About CLASSEN

CLASSEN is a family-owned company headquartered in Kaisersesch and one of the world’s leading manufacturers of laminate and design flooring as well as wall coverings. Founded in 1962, the CLASSEN Group today employs around 2,000 people. Sustainability is deeply rooted in CLASSEN’s history: the company has managed its energy operations to ISO 50001 since 2011, operates its own biomass power plant at the Baruth site, sources wood exclusively from FSC®/PEFC-certified suppliers, and produces flooring under the CERAMIN line from recycled polypropylene.

Background

The company has pursued a structured sustainability strategy for many years, publishes a regular sustainability report and participates in the EcoVadis rating annually. A Corporate Carbon Footprint has also been produced for several years – initially with external software, later via a self-developed Excel solution.

Both approaches reached their limits: the existing software could not adequately map either the complex multi-site structure or industry-specific emission factors, while the Excel solution was neither scalable nor audit-ready. For the 2025 carbon footprint, CLASSEN therefore sought software that combines up-to-date emission factors, a clean representation of the corporate structure, and audit-ready data preparation with connectivity to SAP and Power BI.

Challenges‍

• ‍Complex corporate structure: Four subsidiaries across three production sites in Germany and Poland, as well as sales offices distributed worldwide, had to be mapped in a single, unified climate balance.‍
• Industry-specific emission factors: Sufficiently detailed and regularly updated emission factors were missing for chemicals, adhesives, and other raw materials.‍
• Tight schedule: The new corporate carbon footprint had to be completed within approximately four weeks.‍
• Complex data collection: Collecting data via email and Excel was becoming increasingly chaotic, making it difficult to keep track of data status and responsibilities.‍
• Limited personnel resources: The sustainability team had limited capacity and wanted to build the CCF largely on their own.

“With Tanso, we were able to analyse our emissions in a structured way for the first time and identify the most important hotspots. The analytics functions clearly show us where the greatest levers lie – particularly in Scope 3 and with adhesives within Scope 3.1. On this basis, we can develop targeted reduction measures.“

Jan Wöhner

Sustainability Manager at CLASSEN

Why Tanso

The software needed to be user-friendly while accurately mapping the complex corporate structure, meeting high standards for emission factor quality, and integrating existing data sources. Key deciding factors included:

Multi-site structure and auditability: Subsidiaries and locations are mapped consistently, with data points structured, approved, and tracked. The resulting transparent data foundation supports audits and certifications.

Extensive and well-maintained emission factor database: The emission factor database in Tanso covers industry-specific chemicals and raw materials and is updated annually—a point that was a recurring bottleneck in the previous solution.

Compatibility with SAP and Power BI: Tanso's table structure is compatible with existing SAP exports and Power BI data processing, simplifying the integration of data into the accounting process.

Intuitive software usage: The user-friendly interface allows the CCF to be built largely independently. Supplemented by targeted check-ins and specific methodological support, the process can be implemented in a lean and efficient manner.

“As an industrial company, we need emission factors for very specific chemicals and raw materials. With Tanso, we found a solution that meets these requirements: a broad database with regularly maintained and developed emission factors. This has closed a central data quality gap and allows us to map our emissions far more precisely today.“

Jan Wöhner

Sustainability Manager at CLASSEN

Results

Through the combination of intuitive software and the methodological expertise of the Customer Success team, sustainability manager Jan Wöhner was able to complete the CCF 2025 largely independently within four weeks. This not only significantly accelerated the process, but also created a robust data foundation for reporting, audits and future regulatory requirements.

“We were able to save around 60% of the time in creating the CCF and build it largely independently in approximately four rather than ten weeks. What was particularly helpful was that we not only saved time, but also created a significantly more structured and audit-ready data foundation at the same time.“

Jan Wöhner

Sustainability Manager at CLASSEN

Outlook

In the next step, CLASSEN will focus on further developing the CCF process and improving data quality. This includes decentralised data collection for the CCF 2026, the introduction of the reduction module for structured mapping of reduction pathways, and the expansion of primary data in Scope 3.1. In addition, retroactive calculations of the CCF for 2023 and 2024 are planned. A key driver for continued use is the growing demand for robust CO₂ data in customer tenders – particularly in the DIY retail segment, where CCF and EPD data are now a standard requirement.