SUSTAINABILITY

I-Valo since 1971

UN’s sustainability goals show the way

From the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals, Fagerhult Group has identified two where the company can have the most impact as well as the greatest opportunity to make a positive contribution. I-Valo owns the same goals and targets as set on the Group level.

In the near future, the company will further clarify the ambition and set targets at Group level. Our goal is to create concrete, measurable and far-reaching targets for the next five-year period.

No. 11
Sustainable cities and communities

Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable

No. 12
Responsible consumption and production

Ensure sustainable consumption and production pattern

 

 

 

 

 

Our approach to sustainability

We have chosen to group our most important sustainability topics into three areas: Environment, People and Business.

We consider these areas to be the most important for the Group to address.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Environment

Fagerhult Group converted to LED technology early, which means that all our luminaires today are based on LED technology. This change has led to significant energy savings, but there is more to be gained. Smart lighting control systems can further increase savings and at the same time improve the end-user experience. Proximity sensor-controlled lighting has shown energy savings of up to 70%.

In addition, we continuously invest in product development and manufacturing. This allows us to increase the use of renewable materials and minimize the resources used in manufacturing. We also follow up with lifecycle analyses to understand our products’ impact during production, installation, usage and recycling.

Key topics

  • Lifecycle perspective
  • Energy-efficient solutions
  • Conscious material selection
  • Use of resources, water, energy, etc.
  • Carbon emission
  • Internal environmental work

Objectives

  • Maximize energy savings, using the latest LED technology and smart lighting control.
  • Ensure that all products and services fulfill applicable regulations and standards.
  • Lifecycle perspective on our solutions to minimize our environmental impact.
  • Environmental consideration throughout our full value chain, internally and externally.

I-Valo measures to ensure more sustainable business practices

  • Upgradeable products with changeable LED technique
  • Reducing the use of chemicals
  • Withdrawal of articles containing SVHC substances
  • Purchase optimisation
    • Repatriation of subcontracted work (reducing freight costs)
    • Optimising order volumes
    • Code of Conduct, audits, and enquiries for subcontractors
  • Choice of ecological packaging materials
    • Use of partly recycled brown cardboard, which can be 100% recycled after use (a more environmentally friendly alternative compared to white cardboard)
    • No staples
    • Ending the use of plastic in product packaging (e.g. small items are now packed in paper bags instead of plastic bags)
    • Use of water-based ink in package printing (no solvents used)
    • Project packs instead of individual packs
    • Recycled packaging e.g. in spare parts shipments
  • Abandoning natural gas and switching to renewable energy sources
    • We stopped using natural gas for heating the property and switched to green electricity water-to-air heat pumps at the end of 2023. The new system will reduce the amount of energy purchased for heating by around 50%.
    • We are also currently looking for an alternative technical solution for the drying oven in our painting line.
    • Switching to low-temperature paints – study ongoing. The target for the transition is Q2/2024.
  • Roof repair and insulation
  • Replacement of office lighting
  • Continuous work to reduce resource use
  • Reducing carbon emissions
    • Company cars, carbon dioxide emission limits
    • Provision of charging points for electric vehicles
    • Carbon footprint & carbon handprint calculation > actions for reducing carbon foot and handprints
    • A low-carbon roadmap for the lighting industry, to be completed in late 2021
  • More efficient waste sorting
    • On both the office and production side
    • Increasing the number of sorting points
    • Recycling of cable waste (copper)
    • Fincumet training
  • Managing producer responsibility
    • Under Finnish law, the producer is responsible for recycling and other waste management of equipment placed on the market. SELT takes care of recycling, information, registration and other legal obligations on behalf of registered producers. I-Valo manages its producer responsibility through SELT ry.

People

Fagerhult Group’s goal for the workplace is characterized by participation, commitment and well-being, a perfect environment for every employee to develop. We seek to develop leaders internally and provide opportunities for people to grow. This is what we call sustainable leadership, always aiming to make the most of people’s differences and skills.

We also strive to offer a workplace where the local and the global are intertwined. Our Group values, which should be present in all processes and daily routines, unite and guide our employees, and support collaboration between Group companies.

Key topics

  • Work conditions
  • Equality and diversity
  • Career development
  • Occupational health and safety
  • Product responsibility/safe products

Objectives

  • Guarantee our employees’ health, safety and human rights.
  • Sustainable leadership development, finding new opportunities for valuable people
  • Ensure our Group values are an integral part of all processes and daily work.
  • Facilitate a constructive dialogue and collaboration between Group companies.

Business

Fagerhult Group works comprehensively to ensure ethical, sustainable business in all areas of its operations. The guiding document is the Group’s Code of Conduct (see below), which includes the underlying principles for how to conduct responsible business. Everyone within the Group, from the Board of Directors and management to individual employees must follow this.

When acquiring a company, we follow a stringent and detailed due diligence process, tailored to the specific business acquisition. Depending on the type of operations or the business set-up, the process is tailored to the specific situation and company. Areas always covered in our due diligences are: commercial, financial, legal and senior management.

Key topics

  • Ethics and anti-corruption
  • Human rights
  • Partner collaboration
  • Supplier reviews
  • Due diligence processes

Objectives

  • All companies and partners conduct business according to current laws and regulations.
  • Our shared Code of Conduct forms the basis for everything we do and how we act.
  • Ensure a sustainable supply chain, making sure all suppliers meet our requirements.
  • Thorough due diligence is conducted for every company acquisition.

Our business model and value creation

Our business model is based on thirteen Group brands and encourages local decision-making and execution. All of our brands have a strong reputation, either globally or locally, and operate with their own product development, manufacturing and go-to-market models.

At Group level we support selected central functions and set the governance principles for the Group. We have recently decided to work on our Connectivity development at Group level to ensure we create a competitive advantage for all of our brands and make it simple for our customers to work with us and use our solutions.

Below you will find our value chain and approach to sustainability, which is divided into five distinct areas:

Suppliers and partners

Focus: Environment / Business

  • Develop a sustainable supply chain where our suppliers conduct business according to current laws and regulations.
  • Select suppliers and partners with high environmental standards and minimize the impact of transportation.

Product development

Focus: Environment / People / Business

  • Develop smart connected control systems and use latest LED technologies to minimize energy consumption.
  • Sustainable development, sharing solutions within the Group and ensure our employees grow and develop.

Manufacturing

Focus: Environment / People / Business

  • Continuously develop processes to minimize use of resources and energy consumption, also changing to renewable energy.
  • Ensure a safe and enjoyable workplace where everyone feels involved and can contribute to continuous improvement.

Sales and marketing

Focus: Environment / People / Business

  • Ensure we operate and conduct business in accordance with our Code of Conduct in all markets we operate.
  • Propose solutions to our customers that minimize energy consumption, using new technologies and smart lighting control.

Customers

Focus: Environment / Business

  • Help customers select the best solutions for each application to create attractive and functional lighting environments.
  • Advise customers on smart and connected lighting control systems to minimize energy consumption and create additional value.