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How Impact Points and Site Checklist Help
Methods for Assessing the Environmental Impact of Plants
Transforming the plants towards sustainability in line with the Zero Impact Factory 2050 strategy – turning them into production complexes with the smallest possible environmental impact – calls not only for a clear vision, but also for reliable tools to measure and manage it. That is why Škoda Auto uses two methodological tools to assess the environmental maturity of plants within the VW Group: Impact Points and Site Checklist. These are two ways of assessing the situation from two different angles – the measurable one (using precise data) and the systemic one (using defined criteria).
This split is based on the assumption that some aspects of environmental protection can easily be expressed in numbers, for example energy consumption, water volumes or waste production. This is covered by the Impact Points method.
There are, however, areas that are difficult to measure, such as logistics planning, the use of digital technologies, care for the surroundings of the plant or support for greener employee travel. The Site Checklist method is used to assess these.
Imagine a school report card: the Impact Points are the marks that show specific results, and the Site Checklist is the teacher’s assessment of how hard you worked throughout the year. Only the two together give the full picture.
Impact Points
This methodology makes it possible to compare different environmental impacts, track how they develop and identify the areas with the greatest influence. It is divided into seven main categories and more than 70 subcategories. It allows the carmaker to evaluate its progress – by 2025, the environmental impact of production across the Škoda brand had fallen by 24% compared with 2018.
Site Checklist
This qualitative tool works as a checklist questionnaire containing 140 criteria grouped into 11 areas, for example energy, water, transport, land or biodiversity. It tracks whether the plant is meeting the individual measures and awards points for them. These are then used to calculate the level of compliance for a specific plant and for the whole Škoda brand.
What is Umweltforum?
Umweltforum (German for environmental forum) is a regular meeting of representatives from various areas of Škoda Auto who work on reducing the company’s environmental impact. They share solutions that cut energy consumption and reduce waste and VOC emissions. Over the past three years, their measures have saved 3,900 MWh of energy and investments of more than nine million crowns. Since 2024, the members have met in person every year to discuss current topics and learn about new projects. Past topics have included GreenRetail, information security and the planned rebuilding of the ŠKO‑ENERGO heating plant.
Measures Seen Through Both Methods
Switching to modern LED lighting
Škoda Auto is gradually switching its plants to modern LED lighting technology, which cuts energy consumption and improves both lighting comfort and working conditions.
Impact Points
The measure saved 5,663 MWh of electricity, which corresponds to 804 million Impact Points. From 2018 to the present day, that is an improvement of 26%.
Site Checklist
It sets a strict target: modern LED luminaires must cover at least 90% of the plant’s indoor and outdoor lit areas. Although this high mark is still being reached step by step across the whole Škoda Auto site, every further wave of luminaire replacement brings it significantly closer to being met – and thus to earning a point in the checklist.