Dialogue: David Kohler

Kohler, a manufacturer of kitchen and bath products, engines and power generation systems has a new strategy – to aggressively contribute to sustainable building. Company president and COO David Kohler explains the reasons behind this decision.

What inspired you to update your company strategy in 2008?
There is a scarcity of fresh available drinking water around the world and it is a big issue here in the UAE. It’s important that companies and consumers become more educated about the areas of sustainability and understand how their actions can impact the world. We look at sustainability because we think it’s the right thing to do not the right thing to say. As we have grown as a company, our environmental footprint has increased and we need to change this. Around 40% of people around the globe are impacted by water scarcity. We believe that, given our business in the plumbing industry, it is critical for us educate people on how to use water more effectively without compromising desires for luxury.

How can Kohler contribute to a sustainable environment?
The first element of our strategy is footprint reduction – we want to reduce our carbon footprint as a company by 4% per annum, with an aggressive goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions with offsets by 2035. The second plank of our strategy is about growth and innovation. We want to drive new products and innovative technologies, which are better for the environment – a water conserving shower or a higher fuel efficiency engine or generator, for example. The third plank is to educate customers on the importance of sustainability and how businesses can still be successful if they implement green initiatives. We believe the right sustainability strategy is one that integrates business principles with environmental principals. It has to make sound business sense.

Is there a limit to how energy efficient a product can be?
There must be a limit, but I don’t know if we will ever find it. There has always been a belief that there is a limit to reducing the consumption of water, but then we created the waterless urinal. I believe that necessity is the mother of invention – we are running out of water so therefore we have to think of new ways of saving it. If you set aggressive goals, you will pioneer in new ways.

Is there a demand for energy efficient products or do you have to persuade companies to invest?
I don’t think there has been a big demand for water conservation in this region, but with programmes like Heroes of the UAE in Abu Dhabi [a campaign urging people living and working in the UAE to reduce their energy consumption], it will increase. There are also governments and companies that are trying to drive awareness in certain markets.

How energy efficient are your power generators?
We are primarily in the business of standby power generation. We power everything from standby generation in the home from small portable 4KW units all the way to the largest generator sets, with over 3MW. Some of our units can work on diesel fuel and the most sustainable units we have are those that work on natural gas – they are more energy efficient and they produce low carbon emissions. We are driving the expansion of these. We are also evaluating different technologies for the future that can help us better link renewable energy with our generator sets.

What projects have you recently been involved in?
We looked at the water consumption of our facilities that make faucets around the world and found that we waste water in a lot of different ways. So, through a careful design, we were able to reduce the water consumption per faucet produced by 90% at a new facility in India. Today the company has 51 manufacturing facilities in 16 different countries. We are also working closely with the Masdar City project in Abu Dhabi on the power side of our business, as well as the plumbing side. In addition, we supplied commercial faucets to the Atlantis Hotel in Dubai.

Who is Kohler?
Kohler was elected to the president and COO position in April 2009. He is the eighth individual to serve in the role of president since the company’s inception in 1873. A member of the company’s board of directors, Kohler oversees three of Kohler Company’s four worldwide businesses – Kitchen & Bath Group, Global Power Group, and Interiors Group, as well as the Corporate Technical Services organisation. He joined the Kohler executive management team in 1993 and gradually moved up the company ladder.