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An interview with Harald Sommerer (CEO Zumtobel Group) on the Zumtobel Group Award for Sustainability and Humanity in the Built Environment 2012.

In 2012 the Zumtobel Group is offering its third international architectural award. What are the aims behind this?

Sommerer: How should we deal with resources and treat the environment? How can we create decent living conditions? These are the central questions of our day and age. Architects, urban planners and engineers have a key role to play in this respect. Through a combination of innovative technologies, the latest research findings and outstanding design concepts, they are the ones who can come up with future-proof solutions.

Through our award we are aiming to draw greater attention to the principle of sustainability in the built environment. We were delighted at the positive response to our first two awards and hope that the public tender for submissions will generate an even greater response.

Along with sustainability, the Zumtobel Group Award also underlines the notion of humanity. Could you tell us why?

Sommerer: When we make a commitment to sustainability, environmental protection and the responsible use of finite resources, the underlying aim is to ensure the long-term conservation of our ecosystem and the human habitat. For me, that has two consequences: firstly we must strike a balance between the demand for energy savings and human needs. There are many situations in which energy consumption is essential to the well-being, health and safety of humankind, and promotes human performance. Secondly, in my view, the long-term conservation of the human habitat also involves social aspects of a more sweeping significance. Only if we find answers to the challenges posed by globalisation, if we lay the foundations for more equal opportunities and more equitable shares, do we have a real chance of making peaceful progress. And this process needs to take place at national and at corporate level. That's why I believe it is so important for us to take the notion of humanity into account when we reward what we consider the most promising concepts and initiatives for the future.

How do you select the award winners?

Sommerer: Together with the award's curators, Aedes Architektur Forum Berlin, we drew up a multi-stage process to help us identify the most interesting projects and initiatives worldwide. Acting as a first-line jury, Aedes will select 20 projects in each category from among the submissions and prepare them for the jury session. In May 2012, a jury of prominent experts from a variety of disciplines will shortlist five projects per category and select a winner from among these five. I am delighted that we succeeded in attracting leading figures from various fields for the jury.

As a company, how can the Zumtobel Group contribute to greater sustainability and humanity?

Sommerer: Some 20% of the electrical energy consumed worldwide is accounted for by artificial lighting. Against this backdrop, we aim to optimise the use of energy by supplying technically innovative, intelligently controlled luminaires, components and lighting solutions. As we develop these products and solutions, we are also concerned to take human needs into account. Within our company too we adopt a responsible approach to the environment and natural resources. That applies, for example, to our use of materials as well as to our production processes. We aim to have all our production facilities worldwide certified to ISO 14.001 - the standard for environmentally compatible production. And humanity is an important aspect for us, too. With a view to our employees, our customers and our relations with society in general, we consider ourselves a value-led company. Values such as honesty, reliability, creativity and quality are firmly anchored in our corporate culture and form the basis of our daily conduct.