Sustainability at the Hess Group

Why is sustainability important for the Hess Group?

Our convictions are quite clear here:

To secure the continued growth of our company, the jobs of our employees and our ability to meet the needs of our customers, our company must continue to operate profitably.

Hess Product Sustainability Advantages

Long-term profitability, in turn, is only possible with the steady increase of market share and moderately stable prices. Living sustainably creates the preconditions for this. We are aware of the risks associated with living sustainably, but the benefits far outweigh them. We undertake what is necessary to hedge against these risks.

1. Advantage

Hess products are a combination of superb function and quality aesthetics, adhering to the Bauhaus maxim “form follows function.” We realise necessary technical product features aesthetically. The availability of products in families provides immense creative freedom.

2. Advantage

Our product families' uniform design and versatility ensure their harmonious integration in their respective settings and facilitate users' identification with their surroundings.

3. Advantage

Illuminating architecture with efficient technology and attractive design adds cultural value.

4. Advantage

LEDs' significantly higher efficacy and longer cleaning intervals permit energy savings of about 70%, which means the capital outlay for upgrades quickly pays for itself.

5. Advantage

Key criteria for choosing the right light source are not limited to operating costs, but maintenance cost considerations also carry significant weight. Thanks to their long lifetime and their less frequent need for maintenance, these costs are very low with LEDs.

6. Advantage

Reflectors are an effective means of controlling light and putting it where it is required. Reduced stray light means less light pollution and higher efficiency.

7. Advantage

Less light pollution means less nightglow and fewer disturbances of nocturnally active animals. The minimum proportion of UV light in LED light compared to previous lamp technologies makes LED sources significantly less attractive for insects.

8. Advantage

Today's electronic ballasts are more efficient than earlier ballasts and perform more consistently.

9. Advantage

At Hess, we attach great importan-
ce to manufacturing quality lighting products, because workman-
ship has a strong impact on the longevity of the luminaires and the frequency of required maintenance. For example, housings that seal poorly due to inferior workman-
ship permit the ingression of fo-
reign particles, which decrease the luminous output of the luminaire.

10. Advantage

Lighting controls allow Hess AG's lighting products to perform exactly how and when a specific lighting situation dictates. LEDs' ability to dim to any level makes them ideally suited for a host of dimming uses, including off-peak traffic hours at night when the lighting level can dim to a minimum without dark areas occurring.

11. Advantage

Hess dim systems are suitable for use with various LED modules and luminaires, and add to the already sizeable decrease in energy consumption and carbon emissions that LEDs provide.

12. Advantage

Light beam image splitting technology delivers energy savings, reduced light pollution and exceptionally homogeneous distribution of light with an absolute minimum of glare.

13. Advantage

Solar-powered lighting operates off-grid, making it ideal for areas with deficient infrastructures.

14. Advantage

Recycling materials conserves resources. Most of the materials we use in our products are recyclable, which is a distinct advantage for the environment.

Defining Goals

Sustainability has three dimensions. They are economical, ecological and social. To make them easier to grasp for the Hess Group, the board of supervisors, the senior management team and members from the individual departments participated in workshops in which they formulated the sustainability precepts below. We are committed to pursuing them with equal priority.
Our commitment to live our sustainability precepts means:
  • acting in accordance with high ethical standards, manifested in our compliance with legislation, laws and internal corporate regulations and guidelines; and which manifests itself in our managers and personnel maintaining their personal integrity. Our orientation here comes from the principles of the UN Global Compact, which we joined in our conviction of the need to uphold human rights, anti-corruption, environmental protection and labour laws.
  • producing energy-efficient lighting solutions that meet the requirements of our customers throughout the world. This means products that use green technologies, improve the quality of life, feature aesthetic design and offer an impressive return on investment.
  • using resource-conserving processes in all the stages of our products' lifecycles. All our value-creating processes must be in line with optimum quality and environment management standards and subject to continuous improvement.
  • attracting and retaining motivated employees, offering them the best possible working conditions and career development opportunities. Regardless of where they work and what they do, they are our most valuable resource. They are our source of innovation.
  • fulfilling our social responsibility. As a global company with regional roots, we feel that we have an obligation to the people in the regions where our companies are located. We engage in dialogue, exchanging experiences and are active in local and regional associations whilst remaining politically neutral.
  • ensuring our long-term profitability, which is why we strive to achieve continuous growth and practice consistent cost management in line with the sustainability goals discussed above.

The CEO is responsible for the implementation of the objectives of sustainability. He is supported by the compliance officer.

Engaging in Dialogue

To build credibility and trust, we document and engage in a transparent ongoing dialogue on sustainability with all the stakeholders mentioned here. Key target groups are our customers, employees, vendors, investors, associations and the public.

Corporate Governance

UN Global Compact

An integral component of the Hess Group corporate culture is operating compliant with high ethical standards, which means adhering to legal and internal guidelines as well as all management personnel maintaining personal integrity.
Our principles are based on the Global Compact of the United Nations. This compact, which was established in July 2000, comprises 10 priniples, covering human rights, working standards, and environmental protection as well as anticorruption, and it today receives support from more than 8,500 participants from over 135 countries around the globe.
“We recognise these principles as the foundation for running a responsible business and we look forward to improving even more in cooperation with the United Nations and other participants of the pact,” explains Christoph Hess.
Hess Group has a compliance guideline that provides transparent and mandatory rules on the following topics: anti-corruption, anti-bullying, anti-discrimination, data protection, environmental guidelines, fair behaviour towards one another, and respectful use of private property (which not only includes material property but also knowhow and trademark rights).
The Compliance Officer is responsible for the compliance with the provisions defined in the compliance guideline. In the case of infringements against these guidelines, it is not only our employees who will be required to contact the Compliance Officer; the same is expected of third parties. This Officer operates independently from board of director instructions and handles all issues confidentially, ensuring that open discussion is possible in order to solve all issues in the best possible way.
Further information: http://www.unglobalcompact.org/

Quality of life – we design cities

The lighting demands of our customers around the world are very varied and go far beyond simply illuminating dark areas. Instead, the focus is on creating amiable living spaces that people will identify with their village, city or the surroundings in which they live.
Today, as we experience the increase of migration toward large urban areas and the growing competition between cities, having a unique personality is essential to a city's attractiveness and its sustained prosperity.

Sustainability Report

DOWNLOAD (PDF, 6,1 MB)
Sustainability Report 2011/2012 (German)
DOWNLOAD (PDF, 6,1 MB)
Sustainability Report 2011/2012 (English)