juwi to expand company headquarters

New building complex for over 100 staff / Contract again goes to Griffner

Woerrstadt/Griffen - As a result of its vigorous on-going growth, the juwi group is expanding its company headquarters in Wörrstadt, Rhineland- Palatinate, after moving into the current premises just in the middle of last year. As juwi CEO Matthias Willenbacher explains: "We are planning to take on 250 new personnel across the globe this year alone. With this new building extension we are creating workplaces in Wörrstadt for an additional 100 staff." GRIFFNER, the high-profile specialist in prefabricated buildings, was again awarded the contract for the planned office complex, which is to be built sustainably in wood - and both companies have now green-lighted the project. The original juwi complex on the site, housing more than 300 personnel, was also constructed by GRIFFNER. A prefabricated construction, comprising three modules, it is regarded as the most energy-efficient office building in the world, and as such was awarded with the German Climate Protection Prize by the environmental NGO Deutsche Umwelthilfe. The juwi Headquarters uses a range of photovoltaic systems to produce more energy than it consumes – resulting in an annual energy bill of two euros per square metre.

The new office complex is only the first in a row of planned construction projects in Wörrstadt, and is a structurally identical copy of the middle module of the existing HQ. Two more office modules, together providing space for over 200 personnel, are to follow in short order. Ultimately, juwi will have space for more than 600 employees at their Wörrstadt home. juwi intends this new office building to score even higher for energy efficiency than the original complex.

Thomas Lenzinger, CEO of Austria-based GriffnerHaus AG, stands by this promise: "With our highly experienced team we can be confident about once again meeting juwi’s ambitious targets in terms of quality, price and construction time." The new building extension in Wörrstadt will have a footprint of around 20 x 30 m, and is due to be officially opened as early as 1 August – meaning construction will take less than 5 months. Ralf Ratanski, top builderowner representative at juwi, comments: "GRIFFNER did a professional job with the first phases of construction. We are convinced that there aren’t many companies who could have done what they did."

The building’s architecture, fixtures and fittings are all designed to comply with an overarching principle emphasising conservation of resources: "With wood as the main construction material, this building represents a significant commitment to sustainable development. Together with the appropriate building services, we can ensure that the environmental impact of the whole building design is exemplary," says Lenzinger. Primary energy requirements for heat, warm water and electricity are to be met solely from regenerative sources such as wind power, solar power and bioenergy. Additionally, the building’s outer shell will be perfectly insulated, to avoid unnecessary loss of heat. Water for an optimised air conditioning system will be cooled by channelling it over the roof, and will be piped through a network of conduits in the floor during the day. Just like the original complex, the new office building will be planned and developed in compliance with a sustainable general concept.


About the juwi group

The juwi group was founded in 1996 by Matthias Willenbacher and Fred Jung. The CEOs together transformed the company, which is now based in Wörrstadt, Rhineland-Palatinate, from a two-person operation focussing on wind farm project development into an internationally active group with around 500 employees and an annual turnover of more than 400 million euros. As well as solar power and bioenergy, juwi also specialises in wind and water power, and geothermal energy. To date, juwi has installed more than 300 wind turbines producing a total output of over 450 MW, while in the solar sector, juwi has set up around 800 PV systems with a total capacity of more than 200,000 KW as of December 2008. Willenbacher and Jung are visionaries with a holistic approach who also share a common goal: energy supply from purely regenerative sources - 100% dedication to 100% renewable energies. The "100 % renewable" campaign expresses this goal. (http://www.100-prozent-erneuerbar.de). Studies and projects conducted by juwi show that it is indeed possible to provide 100% renewable energy – by 2030 in Rhineland-Palatinate and in Saarland, by 2020 in the Alzey-Worms district and by 2017 in the Wörrstadt municipality.


GRIFFNER

GriffnerHaus AG based in Kärnten/Austria has made a name for itself as one of the leading manufacturers of green, designer, pre-fabricated buildings. And the company is now also active as an all-round supplier in the turnkey sector: Focussing on services for private home construction, GRIFFNER is a singlesource provider. The company is now increasingly applying its decades of experience in the construction of traditional detached houses to commercial projects. The company stands out from the competition with its expertise in architecture and manufacturing using only sustainable materials.


Woerrstadt/Griffen, 12 March 2009


Publication and Reprint free of charge; please send a voucher copy to
the juwi Holding AG.


Attention editorial offices: For further questions please contact:


Mr. Ralf Heidenreich
Press Officer juwi Holding AG
Energie-Allee 1
55286 Wörrstadt
Tel: + 49 (0) 6732 - 96 57 1207
Fax: + 49 (0) 6732 - 96 57 7001
Mobil: + 49 (0) 173- 6598211
Mail: heidenreich@juwi.de
Internet: http://www.juwi.de


Bettina Walten
Head of Marketing GriffnerHaus AG
Tel: +43 4233 2237-330
E-Mail: bwalten@griffner.com
Internet: http://www.griffner.com

Online press kit - all press releases from juwi Holding AG, GriffnerHaus AG

---

Press photos for editorial use only
Note: For the content of this press release the issuer / publisher of the release is »juwi Holding AG, GriffnerHaus AG« responsible.