, calculation methods, assumptions and references used for the assessment are listed. This ensures that the results presented remain transparent and can be clearly interpreted in terms of their significance.

Technical background

Internationally recognised methods are available for evaluating and communicating the environmental characteristics of products. These include requirements for self-declared environmental claims as well as methods for life cycle assessment and environmentally conscious product development.

These frameworks enable a transparent assessment of specific environmental impacts.

Sources and references

5. “Resource-saving“

What we mean by this

The term “resource-saving“ can be used to describe a specific reduction in use, or more efficient use, of a particular resource. The resource concerned and what results in the savings are specified in the relevant context. Resources include materials, energy and water.

The declarations on materials and the environment for our products provide information on the use of materials. The effects on energy use are largely determined by the specific application of the products. These may result, for example, from more energy-efficient control, demand-based building operation or a reduction in energy consumption.

Technical background

Internationally recognised methods are available for evaluating the use of resources associated with products. These include methods for life cycle assessment and environmentally conscious product development.

Defined technical methods and classification systems are available for assessing the contribution of building automation to energy performance. These make it possible to systematically assess automation functions and their contribution to the energy performance of a building.

These frameworks enable a transparent assessment of the use of resources associated with products and their applications throughout their life cycle.

Sources and references

6. Energy-efficient“ as a product characteristic

 

What we mean by this

When referring to energy efficiency, a distinction is made between a product’s own energy consumption and its contribution to the energy performance of a building.

For example, a product may have a specified low level of energy consumption. Building automation products may also provide functions that support demand-based and energy-efficient operation of technical building systems.

Technical background

Building automation enables functions such as demand-based control of heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting and sunshading. The contribution of such functions to the energy performance of buildings is described in technical standards and European regulations.

However, this does not automatically mean that every individual hardware product can be described as “energy-efficient”.

Sources and references

7. “Minimising the carbon footprint”

What we mean by this

Building automation can help reduce operational greenhouse gas emissions by identifying avoidable energy consumption and optimising the operation of technical building systems.

In this context, the statement refers to operational emissions associated with the energy consumption of the building. It does not automatically mean that the entire carbon footprint of a building or product – including production, materials, transport and disposal – is minimised.

Technical background

There is a direct relationship between a building’s energy consumption and the associated operational greenhouse gas emissions, the extent of which depends in particular on the energy source or energy mix used.

Automation and building management systems can monitor, analyse and influence energy consumption. This makes it possible to identify potential savings and reduce operational emissions. However, any quantitative statement requires the definition of a baseline, evaluation period, system boundaries and applicable emission factors.

Sources and references

8. “Minimising the environmental footprint“

What we mean by this

The environmental footprint of a product or building encompasses a range of potential environmental impacts across a defined life cycle. Any claim regarding a reduction in environmental footprint therefore requires a systematic and quantitative assessment.

An improvement in a single category, such as energy consumption, does not automatically mean an improvement in the overall environmental footprint.

Technical background

Established methods are available for assessing environmental impacts across the life cycle. These consider different life cycle stages and impact categories, enabling comparisons based on defined system boundaries, functional units and data.

Sources and references

9. “Guarantees energy-efficient operation“

What we mean by this

SAUTER building automation provides functions that support energy-efficient building operation. These include, for example, continuous monitoring, demand-based control, energy consumption analysis and identification of efficiency losses.

However, this cannot be interpreted as a universal guarantee of energy-efficient operation, as actual building performance depends on numerous technical and operational boundary conditions.

Technical background

The effectiveness of building automation is influenced by factors such as system configuration, commissioning, building characteristics, user behaviour, weather conditions and the operation of technical systems.

Automation functions thus provide the technical basis for efficient operation, but do not guarantee the actual outcome independently of these factors. A genuine performance guarantee would only be possible within a clearly defined model with a baseline, measurement boundaries, operating conditions and a measurement and verification procedure.

10. “Sustainable“ as a product benefit

What we mean by this

In the context of building automation, the term “sustainable“ describes the contribution that building automation and control functions make to more sustainable building operation.

The use of the term “sustainable“ does not mean that an individual building automation product has no environmental impacts or is inherently sustainable in its own right. Instead, the term refers to the demonstrable contribution of building automation to the environmental, economic and social objectives of more sustainable building operation.

Technical background

Building automation continuously monitors, controls and optimises technical building systems according to demand. Functions such as demand-based control of heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting, occupancy-based control, energy monitoring, optimisation of operating times, load management and the detection of faults and inefficient operating states can reduce unnecessary energy consumption and improve the energy efficiency of buildings.

In addition to energy efficiency, building automation supports other aspects of sustainable building operation. These include the efficient use of technical systems, condition-based maintenance and fault detection, the integration of renewable energy sources, energy flexibility and load management, as well as improvements to room comfort, interior environmental quality and the well-being of building users.

Building automation thus supports multiple dimensions of sustainability:

  • Environmental Reduction of energy and resource consumption, avoidance of unnecessary energy use, support for decarbonisation and integration of renewable energy sources.
  • Economic Reduction of operating and energy costs, more efficient use of technical systems, early fault detection, and support for a long service life.
  • Social Improved room comfort, temperature, air quality and lighting as well as demand-based adaptation to the actual use of the building.

Sources and references

 

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