Velux, a window on the house of the future |The echoes

In seventy-five years, he became familiar with new or old housing.To the point of having entered the current vocabulary: "the" velux designates the window which, placed on a roof, lights up the attic and makes it possible the layout of the attic.Well installed in this perennial but quite narrow niche, the Danish company which gave it its name is working to always stay in the light.His efforts did not go unnoticed at Apple: last summer, the American giant invited Velux to participate in his Homekit project, a set of applications aimed at orchestrating the automation of the house of tomorrow from a smartphone."Apple has selected companies he considers leaders in various sectors.The group has very exciting ideas on how we can control our homes in the future.In all humility, a number of these ideas come from our home...»», Welcomes Jørgen Tang-Jeansen, the director general of Velux.

Will we be able to close your windows remotely?"Yes, it will be one of the possibilities.Most importantly, the way we take it will reduce energy consumption in housing.But it's not yet on the market.Telling you more would give clues to competition, ”says the one who has run the company for fifteen years.Velux hopes to see its products integrated into the new Apple platform by next summer, while insisting that the "app" in question will also work on Android.For its manager, "all signals are green for a real breakthrough of the smart house in the years to come.The development of the smartphone, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth will allow us to go much further than the small automated islets that have emerged so far.»»Apple dubbing is logical, it is said at Velux.Since 2008, the Scandinavian firm has devoted itself to in situ research in order to refine the house of tomorrow."We have already started to test the whole home automation part a few years ago at the Air et Lumière house", experimental construction built by Velux in an eco-neighborhood in Verrières-le-Buisson (Essonne), as part of its European program "Model Home 2020 ", Pointe Benoît Fabre, president of the French subsidiary (see P.30).

"An experience is better than a thousand expert opinions," said the founder of Velux, Villum Kann Rasmussen.The motto has served as a mantra for those who, since his death in 1993, have taken over the torch.It is above all put into practice at the Østbirk factory, the group's nerve center.It is there, in Rural Denmark, three hours away from Copenhagen, that future products are designed and tested.A suitable department employs some 65 people.Some of them are responsible for inflicting the worst treatments on new windows before marketing: exposure to hot weather, the most violent winds, torrential rains, arctic cold, intense pressures, tropical humidity, etc..It is a question of adapting the product to all climates and possible markets, to all national regulations.Materials are also subject to noise, stuck with glue, chemicals and other fingerprints."We carry out around 1800 tests per year," says Jørgen Fredriksen, the employee who officiates as a guide, the day of our visit.

A little light despite the war

The Østbirk factory, the oldest in the group, also houses workshops."Here, we manufacture the products in the marketing phase, while demanding rise in power.Then we transfer production to other factories, closer to the major geographic markets, ”explains the director of the site, Carsten Ravnhøj.It is that the company, which now has factories in seventeen countries and nearly 10,000 employees, has grown that the founder probably did not suspect when it was created in 1941.

Denmark is then occupied by Nazi Germany.The raw materials are rare.Son of Pasteur, Villum Kann Rasmussen, an engineer by unheat -being, still manages to get started.From the outset, he chooses to baptize his velux windows: "ve" for ventilation and the Latin word "lux" for light.In 1945, the company filed a patent for the famous pivot window, which made it possible to clean from the inside of the accommodation the exterior surface of the glass.An innovation that will make the difference, while post-war Europe rebuilt in turn.The real breakthrough takes place in Germany of Wirtschaftswunder (the economic miracle), when Velux finds a partner there, in 1952."Business worked so well that revenues from this country made it possible to finance our expansion, especially towards France with the opening of a subsidiary in 1964, then the United States," recalls the eldest son of the founder, Lars Kann Rasmussen.

Now 77 years old, the one who collected management positions is full of anecdotes on his father, his passion for sailing and "his desire for independence".In fact, the founder had the idea, in the 1970s, to apply to Velux a provision specific to Danish legislation, which saved him from depending on external shareholders.The property of the parent company of Velux (VKR Holding) is transferred to two foundations of public utility controlled, to date, by its descendants."When Velux wins more than it must reinvest to satisfy its customers, it pays a large part of this money to the foundations, which redistribute it for the benefit of their works, in science, the environment, social action orculture, ”sums up Jørgen tang-jenen.And the director of Velux to quote, in Paris, the restoration of the stained glass windows of the Sainte-Chapelle (5 million euros) and that, in progress, of the canopy of the Palais de la Découverte (8,50,000 euros).A total of 993 million euros were redistributed for patronage.

Not being passed through the IPO box, therefore exempt from the requirements that result from it, Velux was able to deploy a long -term strategy.And prosper in discretion, out of blinds and solar roller shutters he created to enrich his range of items.VKR publishes little financial data (see p.29) and refuses to communicate if only the market shares of his flagship, Velux.A shame for a group that sells clarity...The company retorts not wanting to make such gifts to competition.In the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten, Jørgen Tang-Jeansen, however, dropped, in 2014, that his company held "around 75% of the world's roof window market".

"Do not fall asleep on your laurels"»

But how, in the long run, stand up to a competition that does not fail to imitate its products by manufacturing at low cost?Velux first tries to counter plagiarism attempts by relying on the many patents deposited over time.In addition, the group did not wait for globalization to relocate part of its production to more clever territories, from a salary and fiscal point of view, than Denmark.As early as 1986, Communist Hungary welcomed a factory.Other central European countries follow (Poland, Czech Republic, etc..), then China.This is how the group can offer competitive prices."We want to sell cheap to keep our dominant position," said Jørgen Tang-Jeansen in 2015 in the Danish daily Berlingske.The group still retains five production sites in Denmark.And four in France (Haute-Marne, Haute-Saône, Haute-Savoie and Somme), where it employs nearly 1000 people.Last size asset: the quality of velux products themselves and customer service that accompanies them."Not everyone can produce windows in as many varieties of materials, finishes and sizes that we.Ours can be replaced in a week or less, thanks to their chassis number, ”explains the founder's son.To hear it, "what is difficult for Velux is not to fall asleep on your laurels.»»

In this group which has only known organic growth, without buying competitors, innovation therefore remains a key factor.Climate change and its consequences are a good engine in this regard.Velux, for example, perfected its glazing with solar control, which stops up to 77% of the heat while letting light enter. «Il y a quinze ans, ce vitrage représentait au maximum 20% de nos ventes en France, aujourd'hui il en est à 90%»», précise Benoît Fabre, en charge de l'Hexagone.The latest technological betting bet is the modular canopy, a large system intended for tertiary buildings.Perhaps one of the last Jørgen Tang-Jeansen projects.

Last summer, this 60 -year -old sustainable housing activist announced that he was soon to pass the hand.The names put forward to succeed him at the head of Velux: the Danish Peter Bang, financial director, and the British David Briggs, director of sales.The case should be settled internally.As for the family of the founder, one of the fifteen riche in Denmark with a fortune estimated at some 4.5 billion euros, she has already ensured the next generation: since last August, one of the grandsons of Villum, Mads Kann Rasmussen, 43, assumes the general management of VKR Holding.His older brother Jens already chairs one of the foundations, at the top of the building.They jealously protect the recipe for success.

Live in test houses

To better design the sustainable habitat of tomorrow, Velux launched, from 2008, in the construction of experimental buildings in Europe, based on the principles of an "active house"».Or a house that produces more energy than it consumes.Families have volunteered to rent the houses in question for one or two years, while being the subject of studies on their living conditions and their health.Once the experiment has been completed, the houses were sold, including that of Verrières-le-Buisson (Essonne), the Air and Light house (photo opposite). «Elle a vite trouvé un propriétaire qui en est satisfait et nous envoie régulièrement des nouvelles»», relate Benoît Fabre, président de Velux France.Since then, another project has started in a social housing district of Anderlecht, in the Brussels region.Velux renovated a house at his expense.And a couple with three children will live there, for a moderate rent, there too under the gaze of researchers.

The key numbers

2015 results of VKR Holding, parent company of Velux, in Euros* turnover: 2.37 billionBitda: 501 million networks Net: 268 million beneficiary: 16.4%Investment capital yield: 39.2%Employees: 13644* Thepart of velux is not detailed, but it is largely in the majority.