District President finds out about the GreenInnovationPark

Bärbel Schäfer, District President of the Freiburg administrative district, visited the SÜLZLE company in Rosenfeld together with Dr Wolf-Rüdiger Michel, District Administrator of the Rottweil administrative district, and Hermann Kopp, First State Officer, to find out about the forward-looking and sustainable “Green Innovation Park” construction project in the inter-municipal industrial estate in Sulz/Vöhringen.

On the former brickworks site of the SÜLZLE company in section B of the InPark A81, an extraordinary construction project with national appeal is being built on the initiative of the family-owned company after years of preparatory work. Under the name “Green Innovation Park”, SÜLZLE is developing the innovative demonstrator of the industrial estate of the future here. What is innovative above all is the sustainability that is being pursued from start to finish in the overall project. From the development concept, the revitalisation of an industrial wasteland, the modular and cycle-compatible building architecture to the environmentally friendly energy supply. “We are building for the people who work there and above all for the innovation that will be created there,” explains Heinrich Sülzle, Managing Partner of the SÜLZLE Group. “With this extraordinary lighthouse project, we are creating the central address for national and international companies, start-ups and scale-ups from the fields of energy, construction, ecology and digitalisation in several construction phases on around 80,000 m², where they will work together on innovations for a sustainable future.”

As a starting point, the first four buildings (Campus 1) will be built by the beginning of 2025 with approx. 650 workplaces, its own day care centre, guest house with 30 rooms, co-working areas, company restaurant and conference/seminar areas. All under the triad: collaboration, innovation and sustainability. “The Green Innovation Park is distinguished above all by its holistic approach to sustainability,” notes District President Bärbel Schäfer. “We are grateful for such private-sector initiatives. Because it is precisely this forward-looking entrepreneurial spirit that makes our region so successful.”

The Green Innovation Park is also the platform for the SÜLZLE Group’s own entrepreneurial development and at the same time offers the opportunity for other companies from the region to also use this platform and complete their own transformation there in this new digitalised and sustainable age. “With the current challenges and the associated consequences that affect us all, we also need to think differently about industrial areas, as we did in the 90s,” explains District Administrator Dr Wolf-Rüdiger Michel. “I am convinced that this innovative project is being realised at exactly the right time for our region and I would like to thank the SÜLZLE company for its commitment,” adds the District Administrator.

“The idea was allowed to grow in stages over a period of 20 years,” explains Heinrich Sülzle, Managing Partner of the SÜLZLE Group. “However, up to this milestone we had to face some challenges and overcome many obstacles. Looking back, we are glad that everything turned out this way and that we are now exactly at this point. The Green Innovation Park is much more than a construction project. It is a groundbreaking project for the future that is being built at exactly the right time and in the right place at the beginning of this turning point that we are experiencing. So far, the family-owned company SÜLZLE has already invested an amount in the double-digit millions. The building permit is to be applied for at the end of 2022/beginning of 2023. The first users are expected to move in from 2025. The industrial estate of the future is also open to other interested and suitable companies. A project from the region for the region, which can only come about through the cooperation of many first-class players. The politicians also agree on this.

About the Green Innovation Park

The Green Innovation Park is an innovation campus for national and international companies, start-ups and companies in the growth phase – so-called scale-ups – with holistic sustainability requirements in the areas of energy, construction, ecology and digitalisation. Through a new coexistence of work and life, innovations and technologies in development and production will be driven forward, ensuring us a sustainable future. The building project is being implemented in close cooperation with strategic partners such as the consulting and planning company Drees & Sommer, which specialises in construction and real estate, the architects from kadawittfeldarchitektur, the energy company E.ON and its subsidiary Bayernwerk Natur, and the system solution provider for digital infrastructures PHOENIX CONTACT.

As a central partner and driver, the SÜLZLE Group, an international company that is family-run in the fourth generation, is the initiator of the Green Innovation Park. With 142 years of experience and tradition, SÜLZLE combines steel, energy and the environment into one group of companies. The focus here is on the sustainable and holistic development of the site in Sulz/Vöhringen in conjunction with the transformation of the SÜLZLE Group into the digitalised future.