“The potential is enormous” - Interview with Dr. Henrik Siegle, CTO at Bosch Building Technologies

Dr. Henrik Siegle has been the CTO at Bosch Building Technologies since November 2021. In this interview, he speaks about the megatrends of energy efficiency and sustainability, and about new developments in the building technology sector.

• Dr. Siegle, the building industry is currently facing major challenges in the form of climate change and energy shortages. How is Bosch Building Technologies dealing with these challenges?

Dr. Henrik Siegle: Energy efficiency and sustainability have long been key priorities for us – and, indeed, for the entire Bosch Group. For Bosch Building Technologies, this also particularly applies to building automation. We have continually built up our strengths in this area in recent years, including through the takeover of other companies, especially in the United States and Germany – all with the aim of making buildings more energy efficient and more sustainable.

We do this in a variety of ways, including automated HVAC control systems based on presence detectors, intelligent lighting and shade control. This approach enables us to optimise the operation of buildings, cut costs for customers and play our part in saving resources.

• Bosch itself became climate-neutral in 2020. How did you manage that?

To achieve climate neutrality, we have implemented measures in four key areas

Dr. Henrik Siegle: Bosch started addressing energy efficiency issues early on, which is why the Bosch Group, with more than 400 sites worldwide, is already climate-neutral. To achieve climate neutrality, we have implemented measures in four key areas – increasing energy efficiency, using more renewable energy from our own production, purchasing green energy and, finally, offsetting unavoidable CO2 emissions.

We are working on further optimising our mix of measures, because the Bosch Group is totally committed to energy efficiency. We want to promote use of our energy-efficient products, but that’s not all – we are also keen to demonstrate our corporate commitment to sustainability. That’s why we analysed all our divisions, documented energy consumption and developed strategies for each individual division to cut our use of energy further.

As the Bosch Building Technologies division, we supply solutions for the Group. One example is our cloud-based energy platform, which is used to analyse the individual energy flows in a factory on a very frequent basis and to predict future consumption. This enables us to continuously optimise our energy consumption at each individual site. The Bosch plant in Homburg is a good example. Since introducing the energy platform there, we have cut CO2 emissions by 6,700 metric tons in the first two years alone – that’s a reduction of 12 percent.

At the Bosch Group, we also aim to reduce the CO2 emissions that we don’t generate ourselves directly, but which are produced in the supply chain, for example, or when our products are used. At Bosch, we are aiming to reduce these emissions by 15 percent by 2030.

• Can you give us some more examples of what Bosch Building Technologies is doing to help improve sustainability?

Dr. Henrik Siegle: There are many initiatives and projects underway to increase sustainability at Bosch Building Technologies. One example is an environmentally friendly packaging concept that recently won an award within the Bosch Group. The concept, which involves reusing packaging material, not only significantly reduces the volume of waste, but also speeds up the repackaging processes.

What’s more, the optimised size of the packaging also substantially reduces freight and storage volumes, which again cuts CO2 emissions. Our remote services are another fantastic example of the steps we are taking to increase sustainability. By offering our customers remote maintenance, we reduce the working hours involved, but that’s not all – this also prevents our service engineers having to travel to the customers’ premises, which again helps cut CO2 emissions.

• What is the significance of energy efficiency in the building sector overall?

Dr. Henrik Siegle: Alongside industry, the building sector is responsible for approximately 40 percent of total CO2 emissions, so energy efficiency is clearly hugely important. The high proportion of emissions demonstrates the enormous potential for reducing energy consumption in the building sector and what big contribution we can make in this area with our sustainable solutions.

Bosch turned the climate neutrality that we achieved as a Group into a business model

Bosch turned the climate neutrality that we achieved as a Group into a business model and set up Bosch Climate Solutions GmbH, which is now part of Bosch Building Technologies. This means we are now in a position to offer to develop a climate neutrality strategy for other companies and supply them with the solutions they need through our system integrator.

Companies have growing obligations to report on what they are doing to help the environment – and that’s why we’re working together with our partners to develop the building management services suite, or BMSS for short.

This open, domain-spanning service offering combines and integrates the individual building systems, services and software solutions from various areas of application. This means the reliable facts about sustainability that are needed for ESG reporting can be generated – in other words, facts that constitute evidence of environmentally friendly operations.

• When it comes to the demand for energy efficiency solutions, is there such a thing as a typical customer?

Dr. Henrik Siegle: We have a huge range of customers – from schools and hospitals to drugstore chains and industrial sites.

Bosch Building Technologies offers a smartphone-based solution to provide contactless access to buildings

• Alongside sustainability, the connection of individual systems in safety and security technology has been a key topic for a long time now. How is Bosch Building Technologies positioning itself here as a full-service provider?

Dr. Henrik Siegle: When it comes to connectivity, Bosch Building Technologies benefits hugely from cross-divisional collaboration within the Bosch Group. Overall, connectivity and the Internet of Things (IoT) are topics that we actively addressed at Bosch at a very early stage. As a result, we now have many years of experience of developing relevant technologies and applying these solutions professionally.

There are a few solutions, in particular, that really stand out, such as Aviotec, our VdS-approved video-based fire detection system. The system’s security camera performs intelligent video analysis, which means we can detect a fire at a much earlier stage compared to conventional fire detection technology.

What’s more, the camera’s built-in intelligence means it can be used for other purposes

What’s more, the camera’s built-in intelligence means it can be used for other purposes, too, such as anti-intruder and anti-theft protection. We can also use it to monitor compliance with social distancing rules, for example. This is an innovative example of the connection of domains.

However, it also goes without saying that connectivity plays a major role in our business within systems, too. In this context, I would like to mention our connected solutions that make it possible for technical building equipment processes to run as smoothly and efficiently as possible.

These solutions include condition monitoring and predictive maintenance, for instance. One example is fire detection systems that independently supply information about their own operating condition and the necessary maintenance intervals. Another example comes from our Access & Intrusion business unit: We now also offer contactless access to buildings via a smartphone-based solution, i.e. via mobile credentials.

• In your view, what are the current and future market trends in security and building technology?

Dr. Henrik Siegle: Well, regardless of market trends, it’s really important to us that we always put the customer at the centre of everything we do. What we want are solutions that meet customers’ needs – both now and in the future. Thanks to our user experience, or UX, method, we have an excellent understanding of what a customer actually wants and needs.

That’s why we involve customers in the testing of our innovations as early as possible – it helps us find out whether and how the future product works in practice. We’re therefore always particularly close to our customers. We don’t just develop our products and solutions on this basis, but our services, too.

When it comes to video security and intelligent building control in particular, artificial intelligence plays a key role

Innovations in building technology are very wide ranging and, in my view, they all revolve around the megatrends of energy efficiency, sustainability, security and artificial intelligence. When it comes to video security and intelligent building control in particular, artificial intelligence plays a key role. This has huge potential – and we want to realise this potential more and more at Bosch. The video-based fire detection system that I’ve already mentioned is an excellent example.

The thing that makes us stand out on the market is our business model, which is based on two key pillars. One of these is our system integrator business. This means we offer everything from a single source, right from the initial inquiry, consultancy and planning through to implementation and operation.

The second pillar is our product business. The direct customer interface in the system integrator means we get direct feedback in the system integrator itself, both from customers themselves and from our colleagues. We incorporate this feedback into our product development processes.

• How is your system integrator business doing?

Dr. Henrik Siegle: Very well. We’ve experienced good growth in this area in both Europe and North America. What’s more, just recently, we’ve also significantly expanded our system integrator business again through acquisitions in Germany, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.

One of our priorities is ensuring that our technology is always state of the art. Developing our expertise in this area also means that regular training for our associates is important, since technical developments are becoming more and more dynamic.

• Given this background, are you also feeling the impact of the skills shortage?

Our business model can only work if we have skilled, motivated associates

Dr. Henrik Siegle: It may sound obvious, but needless to say, our business model can only work if we have skilled, motivated associates. The question of how we attract new associates is not the only important one – it’s also vital to consider what we do for the ones we already employ. For example, we have our own academy spread across three sites in Germany, where we provide our associates with regular training, and we also put on a wide range of professional development seminars.

To attract new talent, we offer dual study programmes along with programs for trainees, Master’s students and PhD students. We also often attend various career fairs. What’s more, we’re working more closely together with universities and institutes. We have quite a lot to offer in this regard.

Our purpose, ‘Building solutions for a better life,’ doesn’t just motivate me personally – it also resonates very well outside Bosch. Bosch gives its associates the opportunity to work directly on important topics of both the present and the future with the aim of making the world a safer, more sustainable place – using state-of-the-art technologies such as artificial intelligence! Nevertheless, the skills shortage naturally still poses a major challenge.