German supermarket chain Lidl has been presented with ISO 50001 certification for sustainable energy management. Lidl has 3,200 stores that are certified to ISO 50001, which makes it the largest food and retail network in Germany to get the certification. The certification process of all Lidl stores werre successfully completed in November 2015. The ISO 50001 certificate was presented to the supermarket on 28 January by the Dekra in Germany. ISO 50001, a worldwide standard is awarded to the company for the construction and organization of an effective energy management system.
An essential component of energy management at Lidl is the use of a building control system. When using this software, the power consumption of a branch is analyzed for abnormalities and potential savings are rectified.
As part of the certification all 3,200 branches were also checked. To raise awareness of energy-efficient action, all the 70,000 employees of the supermarket were trained. End of 2015, Lidl was awarded first price by the German Energy Agency Dena at Energy Efficiency Awards.
This building type was realized more than 200 times in Germany. Sustainability is an important issue for Lidl. This also includes that the products offered by Lidl in its stores, are produced under environmentally acceptable conditions. Equally important is the cooperation with Lidl recognized certification organizations such as Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance and UTZ. Environmental protection and sustainable production conditions are important fields of action on which is committed to Lidl. Wolf Tiedemann, Executive Vice President of Lidl Germany said that the outstanding commitment of their employees looking for energy savings shows the company pioneer in energy-efficient solutions. He also thanked his employees for their commitment.