The distinction is awarded by the German Sustainable Building Council to buildings that have made conscious use of existing resources and minimized energy consumption to protect the environment, spanning from the planning to the construction phases and extending throughout the entire life cycle of the building. It is the first time Olympus has received this certification. Environmental, economic, and socio-cultural criteria as well as aspects relating to technical, process and site quality were all required to be fulfilled in order to qualify for the certification.

Dr. Christian Meyer, Executive Managing Director at Olympus Surgical Technologies Europe, comments: “As a leading global medical technology company, Olympus is committed to making people’s lives healthier, safer and more fulfilling. Our sites are therefore geared towards sustainability and future viability in the interests of both our customers and our employees. Especially with technically highly complex production facilities, the challenge lies in an energy-efficient implementation. We are therefore delighted to receive this independent award from the DGNB, which confirms that we have succeeded in combining technology and sustainability while simultaneously also creating attractive jobs locally.”

Hermann Horster, DGNB Vice President and Head of Sustainability at BNP Paribas Real Estate, emphasizes: “On the whole, state-of-the-art buildings have been created here that effectively combine environmental considerations, technical requirements, and social and economic aspects. Olympus Surgical Technologies Europe is worthy of special recognition as a production facility. With the new building, the company is making a significant contribution to the resource-saving approach in modern industrial architecture.”

Bringing technology and sustainability together

Olympus has expanded and optimized the production of high-quality endoscopes and instruments for minimally invasive surgery with its building in Hamburg-Jenfeld. It meets the technically complex requirements of a production facility for pioneering medical products while simultaneously ensuring that operations are both resource-conserving and sustainable. The energy consumption of all production systems in the building is continuously monitored and kept to a minimum via a state-of-the-art building management system. Olympus generates electricity itself with its own combined heat and power plant in Jenfeld and uses waste heat to supply the building’s own hot water and heating.

Thanks to the implementation efficient logistics processes, the factory has could be compactly designed across four floors. This resulted in impervious surfaces being kept to a comparatively low level. At the same time, great importance was given to a high degree of flexibility in the design of the production areas. Both small-scale manufacturing and highly automated processes are equally well catered for, which also provides the basis for meeting the industrial requirements of the future (Industry 4.0).