However, what makes the building truly unique is that it is the first “EcoCommercial Building” to be developed by Bayer and its partners in Europe. That means that the building will be run on an entirely climate-neutral basis. It will meet its own energy needs, without generating any emissions. The cost of investment is EUR 2.5 million.

“There can be no better symbol of sustainability than to provide children with a place to play in a climate-neutral building,” said Dr. Wolfgang Plischke, member of the Bayer Board of Management responsible for Innovation, Technology and Environment.

“Having first implemented our concept for emissions-free buildings in the corporate and social facilities sectors with an administration building in India, this environmentally friendly Bayer child care center is our first such project under the climatic conditions of Europe – and thus represents yet another milestone in our Climate Program.”

“The construction of this company child care center is our response to the challenges faced in particular by our female employees in trying to balance their work and home life. This is part and parcel of our corporate social responsibility and our efforts to make it easier for staff to combine their family and their job,” remarked Professor Friedrich Berschauer, Chairman of the Board of Management of Bayer CropScience AG. Flexible working models and child care support are extremely effective ways of attracting highly skilled workers to Bayer CropScience. “These employees increasingly want to return to work after just a short maternity leave and they also want to know that their child is in the best possible hands,” said Susann Hefftner, Project Manager and Head of HR at Bayer CropScience.

The child care center will be run by Cologne-based “educcare,” which is a recognized national provider of private youth welfare services in Germany. The organization already runs eight similar facilities in Germany. Its name stands for the concept of combining education with care. Besides providing its services on a bilingual basis (German and English), educcare also places a strong emphasis on imagination, creativity, tolerance and understanding for other children.

Sustainable energy use – the zero-emissions building
During construction work, polyurethane insulation materials based on raw materials from Bayer MaterialScience will be used to provide heat insulation for the building’s shell. Renewable energies such as solar energy for generating electricity and geothermal and solar heating systems will also be implemented. The photovoltaic modules too will incorporate materials from Bayer MaterialScience, in the form of thermoplastic polyurethanes. In addition, the amount of electricity taken from external sources to power technical equipment in the building will be more than offset by the yearly average excess of CO2-free energy that it feeds back into the grid. As a result, the child care center will deliver an emissions-neutral energy balance over the course of the year. And that fits in well with the concept of the people who run “educcare”: Children won’t just be running and playing in the center – they’ll also be getting an early introduction to environmental awareness and a healthy way of life.


More information on the Bayer Climate Program is available at: www.climate.bayer.com.


Forward-Looking Statements
This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Bayer Group or subgroup management. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Bayer’s public reports, which are available on the Bayer website at www.bayer.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.