"Energiesparmeister" (Energy Saving Champion): Vocational College of the City of Bottrop wins climate protection prize in NRW and now competes for national champion

Eschborn, June 03, 2025: The vocational college (Berufskolleg) of the city of Bottrop was named the state winner for North Rhine-Westphalia in the Energy Saving Champion 2025 competition. With its “BKB goes green!” project, the college impressed the jury with its wide range of measures to promote sustainability and climate protection. These include the management of the school's own photovoltaic system, the greening of the schoolyard, energy consultations by students for households in Bottrop and project weeks on the topic of sustainability. The vocational college also scored points with its sustainability lessons, increased democracy education and a workshop on fake news to arm students against false information on climate change. As the state winner, the school receives 2,500 euros in prize money as well as a sponsorship with energy service provider Techem.

Chance of national victory through online voting

Around 450 schools across Germany entered this year's Energy Saving Champion competition. As the state winner of North Rhine-Westphalia, the vocational college of the city of Bottrop is now competing against the winners of the other 15 federal states in the online voting. Voting is open until June 17 at www.energiesparmeister.de/voting. If the school wins, it will receive an additional 2,500 euros in prize money. The award ceremony for all winning schools will take place on June 27 at the Federal Ministry for the Environment in Berlin.

Sponsorship by energy service provider Techem

In addition to the prize money, the vocational college of the city of Bottrop also receives support with its public relations work. The sponsorship is provided by the energy service provider Techem from Eschborn. "With ‘BKB goes green’, the focus is not on individual creative ideas, but rather on tapping into the school's full potential. And the students have achieved this to an extraordinary degree," praises Matthias Hartmann, CEO of Techem. "Every area of the vocational college has its own ideas, but also a lot of know-how. And that helps everyone to develop new things, improve the established and promote rethinking within our society."

Support with substance

Techem's support for the vocational college is part of the Eschborn-based company's extensive commitment to sustainability and climate protection. As a sponsor, Techem not only supports the vocational college in an advisory capacity, but also acts as a role model: with many years of experience and a high level of expertise in the field of energy efficiency and decarbonization, the company itself is actively driving change in the building sector and demonstrating how the pursuit of increased sustainability can become the core of a successful business model.  Techem is focusing on smart, low-investment solutions based on its digital platform for all types of consumption, which aims to create more transparency about energy data, uncover potential savings and develop practical solutions for landlords, tenants and other target groups. Based on decades of experience and a deep understanding of the housing industry, Techem supports its customers in optimizing their processes, leveraging value and designing more resilient asset management.

In the current Sustainability Report 2024, Techem documents among other things the expansion of its digital platform to improve energy efficiency, the establishment of over 1,500 charging points for electromobility and a reduction in its own CO₂e emissions by around 18 percent since 2020. The company is aiming for climate neutrality by 2045 - through innovative solutions, strategic partnerships and concrete action.

Image information: Energy Saving Champion competition (image by co2online.de)

About the Energy Saving Champion Competition and co2online

The Energy Saving Champion Competition (www.energiesparmeister.de) is a campaign organized by co2online, supported by the project “Online Climate Protection Advice for Germany” and funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Climate Protection, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety. co2online is running the school competition for the 17th year in a row and presents prizes with a total value of 50,000 euros to committed schools every year.

The non-profit consultancy co2online (www.co2online.de) stands for climate protection that works. Since 2003, more than 50 energy and communications experts have been working hard to reduce electricity and heating energy consumption in private households to a minimum. co2online is supported by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, the Federal Environment Agency, the media, science and industry, among others.