The Viessmann Group can report on very successful performance over the past fiscal year despite facing major challenges such as the Ukraine war, global supply bottlenecks and the COVID-19 pandemic. After achieving strong sales growth in 2021, the family business was able to continue its growth course hand-in-hand with its specialist installer partners. Total sales were up by 19 percent to a total of EUR 4 billion in 2022 (previous year: EUR 3.4 billion), setting a new record for the sixth time in a row. The number of family members increased from 13000 to 14500.
These were the figures presented by Thomas Heim, CEO of the Group’s largest division, Viessmann Climate Solutions, at the world’s leading ISH trade fair in Frankfurt. Looking at the first two months of the current year, the CEO spoke of a promising start to a year that will be dominated by the implementation of the company’s strategic goals.
Thomas Heim, CEO of Viessmann Climate Solutions: “Our climate solutions support the achievement of the European climate targets, namely a reduction in CO2 emissions by at least 55 percent compared with 1990 between now and 2030. The number of heat pumps installed in the future will play a key role in this process. Given this important mission, we are proud to have continued to forge ahead with our transformation in 2022. Last but not least, the visit that the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz made to our headquarters last year confirms that our strategic approach is the right one. The second pillar in the energy transition as it relates to buildings is digitalization. Our unique Viessmann One Base platform is laying a foundation on which our products and systems can communicate seamlessly with each other and with our digital services."
The largest division in the Viessmann Group made successful advances in its process of transformation to become the leading provider of integrated air-conditioning solutions in the fiscal year under review, further contributing to the purpose of the Group as a whole: “We create living spaces for generations to come." The growth achieved by Climate Solutions was accelerated, in particular, by brisk demand for sustainable climate solutions based on renewable energy. These include heat pumps that use natural refrigerants, biomass, solar heat, photovoltaic systems, electricity storage systems, heat generators for green gases and liquid green fuel, ventilation solutions, district and local heating solutions and digital services.
The family business announced back in May last year that it would be investing a record EUR 1 billion in expanding green climate solutions. With this goal in mind, the division expanded its development capacities for heat pumps and almost doubled the number of employees working in this area. The next generation of heat pumps, the Vitocal-250-A/-150-A, the development of Viessmann’s own Vitocharge battery system, the new Viessmann Invisible compact solution and laying the foundation stone for a new heat pump site in Poland also feature among the key components of the family business’s green climate solution drive.
Vitocal 250-A и Vitocal 252-A
The alternative to gas and oil in existing buildings
- Air/water heat pumps Vitocal 250-A and Vitocal 252-A specifically developed for modernization projects
- Not necessary to redesign the heating system or floor heating
- Huge time savings during installation
Heating systems in existing buildings will have to run on something other than oil or natural gas in the near future. Why? Recent geopolitical events have made the accelerated adoption of renewable energy an inevitability. Policymakers want heat pumps to be key drivers of the energy transition in the building sector. Viessmann developed the innovative Vitocal 250-A and Vitocal 252-A heat pumps specifically for modernizing older gas or oil heating systems. The family business thus taken another huge step forward in line with its mission statement: “We create living spaces for generations to come.”
Alix Chambris, Vice President Global Public Affairs and Sustainability: “The portfolio shift towards renewable solutions offers the chance of the century to make a contribution in the interests of our environment and energy security. We have already demonstrated our ability to sever the link between growth and emissions in the past, which makes us more resilient today in an environment of rising energy prices. After all, in the period from 2005 to 2020, we reduced our own (Scopes 1 and 2) emissions by 50% despite increasing our sales by 150% at the same time. Our collective responsibility as facilitators now lies in drastically accelerating the energy transition."
Chambris continued: “This is why we have set science-based climate targets for the Viessmann Group. First, we plan to reduce our own emissions (scopes 1, 2) by a further 50% in absolute terms by 2030 compared with 2019. Our second climate target aims to reduce the economic emissions intensity of our supply chain and our products, including the use phase (Scope 3), by 55% within the same period. Our 'LEAP to net-zero’ strategy empowers our global family and our partners to drive positive change together. This is also evident from the climate solutions that we will be presenting at the ISH.“
Together with Alix Chambris, CTO Dr. Markus Klausner and CSO Dr. Karsten Hoppe, CEO Thomas Heim unveiled the trade fair concept: “A family for positive change," and around 60 new highly efficient climate solutions that will be presented to trade fair visitors for the first time at the ISH.
Dr. Karsten Hoppe, CSO Viessmann Climate Solutions: “We want our partners to feel part of the big Viessmann family. We want to help our partners to master the challenges currently facing them. As a result, we have exhibited our products, solutions and services in four different scenarios. We have also visualized the Viessmann family spirit on a giant LED for the very first time at a trade fair. This gives every partner the opportunity to show it is part of the big Viessmann family. We will also be showcasing our considerably broader range of online seminars, which allow our partners to attend live events or webinars either from the office or from home. This allows us to help them prepare as best they can to meet the latest professional requirements, especially as far as heat pumps are concerned."
CTO Dr. Markus Klausner presented the new climate solutions, which will be presented in four typical applications at the Viessmann trade fair stand in Hall 12.1. He described the Viessmann Invisible "invisible heating system" as a huge innovation step. The particularly space-saving solution consisting of a state-of-the-art heat pump, DHW cylinder and optional home ventilation system, as well as an electricity storage system, is designed specifically for new builds. This innovation turns rooms previously used for building equipment and appliances into additional living space – for example, as a study or a playroom for the kids. He also placed particular emphasis on innovations in the area of air/water monobloc heat pumps, which all run on the natural refrigerant propane (R 290), as well as on hybrid systems consisting of heat pumps and gas condensing boilers. The hybrid systems enable easy retrofitting solutions, i.e., the ability to add a heat pump to existing gas or oil-fueled heating systems later on to increase the share of annual heat output attributable to renewable energy sources to more than 70%. By expanding its portfolio, Viessmann is now able to offer a full replacement for gas and oil heating systems in all output ranges in single- and two-family homes.
Dr. Markus Klausner, CTO Viessmann Climate Solutions: “The outstanding strength of our products and solutions really comes to the fore in systems combining heat pumps with PV systems, batteries, charging stations and energy management systems. In conjunction with our ViCare Smart Climate ecosystem, we allow users to operate their heating systems in a particularly energy-saving way."
