To make outdoor air good to breathe, too

Why we became a carbon-neutral company

Ever since I was a kid sailing has been a dear hobby of mine. Back then the coast was green with healthy natural species of algae and as we sailed off the coast, we would see clean, wide growing areas of kelp. Poisonous blue-green algae resulting in eutrophication were nowhere to be seen.

As the years went by the change was uncanny. The coastal line and the once pure fields of healthy kelp are now riddled with yellowish growth. In the summertime the sea is covered by blue-green algae sludge as deeper parts of the sea suffer from lack of oxygen. Not to mention the widely recognized global changes such as melting of the glaciers as the result of consistent rise in temperatures. This has made me wonder what me and my company could do to sheer off the change for the better.

We Climeconians are specialized in the best indoor air in the world, but we also want to take responsibility of what happens outdoors, in the air, at land and in the sea. This is why last year we began the journey of becoming a carbon neutral company. We set the goal to neutralizing the carbon footprint of our operations and set the sight to offering carbon neutral services to our clients.

Due to lack of established standardization for carbon neutrality in the building and real-estate industry, we sought out to a competent partner for our guidance. Gaia is a renowned consultancy specialized in sustainability development.

We did not have to start from the scratch. Since founding of Climecon we have aimed at high quality products and a high level of energy-efficiency in manufacturing. This was not enough since we knew there is more for us to do – as there is for everyone working in this industry.

In our case the changes turned out to be quite simple. For instance, we switched our energy usage into renewable sources and centralized our procurement to companies with the smallest possible environmental effects. The rest we chose to compensate.

I often hear that procedural changes result in increased spending. For me, a positive surprise was that after reviewing our daily operations and auditing our partners, savings and even new innovations were found.

Achieving carbon neutrality is a big deal for us. However, in a broader picture it is not meaningful if other companies do not follow. For the sake of this, I want to encourage every company in the building and construction industry to tag along to become more climate conscious in their actions. And we are happy to share our experiences with others.

Above all, we promise to prioritize other climate conscious companies within our value chain. Let’s create a network of sustainable operators for other industries to look up to.

With climate conscious regards,

Tommi Uksila
CEO,
Climecon