Sustainability is core to our business

Our vision is to change energy behaviour – to enable a more rapid transition to a carbon-free society. We pursue this by engaging on different levels: providing products, improving frameworks, and forming partnerships for innovation.

We believe there is a clear correlation between how a company is run and its relationship with society. As a company and as individuals, we strive to show that we are serious about taking the lead through changing our own behaviour.

Ecohz takes sustainability seriously and has an ambitious agenda:

• Ecohz takes special responsibility for communicating through its own actions the need for – and benefits of – carrying on commercial activities in a sustainable manner
• Sustainability has a key influence on all decision-making within the organisation
• Prioritising sustainability secures Ecohz a long-term competitive advantage and is motivational for customers’ choice of partner
• Ecohz complies with, and where possible exceeds, minimum requirements as set out in relevant environmental legislation and regulations
• Ecohz is committed to being a leading company in initiating activities intended to minimise its local and global environmental impact

We have defined targets and action plans covering key operational areas – including energy consumption, purchasing and consumption, waste/cleaning and employees’ business travel. In practice this means:

Offices: Our main office is located in the centre of Oslo, encouraging employees and guests to use public transport or ride a bike to work, reducing the use of cars.

Technology: More active use of videoconferencing is established, and allows increased contact with customers and partners, while restricting travel.

Transportation: We use public transport and trains as much as we can when travelling. Our extensive European and international business activities necessitate the use of air travel. To compensate for the related GHG emissions carbon offsets are purchased. Internally, processes are established to ensure travel-specific CO2 reporting as basis for travel reimbursement.

Renewable energy: Ecohz purchases renewable energy documented with Guarantees of Origin. We use EKOenergy within our offices and all employees’ households.

Waste: We are constantly working on reducing waste in our daily work, which includes food, packaging, magazines, and papers.

Suppliers: We require all new suppliers to document an active environmental policy. We also choose suppliers with environmental friendly products, such as eco-labelled detergents and printing companies with FSC certification.

Public-private partnerships: We signed the City of Oslo’s pact in 2015 to help Oslo halve its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. We are committed to reducing our emissions and help others reduce theirs.

Direct support: Ecohz has over a number of years provided support for a village project in Mitandi, Uganda. Support has primarily been directed to strengthening the Health Clinic and pilot project for off-grid solar energy.

CO₂ compensation: Ecohz calculates its carbon footprint – on an annual basis. Our primary focus is on reducing our GHG emissions, but we realize that we still need to take responsibility for the emissions we cause. Therefore, we purchase “Gold Standard Carbon offsets” to compensate these emissions. These carbon offsets directly support a project in Guatemala providing access to cleaner cookstoves and water filtration to local communities in need.