Sustainability is more than just a buzzword for us
At XAL, we see sustainability as a core value that is reflected in all areas of our company. We are proud that our products make a significant contribution to improving our customers' carbon footprints by offering energy-efficient, durable, and high-quality lighting solutions. For us, environmental responsibility is every bit as important as social responsibility. We greatly value respectful, fair, and transparent cooperation, both internally and externally. Our Code of Conduct, which you can view on our website, sets out how we aim to behave and communicate.
Sustainability report
To achieve net-zero carbon emissions, we need reliable, transparent, and comparable data – so we know where we stand and what lies ahead. We have modelled our reporting on international standards, namely the Greenhouse Gas Protocol and the GRI, and considered ecological, social, and ethical aspects of sustainability in the sense of ESG. In future, we will adapt our reporting to the European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) to continue to ensure maximum transparency and comparability. We would be delighted if you join us on our journey towards net-zero. Read our Sustainability Report to find out what we have already achieved and, above all, what we will continue to do to become ever more sustainable every year from now on.
Save at least 50 % of electricity consumption by converting old lights to LED.
An energy-efficient future
Sustainable lighting solutions not only consider high energy efficiency, but also excellent light quality and a long service life. Find out which factors are important for significantly reducing energy consumption during the utilisation phase. We can help you reduce your energy costs with specific installations using modern sensor and control concepts or projects involving the customised conversion of existing lighting systems to LED. Together, we will work towards a sustainable future.
Our commitment to net-zero emissions
Our goal is clear: We want to largely reduce emissions directly attributable to XAL (Scope 1 and 2) by 2030 at the latest. According to the categorisation of the internationally recognised GHG Protocol, Scope 1 includes emissions for fuel, heating, and cooling. Scope 2 includes electricity and district heating and cooling. We also consider emissions that occur upstream and downstream in the supply chain (Scope 3). The most important categories for XAL in this area are the utilisation phase (the electricity that our products require during use) and purchased goods (materials for our products). We are also working to continuously reduce our emissions for Scope 3.
"Our product innovations aim to offer the best lighting solution for every area of application with optimised energy efficiency and durability."
Christian Kügerl, Head of Product Development
Product development
XAL stands for innovation – and sustainability is always considered. This has a long tradition: In the 2000s, we recognised earlier than many others that LEDs as a durable and energy-efficient technology would be the lighting industry’s future. Then as now, we are continuously improving our products – be it in terms of longevity, efficiency, carbon footprint, but also regarding the interchangeability and reusability of components and materials. Our innovations in sensor-controlled lighting also help our customers save even more energy.
Materials & circular economy
In product development, we pursue various approaches to improve the ecological footprint of our materials. Firstly, we reduce the use of materials as much as possible through innovative designs; secondly, we use recyclable materials and investigate the use of new, innovative materials for our products. We focus on replacing emission-intensive materials such as aluminium or those that are less suitable for the circular economy, or on adapting the supply chain. By developing LED conversion kits, we offer a service that minimises resources and waste. Only the luminaire inset is changed to LED while the installed luminaire housing remains mounted on the ceiling or wall as before. This reduces the amount of installation work and emissions stemming from production and transport.
Environmental Product Declarations (EPD)
Product life cycle analyses, or Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) as they are also known, are an important tool for better understanding our products' environmental impact from production through its service life to the end of use. This enables us to identify potential for further improvements and build on this in product development. Our environmental product declarations follow ISO 14025/ EN 15804, allowing us to share the results of our analyses with our customers in a transparent, objective, and externally verified manner.
"We have integrated a large number of sensors and intelligent technology almost invisibly into a stylish office luminaire. By doing so, we are helping to operate buildings in a more environmentally sensitive manner."
Christopher Grießler, Head of Digital Solutions
Sustainable projects
"We are continuously optimising our production and logistics processes – in doing so, we recognise how beneficial efficient business practices are for the sustainability of our work."
Martin Dlaska, Managing Director XAL Holding GmbH
Production & Logistics
We are continuously optimising our production and logistics processes to reduce our environmental impact. When operating our energy-intense powder-coating plant, we rely on renewable energy in the form of wood chips. Our product and transport packaging made of corrugated cardboard is produced in-house and customised to the products’ size and shape. It goes without saying that our production facilities are equipped with energy-efficient LED lights. We have now installed PV systems with an output of 1700 kWp at our production sites; any additional electricity is purchased from 100% renewable sources if available on the market.
Resource-saving powder-coating
We operate our powder-coating plant in Slovenia in a net-zero manner using biomass. Another optimisation step was taken by switching to low-temperature powders new to the market, which can be processed at a lower oven temperature. By using heat exchangers and utilising waste heat to dry the coated parts after pre-treatment, our plant requires less primary energy. This has further reduced its energy consumption.
Do you have any questions? We will be happy to advise you.
Resource-friendly packaging
We mainly use paper and cardboard to package our products safely while preserving resources. Our on-demand packaging systems produce customised boxes from corrugated cardboard. This saves both resources and shipping costs. If filling and padding material is still required for a package, then shredded cardboard offcuts from our packaging machines are used instead of plastic bubble wrap. And if protection against moisture is essential, we use wrapping film made from at least 30% recycled raw material.
Sustainable mobility
With a strong focus on e-mobility, XAL’s car fleet will continue to be converted to e-vehicles by 2026 at the headquarters in Austria and for the entire group’s fleet by 2030. The number of e-cars increased by 58% in the 2023/24 financial year over the previous year. We offer our employees a wide range of measures to make their commute to work as environmentally friendly as possible. For example, we are boosting the cycling infrastructure by providing covered bicycle parking spaces and charging stations for e-bikes and supporting the switch to public transport.
Sustainability at the trade fair stand
Sustainability and the circular economy were at the centre of our concept for the trade fair stand at Light + Building 2024. Reducing the stand area and reusing stand elements such as locally sourced plasterboard or the carpet, which is being used for the current expansion of the headquarters in Graz, were part of our sustainable concept. Seating made of cardboard and the use of transport boxes for product presentations in the trade fair stand helped to reduce transport requirements by 88% from 25 to 3 lorries. This meant we were able to save around 22 tonnes of CO2-eq.
"We know how important it is to evaluate measures objectively and transparently, which is why we align our sustainability strategy with internationally recognised standards. However, our aim is to go beyond this and set our own standards in order to bring about real change."
Martin Dlaska, Managing Director XAL Holding GmbH
Climate initiatives
We believe that our actions and our products’ life cycle must be traceable and transparent, which makes alignment with clear standards indispensable. Accordingly, we are certified in accordance with the environmental management standard ISO 14001, in addition to ISO 9001. We also rely on independent rating agencies to assess our corporate social responsibility: EcoVadis regularly evaluates our corporate social responsibility holistically and based on objective criteria with a focus on the environment, labour and human rights, ethics, and responsible procurement. XAL GmbH's Graz site was recently awarded the Platinum Medal for this. The platinum rating is only awarded to the top 1% of companies.
UN Global Compact
Since 2020, we have been a member of the UN Global Compact initiative, whose principles guide our interactions with each other and our environment, our supply chain management, and our resource strategies. We are committed to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and actively contribute to achieving these goals. We have already contributed to eight of the 17 SDGs through our activities, including our measures on climate protection, training, and health and safety in the workplace.
Compliance – We go one step further
We want to set standards – through our expertise and performance, and also through the way we conduct ourselves. Transparency, integrity, and fairness are key values to which XAL is committed in the conduct of its business activities. We regard compliance with legal frameworks and guidelines as a matter of course. Values such as reliability, responsibility, mutual trust, respect, and social and environmental sustainability form the cornerstones of XAL's corporate culture and guide our endeavours to continuously evaluate and improve our actions.
Any questions?
If you would like to find out more about our sustainability measures and are interested in our energy-efficient products, please contact us.
