Environmental protection – act green and talk about it!

“I commute between the office at Audi, my office at home and the outdoors.” No matter where Michael Hügel is working, he likes to be surrounded by nature – whether at local tree planting campaigns organized by the Audi Environmental Foundation or even in his office at home: the sustainability expert and his family live in a wooden house. “When we built our house, it was important to me to use mainly renewable building materials,” explains Hügel, for whom environmental protection is much more than just a 9-to-5 job.

Michael Hügel first joined Audi in 2007, at that time as part of the Environmental Management department. His switch to Audi was a very deliberate step: “I knew you could make a difference at a company like Audi.” Even while still working in Environmental Management, Michael Hügel initiated the odd environmental protection project, more or less on the side. “Long before the environment became such a hot topic, my boss and I asked ourselves how we could assume responsibility beyond what was required by laws and regulations. We wanted to give something back to society and the environment.” And so the Audi Environmental Foundation was born.

In 2009, the foundation was established quite deliberately as a non-profit company and a wholly owned subsidiary of AUDI AG. “We felt it was important to show that our main priority here is the environment.” It was a concept that earned Audi a pioneering role: no other automotive group had an environmental foundation at the time.

The current Greenovation project finds Michael Hügel and his team supporting the German-Indian start-up company Nunam, which employs used battery modules from Audi e-tron test vehicles, among other things, to develop energy storage systems. These systems can be used, for example, to provide light to shops in rural areas of India, allowing some traders to continue working after dark. The Audi Environmental Foundation supports the Greenovation project not only financially, but also through active project work and networking with relevant partners. One of the goals of the Audi Environmental Foundation is always to create awareness of the fact that modern technology and environmental protection complement each other perfectly. 

Another project that Michael Hügel is very proud of stands on the wooden shelf in his office at home, in between environmental reference books. It has 145 pages, was produced according to the rules of the circular economy and is 100% recyclable: the "Greenovation" book.

“The future interests me – I’m going to spend the rest of my life there.” These words by Mark Twain adorn the first page of the Greenovation book. The environmental awareness guide includes 50 ideas and technologies for a livable future as well as everyday life hacks, plus plenty of other inspiring content: how to properly upcycle waste products (i.e., turn them into like-new products). Smart ways to save water. And what technology can learn from nature. The book was created under the leadership of Michael Hügel. “Initiating projects isn’t the only thing that’s important to me. Our aim is to create awareness and spark enthusiasm for environmental protection, but to do so undogmatically and without pointing fingers. The company offers a very good platform for this. True to the motto: act green and talk about it.”