Tradition and innovation.
Business and nature in perfect harmony.
We have not just addressed environmental concerns since the most recent intensification of the climate debate, but in fact we had already started doing so in the late 1990s. In 1996, we extensively renovated our company in Churwalden and replaced all the infrastructure from the heating to the ventilation and air conditioning to the electrical and sanitary installations. We also installed a heat recovery system, which distributes the heat in optimal fashion, as well as two central cooling systems, which have minimal energy consumption.
In 2002, we started to enhance our company premises by adding ecological features. We now only have the meadow next to our property mown twice a year, and ever since we have been able to enjoy a wide variety of flowers and rare plants, which have taken root again. Native bushes and trees are growing on the embankment which borders the meadow, providing a habitat for birds, hedgehogs, rabbits and foxes. In the biotope that we have set up, amphibians spawn and insects buzz over the water. Our ecologically designed premises, which currently extend over an area of 11,850 square metres, meet the quality criteria of the Stiftung Natur & Wirtschaft (Nature & Business Foundation) and have been awarded the ‘national park’ label by it. We are absolutely delighted about this achievement.
Our commitment to the environment was even greater in relation to the new building which opened in Landquart in 2010. On the premises behind the factory building, we cooperated with cantonal authorities and environmental organisations to set up a biotope landscape in an area of over 2,000 square metres. Room for biodiversity: five wetlands, two bee hotels, areas for scrap wood, over a dozen native bush varieties and fallow areas provide amphibians, reptiles and mammals with food and shelter.
The highly endangered dwarf reed mace, which used to be indigenous to the Rhine Valley, has been given a new habitat in our biotope. A small bog garden with sphagnum moss increases biodiversity, and we plan to plant a colony of Siberian iris, which is also a native plant of this region. We hope that we will soon catch a glimpse of the first yellow-bellied toads and smooth snakes in our biotope.
