Minister Röttgen awards Climate Innovation Prize to BSH

Zeolite® drying system for dishwashers receives prize for its optimal energy efficiency

Munich, February 11, 2010 (bsh) BSH Bosch und Siemens Hausgeräte GmbH (BSH) today received the “Innovation Prize for Climate and Environment” from Dr. Norbert Röttgen, German Federal Minister for the Environment, in Berlin. BSH received the first Innovation Prize – jointly presented by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment and the Federation of German Industries (BDI) – for its zeolite drying system for dishwashers, which considerably reduces the appliances’ energy consumption. “Over the past 20 years we have halved the energy consumption of our dishwashers. The innovative zeolite technology has made another enormous leap in efficiency possible. The new appliances need 20 percent less electricity than the most energy-efficient dishwashers to date,” explained BSH CEO Dr. Kurt-Ludwig Gutberlet commenting on the award ceremony. The company doubled the sale of super efficient household appliances within one year. In 2009 the share of these appliances had already reached 15 percent of total sales in Europe.

The dishwashers feature a special container of zeolite, a mineral with the ability to store moisture and energy. It dries the dishes after the cleaning cycle by absorbing the moisture from the air in the dishwasher’s interior. During the next cleaning cycle, the zeolite is heated up and the moisture released so that it is ready for the next drying cycle. Zeolite speeds up the drying process, considerably reducing cycle times. At just 0.83 kilowatt hours per cycle, the dishwashers need 20 percent less electricity than the most energyefficient dishwashers to date, making dishwashers with zeolite technology the most energy- efficient in the world.

If all the dishwashers in use in households today that are over ten years old and use more than 1.3 kWh of electricity per cycle were to be replaced with highly efficient appliances featuring the zeolite drying system, over 1.2 million tons of CO2 could be saved every year in Germany alone. This is equivalent to the emissions of approximately 600,000 automobiles that drive around 15,000 kilometers a year.

It is the first time that zeolite – until now only used in industry – is being used in a mass-produced household appliance. This world’s first from Bosch and Siemens, which was unveiled at IFA 2008, has now been awarded the “Innovation Prize for Climate and Environment” in the category “Product and service innovations for climate protection”.

A total of 145 applicants submitted their entries for a prize in one of the five categories. The high-ranking jury chaired by Prof. Klaus Töpfer, former director of the UN Environment Programme, based their decisions on a scientific innovation audit carried out by the Fraunhofer Institute. The jury also recommended that the zeolite drying system be entered into the “European Business Awards for Sustainable Development” competition held by the EU Commission.

The “Innovation Prize for Climate and the Environment” (IKU) is intended to promote German innovations that make a contribution towards climate and/or environmental protection and provide answers to one of the greatest challenges of today’s world. The winners of the IKU also receive 25,000 euros, which BSH will pass on to the Bavarian Center for Applied Energy Research (ZAE) to be used for research projects on improving energy efficiency. The zeolite drying system was developed by BSH engineers together with experts from the ZAE.

Contact for this press release:
Fridolin Weindl
Tel.: +49 89 4590 3391
E-mail: fridolin.weindl@bshg.com