Since 2022, Andreas Huber has spearheaded Claypaky’s Sustainability Project, which recently achieved a notable milestone in becoming ISO 14064-1:2018 certified. Developed by the International Standards Organisation – a non-governmental organisation in Geneva, the ISO 14064 provides companies with a framework of best practices upon which to build a Greenhouse Gases reduction programme. Claypaky has now completed the first part of the initiative and is proud to have become the first company in the entertainment lighting industry to receive certification in the carbon inventory management system. As well as achieving this milestone, Claypaky has defined and implemented several projects to reduce the environmental impact of its business activities. They include plastic-free packaging, investing in green energy, and offsetting its aeroplane travel as well as implementing a Kanban control system into the manufacturing process to increase efficiency and reduce waste.
“Our sustainability goals have been driven by CEO, Marcus Graser,” explained Huber. “We have some ambitious plans but if we don’t have the backup and support from the top down, we won’t succeed. You need the belief and resources to enact the changes we have made.”
Huber believes his extensive background in Claypaky’s R&D department has helped facilitate the ISO certification process. “From the very beginning, we had a clear plan of which steps we had to take. Having worked within the technical department and understanding the material used, as well as the supply chain has been incredibly beneficial. You can only handle your carbon footprint when you ‘understand’ your carbon footprint,” Huber said, recalling the companywide evaluation of raw materials, transportation, and how materials are processed through to manufacturing, packaging, and the life cycle of each lighting fixture.
After the intense investigation over nine months, Huber enthused that Claypaky now knows “precisely” what its CO₂ emission footprint looks like. Following this analysis, Claypaky is now able to put in place concrete measures to compensate, reduce and eventually neutralise the company’s carbon footprint. “We are pressing ahead with the development of a comprehensive sustainability strategy and setting ourselves specific targets with the goal of making our own operation carbon neutral by 2030.”
These efforts are also influencing the creation and introduction of new Claypaky products, software, and features. “We’ve made significant strides to provide end users the ability to analyse the energy consumption of each fixture, giving productions the ability to calculate their carbon footprint,” concluded Huber. “We are also working hard to improve the efficiency of each of our lighting solutions. That is also one of the reasons why we invest heavily in laser technology, as such sources deliver high lumen-per-watt efficiency. For example, a powerful Beam like the Xtylos consumes around 300 to 400W, whereas an LED source would consume around 1,000 or 1,200W.”
Words: Stew Hulme
Photos:Claypaky
