Gira – “Strong impulse from the market”

March 16, 2024
Gira

“Light + Building 2024”: Gira triples visitor numbers

 

Radevormwald, March 15, 2024. 

“In these rather difficult economic times, we are taking a strong tailwind for our business from the trade fair in Frankfurt back to Radevormwald,” says Dominik Marte, Managing Director of the building technology specialist Smart home pioneer Gira (www.gira.de), a consistently positive assessment of his company’s appearance at “Light + Building”. 

“All important market partners from home and abroad visited our stand. We received a lot of approval for the innovations and further developments presented.” 

 

The world’s leading trade fair for lighting and building technology in Frankfurt am Main from March 3 to 8, 2024 attracted a total of 151,192 visitors from 146 countries – an increase in visitors of almost 63 percent compared to the last edition of the trade fair in October 2022. 

“It was clearly noticeable that Corona no longer determines everyday life,” confirms Torben Bayer, head of brand, marketing and digital business models at the Bergischer technology medium-sized company. 

 

With almost 60,000 visits that Gira counted at its stand during the six days of the trade fair, the popularity has almost tripled compared to 2022 – despite the rail and air transport strikes in the second half of the trade fair. 

“This is a really strong impulse from the market,” said Bayer.

 

Next Generation: Convenient switches and smart energy management

In fact, the new Gira switch generation in particular caused quite a stir among specialists from the electrical trade at the trade fair, as it significantly minimizes the installation effort. The highlights of the completely revised switch range, which will completely replace the previous Gira range from summer 2024, include the uniform rocker holder, which increases installation comfort and at the same time enables more functions to be combined with one another. 

“A lot of passion went into our completely renewed generation of switches,” emphasizes Managing Director Marte. “In addition to the great response that our further development received, it was a real trade fair highlight for us when the VDE, the Association of Electrical Engineering Electronics Information Technology, presented us with the official certification certificate for our new range of switches at our stand.”

 

Up Gira’s innovative solutions for intelligent energy management in the smart home, such as the “Gira Eco” module, have also attracted widespread interest. 

“In view of the urgent need to use energy as efficiently as possible, digital control of building technology plays a central role,” explains Bayer’s marketing boss. “The integration of electromobility into a smart home application, such as that made possible by ‘Gira Eco’, is a very important component.”

Quality and sustainability as a competitive advantage

But it wasn’t just the new products from Radevormwald that aroused the interest of trade fair guests. A real crowd puller at the Gira stand was an area in which the technology company provided detailed information about how it ensures the longevity and sustainability of its products. 

“The recycled content of a product, its ecological footprint and its CO2 balance, its recyclability and its lifespan are aspects that are increasingly of interest to our specialist customers, but also to end users,” reports Dominik Marte. 

“It’s a good thing that we can present comprehensive life cycle assessments for our product categories. This is a real competitive advantage.” 

 

Gira is therefore also able to quantify the climate protection effect of using recycled plastic granules from its own production to produce plastic parts for its switches. 

“With our ‘Gira E2 Light Gray Recyclate’ program, which was presented for the first time at ‘Light + Building’, the primary energy used to produce its visible plastic components is reduced by 80 percent,” says Dominik Marte. “This reduces the CO2 footprint by 54 percent compared to components that are made entirely from new material.”

 

Gira trainees in action

There is a large crowd at their own stand in the “E-Zubi-Werkstattstrasse”, which is run by the Central Association of the Organized by the German Electrical and Information Technology Trades (ZVEH), three technical trainees from Gira and their trainers were also able to enjoy the event during the trade fair. The prospective mechatronics engineers and tool mechanics from Radevormwald held 772 conversations with both young electronics engineers and those interested in technical training in the electrical trade. But they also came up with a lot of ideas to familiarize prospective and potential electrical installers with innovative product solutions from Gira and get them excited about them. Visitors had the opportunity to test their craftsmanship and technical know-how at several stations on the stand – for example when installing the new generation of Gira switches or solving a programming task with the smart home system. Gira One”. 

“The commitment of our trainees perfectly rounded off a successful Gira appearance at the industry highlight 2024 in every respect,” agree Dominik Marte and Torben Bayer. “We are happy to take this good feeling and the momentum that was sparked in Frankfurt with us.”

 

SourceGira

EMR Analysis

More information on Gira Giersiepen GmbH & Co. KG: See the full profile on EMR Executive Services

More information on Dominik Marte (Managing Director, Gira Giersiepen GmbH & Co. KG): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services

More information on Sebastian Marz (Managing Director, Gira Giersiepen GmbH & Co. KG): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services

More information on Christian Feltgen (Managing Director, Gira Giersiepen GmbH & Co. KG): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services

More information on Steffen Zimmermann (Managing Director, Gira Giersiepen GmbH & Co. KG): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services

More information on Torben Bayer (Head of Brand, Marketing and Digital Business Models, Gira Giersiepen GmbH & Co. KG): See the full profile on EMR Executive Services

 

More information on Light+Building 2024 (​3-8 March 2024, Frankfurt, Germany): https://light-building.messefrankfurt.com/frankfurt/en.html + The international meeting place for the lighting and building services technology sector will open again in 2024 on the usual date from 3 to 8 March at the Exhibition Grounds in Frankfurt am Main. The focus will be on lighting trends in all their facets, the electrification and digitalisation of home and building service technology and connected security technology. 

Light + Building underlines the central importance of electrification with the claim “Be electrified”. At the international meeting place for the sector, the focus is on technical innovations to move forward on the path to a sustainable future.

More information on Wolfgang Marzin (President and Chief Executive Officer, Messe Frankfurt): https://www.messefrankfurt.com/frankfurt/en/company/management.html 

More information on Johannes Möller (Director Light+Building, Messe Frankfurt): https://www.linkedin.com/in/johannes-m%C3%B6ller-7a48901b0/ 

 

More information on the German Electrical Engineers Association (VDE): https://www.vde.com/en + VDE, one of the largest technology organizations in Europe, has been regarded as a synonym for innovation and technological progress for more than 130 years. VDE is the only organization in the world that combines science, standardization, testing, certification, and application consulting under one umbrella. The VDE mark has been synonymous with the highest safety standards and consumer protection for 100 years. Our passion is the advancement of technology, the next generation of engineers and technologists, and lifelong learning and career development “on the job”. Within the VDE network 2,000 employees at over 60 locations worldwide, more than 100,000 honorary experts, and 1,500 companies are dedicated to ensuring a future worth living. The headquarters of the VDE (Association for Electrical, Electronic & Information Technologies) is in Frankfurt am Main.

More information on VDE-ENEC Certificates: https://www.vde.com/tic-en/marks-and-zertificates + Product certification allows the manufacturer to affix the VDE Certification Marks mentioned in the marks approval to all products in conformity with the tested one. Besides certification with one of the VDE marks, VDE test reports are also recognized for obtaining the national test marks of other countries, in Europe and worldwide.

The products marked with the ENEC and HAR signs of the VDE Institute can be marketed throughout Europe without the need to obtain certifications from other European authorities.

More information on Ansgar Hinz (Chief Executive Officer – Chairman of the Executive Board, VDE): https://www.vde.com/en/about-us/supervisory-management-board/management-board/vde-ceo + https://www.linkedin.com/in/ansgar-hinz-vde/?locale=en_US 

 

More information German Electrical and Electronic Trades Association (ZVEH): https://www.zveh.de/ + The ZVEH represents the interests of 49,592 companies from the three trades of electrical engineering, information technology and electrical engineering. With 518,176 employees, including 45,808 trainees, the companies generate annual sales of 72.2 billion euros. The ZVEH as a federal guild association includes twelve state associations with 313 guilds.

As the Federal Guild Association for electrical and information technology trades, the ZVEH represents the following professions:

  • electrical engineer
  • information engineer
  • electrical machine builder

and the assigned training occupations (since August 2021):

  • NEW: Electronics engineer for building system integration (building system integrator)
  • Electronics technician specializing in energy and building technology
  • Electronics technician specializing in automation and system technology
  • Information electronics technician
  • Electronics technician for machines and drive technology

More information on Dipl.-Ing. Stefan Ehinger (President, ZVEH): https://www.zveh.de/der-zveh/vorstand/stefan-ehinger.html + https://www.linkedin.com/in/stefan-ehinger-984694233/ 

More information on Alexander Neuhäuser (General Manager, ZVEH): https://www.zveh.de/der-zveh/geschaeftsstelle/alexander-neuhaeuser.html 

 

 

 

EMR Additional Notes: 

  • Carbon Dioxide (CO2):
    • Primary greenhouse gas emitted through human activities. Carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere through burning fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and oil), solid waste, trees and other biological materials, and also as a result of certain chemical reactions (e.g., manufacture of cement). Carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere (or “sequestered”) when it is absorbed by plants as part of the biological carbon cycle.
  • Biogenic Carbon Dioxide (CO2):
    • Carbon Dioxide released as a result of the combustion or decomposition of organic material, that is biomass and its derivatives. Examples include carbon dioxide released during the combustion of wood and biogas generated by decomposition.
    • Biogenic Carbon Dioxide (CO2) and Carbon Dioxide (CO2) are the same. Scientists differentiate between biogenic carbon (that which is absorbed, stored and emitted by organic matter like soil, trees, plants and grasses) and non-biogenic carbon (that found in all other sources, most notably in fossil fuels like oil, coal and gas).
  • Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS):
    • CCS involves the capture of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from industrial processes, such as steel and cement production, or from the burning of fossil fuels in power generation. This carbon is then transported from where it was produced, via ship or in a pipeline, and stored deep underground in geological formations.
    • CCS projects typically target 90 percent efficiency, meaning that 90 percent of the carbon dioxide from the power plant will be captured and stored.
  • Decarbonization:
    • Reduction of carbon dioxide emissions through the use of low carbon power sources, achieving a lower output of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.
  • Carbon Footprint:
    • There is no universally agreed definition of what a carbon footprint is. A carbon footprint is generally understood to be the total amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that are directly or indirectly caused by an individual, organization, product, or service. These emissions are typically measured in tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).
    • In 2009, the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG Protocol) published a standard for calculating and reporting corporate carbon footprints. This standard is widely accepted by businesses and other organizations around the world. The GHG Protocol defines a carbon footprint as “the total set of greenhouse gas emissions caused by an organization, directly and indirectly, through its own operations and the value chain.”

 

  • Mechatronics:
    • Mechatronics is a multidisciplinary field that refers to the skill sets needed in the contemporary, advanced automated manufacturing industry. At the intersection of mechanics, electronics, and computing, mechatronics specialists create simpler, smarter systems.
    • Mechatronics is the broad term for integrating mechanical, telecommunication, and computer engineering, frequently using microcontrollers.
    • Examples of mechatronic systems are robots, digitally controlled combustion engines, machine tools with self-adaptive tools, contact-free magnetic bearings, automated guided vehicles, etc. Typical for such a product is the high amount of system knowledge and software that is necessary for its design.