Garden centre saves up to 60 percent energy
Reducing operating costs through environmentally friendly power generation
Since the beginning of March, Delitzsch has been home to one of Germany’s largest and most modern plant centres in Raiffeisenstrasse. On a total area of around four hectares, a good hectare of which is under glass, customers can find everything having to do with plants – from soil to decorative items. The new location in Delitzsch offers 400 parking spaces, as many as 280 more than the previous one. The new plant paradise is also remarkably conveniently located and easy to reach.
The Richter family has been running the horticultural company for four generations. In addition to Delitzsch, it has further plant centres in Bünde, Magdeburg, Gera and Jena. The company employed a total of over 160 people, 30 in Delitzsch alone.
The new garden centre is well worth a visit. The entire sales area has been extended to offer wider space and clearer arrangement. A bright and friendly shopping atmosphere invites you to linger about. The fresh element is the extended range of fresh cut flowers. To this end, the Richter family has created a refrigerated sales area of around 100 square metres. The areas for garden, seasonal and indoor plants have also been significantly enlarged.
The Richter family can also score points for environmental friendliness and energy saving. “This is made possible not only by using not only state-of-the-art technology, but also sustainable materials as well as a new photovoltaic system,” said our colleague Jörg Klose, sales representative at the Doberschütz site. A so-called convertible greenhouse for seasonal plants provides an ideal climate. Depending on the weather, the whole roof can be opened and closed again in no time. Fully automatic.
To lower operating costs, the Richter family decided to install a solar heating system. With an output of 99.8 kWp, it covers around a third of the electricity requirements. “With the currently exorbitant electricity prices, this is a profitable investment,” promised our sales colleague. During the day, the horticultural business requires a lot of energy because numerous appliances are in use – whether for ventilation, irrigation, cooling, lighting, etc. The system pays off accordingly fast.
However, the Richter family does not only rely on our range of services for photovoltaics. It also commissioned our team in Doberschütz with all the electrical engineering work, ranging from electrical installations and lighting technology to security lighting, network technology and intruder alarm systems through to automatic door control systems. “And not just for the greenhouse and horticultural areas,” said Klose. “We have also equipped the social and office spaces, as well as the outdoor area with the car parks, with the required technology.”
The time frame was the biggest challenge here. The main season is spring. “That’s why it was very important for the Richter family to open on time on 1 March,” recalled our sales colleague. However, thanks to good planning and project coordination, we managed to meet the deadline without any problems. “We also promptly implemented offhand change requests from the customer.” Incidentally, the new store in Delitzsch is a one-to-one copy of the plant centre that was built in Magdeburg in 2019. Along these lines, we have also supplied the photovoltaic system.
We also promptly implemented offhand change requests from the customer.
Jörg Klose, Energy Technology Sales, SCHULZ Systemtechnik, Doberschütz
