The roofing specialist IMPERBEL-DERBIGUM® received, as only Belgian company, an EMAS award from the European Commission. The company actually received the award for its efforts in lowering its energy consumption and its commitment to limiting its CO2 emission. IMPERBEL-DERBIGUM reduced its CO2 emission with not less than 30% over the past five years. Moreover its energy consumption dropped drastically : 30% less electricity and 25% less gas consumption over a period of six years.

The EMAS Awards (European Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) are granted every year to companies and public services that dedicate themselves to environmental conservation. This year's theme was the reduction of the consumption and the greenhouse gas emission. 32 companies from 13 European countries participated in the competition. IMPERBEL-DERBIGUM won the EMAS Award 2008 in the category "medium-sized companies".

IMPERBEL-DERBIGUM's ecological policy is well reflected in its own company figures. Thus the CO2 emission has been reduced with 30% these last five years. Furthermore the energy consumption per square meter of membrane produced dropped drastically : 30% less electricity and 25% less gas consumption over a period of 6 years. IMPERBEL-DERBIGUM has been investing for years now in the recycling of raw materials as well as in the development of energy saving and energy producing solutions for roofs. Known examples are the revolutionary DERBIBRITE NT®, a white reflective waterproofing membrane that reflects sunrays, keeping the interior of buildings cooler, and DERBISOLAR®, a reflective waterproofing with integrated amorphous photovoltaic cells.

André De Smet, CEO IMPERBEL-DERBIGUM: “We are very pleased with this EMAS Award indeed. We consider this award as an acknowledgement for our many years of effort in the field of environmental conservation. It is obvious that we continue our green policy. By 2010 IMPERBEL intends to replace half of its raw material by recycled bitumen.”

IMPERBEL-DERBIGUM invests heavily in ‘greennovations for roofs’ and has a number of energy saving and energy producing roofing materials in its product range. The group consists of three production units - two in Belgium (Lot & Perwez) and one in the United States (Kansas City) – and has 380 employees worldwide. More than two third of the production is destined for export. Today, the consolidated turnover of the group IMPERBEL-DERBIGUM is more than 102,5 million euro.

The roof and waterproofi ng have always been Imperbel’s craftsmanship. Now this is evolving to other aspects and parts of the building. Our commercial activity linked to Derbibrite and Derbisolar brings us in contact with new markets and techniques. Besides offering us a true lead on our opponents, these new activities give us also very profi table prospects for the next years. They are a source of fantastic opportunities for all departments of the Imperbel group.

Now we wish to make ourselves known as quickly as possible to all the players in these new markets. Therefore we have decided to change as well our logo as our baseline so they correspond better with the whole of our activities.

The Derbigum logo will be the link between all our activities. This logo is the most known and we wish to concentrate our efforts on one single logo. This enhances the visibility and insures the coherence between all the group’s activities. The new logo is mainly inspired on the old one so our customers still can recognize it.

The baseline « The Best for your Roof » becomes « Making Buildings Smart ». We stay in the world of construction but instead of offering you the best for your roof, we offer the best for your building, for your wallet and for the planet.

Not only do we propose owners to make their buildings waterproof but also thermically effi cient, less expensive in heating and in cooling, and with a smaller ecological footprint due to their own production of green current.