Wirtschaftsforum: Mr. Ortner, your family business is at the forefront in every respect in the field of pellet heating technology. Could you briefly outline for our readers how this came about?

Stefan Ortner: Certainly. Influenced by the energy crises and air pollution, my father thought about ecology and energy independence as early as the 1980s. Wood was readily available right at our doorstep, and after using wood chips and briquettes to heat our farm, he quickly came up with the idea to do it like the Swedes and use pellets. Pellets are nothing more than compressed sawdust – a true waste product from sawmills. Since these are very prominent in Austria, it quickly became clear: This is the path he wanted to take with his own company. After a testing phase in boiler construction, he then launched the world's first type-approved pellet heating system in 1997, not just a small, independent unit but a device that can be integrated into a total energy system. With this, he was a true pioneer in the industry in Austria and the first in the world to develop such a technology.

Wirtschaftsforum: This sounds like so often of very humble beginnings. Today, you are the world leader in pellet heating systems, exporting your pellet heating technology to 21 countries and reporting an annual turnover of 200 million EUR. What distinguishes you in the market?

Stefan Ortner: The spirit of innovation from the beginnings, that continues to drive us, especially in the current energy landscape. The European goal of climate neutrality by 2050 can only be achieved through environmentally friendly solutions that are pragmatic if you want to bring everyone along, especially from a cost perspective. In the area of heating, the solution for cities is primarily district heating, primarily through biomass. Heat pumps are suitable for well-insulated buildings, whether in the city or in the countryside. And the third solution path is then the pellet-based heating technology. This is our very own playground, where we go to market with product innovations thanks to our decades of expertise, which can extract the optimum in efficiency in terms of resources and costs using the most advanced technology.

Wirtschaftsforum: What exactly are these product innovations?

Stefan Ortner: First, there is our ZeroFlame technology, which makes environmentally friendly heating without a flame possible, thereby eliminating 95% of fine particulate emissions from typical pellet heating systems. Then we went into research and development of pellet technology for larger facilities and have brought the Pellematic Condens XL to market maturity based on our proven Condens technology, which enables the required replacement of oil and gas heating systems for commercial use and is a true high-efficiency technology. The latest development is a novelty in the ÖkoFEN portfolio, as we now also offer a heat pump: Our GreenFOX heat pump recognizes CO2 and electricity pricing data live and automatically and optimizes consumption accordingly. This technology is unique worldwide.

Wirtschaftsforum: All of this has its origins at your headquarters in Austria. How does ÖkoFEN manage to attract and retain so much expertise at the location?

Stefan Ortner: Our approach is as simple as it is obvious. The most important resource for our company is people. Beyond the paycheck, people seek fulfillment, belonging, and nowadays the balance between family and work at their jobs. We facilitate this. The production in our facilities is not mindless assembly line work; there are individual workstations, and neither shift nor piece work are planned. Employees have access to E-Leasing vehicles. And of course, very importantly: Respectful interaction at the often invoked eye level is not just lip service with us. We live it and that's probably why we are so well-rooted in the region. We do not experience a shortage of skilled workers and labor.

Wirtschaftsforum: So one can say, ÖkoFEN focuses on the person and their environment. What do you say to those who view the pellet solution within the framework of the energy transition as unsustainable?

Stefan Ortner: No forest is cleared for pellets. Forestry in Europe is based on sustainability, even though, in my opinion, there are still too many by-products from tree felling that are not utilized, such as the crowns. Today, thanks to digitalization, we are saving paper, which frees up a lot in the management of forests. However, there is certainly more that can be done in the timber industry, the cycle can be further enriched in terms of sustainability. This is a collective task for the future.

Wirtschaftsforum: How do you see the future prospects for ÖkoFEN, surely very positive?

Stefan Ortner: Despite crises, our order books continue to be filled. However, there is uncertainty in many places about replacing old systems and daring to make investments, even though it pays off in the medium and long term. My approach is to rely on our proven pioneering spirit and to continue to nurture trust in our innovative products. I believe with this we can face the future.