Our Sustainability Goals
Our sustainability goals propel us towards greater fulfilment of our purpose.
We are striving to decarbonize our entire value chain – including purchased goods, transportation, manufacturing, as well as operational use and disposal – in line with the latest climate science and international greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting standards.
In 2023, we began the next step of our journey towards addressing climate change by actively reducing the Company’s scope 1 to 3 GHG emissions as part of our strategic development process. The main working items that started in 2023, and are continuing in 2024, include:
- Extension of existing scope 1 and 2 GHG balance from Hinwil and Danbury to all subsidiaries with production, logistics, and customization capabilities.
- A company-wide initiative to systematically identify and calculate scope 3 emissions, to the extent reasonably possible, following the requirements of the GHG Protocol.
- This first comprehensive scope 1–3 GHG balance and analysis of most relevant emission categories will contribute to defining science-based GHG reduction targets.
These projects and activities will allow Belimo to define a comprehensive climate strategy with specific long-term plans for decarbonizing its own business.
In the remainder of this section, we give an update on our existing goals that enable us to fulfill our purpose with ever-greater leverage.
Energy Efficient Own Buildings and Processes
Energy is a vital resource for our operations. We therefore pay particular attention to the energy efficiency of our buildings, and we continuously strive to reduce GHG emissions wherever possible. We aim to achieve an 80% reduction in the GHG emissions (scope 1 and 2) in our two main sites in Hinwil (Switzerland) and Danbury (United States) by 2025 (measured in CO2e compared to 2019).
In 2023, we implemented additional energy efficiency measures in our Hinwil and Danbury facilities, which allowed us to further reduce consumption by 5.8% compared to 2022.
Our Goal Until 2025: Reducing Scope 1 and 2 GHG Emissions of Hinwil and Danbury Facilities by 80% compared to 2019 (baseline)
Optimize Logistics Footprint
Efficient logistics is a primary competitive advantage that Belimo offers to its customers. Our goal is to optimize the GHG footprint of our transportation network by striking a balance between environmental and total cost factors, while maintaining short lead times.
During the reporting period, Belimo calculated its 2021 and 2022 global transportation GHG footprints, which will now serve as the baseline for future optimization efforts. We have also implemented a multi-year transportation/logistics GHG reduction program in 2023, including:
- A further reduction in the use of air freight through continuous transportation mode optimization.
- The selection and continued use of transportation providers offering confirmed GHG reduction programs.
- Fill-ratio optimization to improve the density of products shipped, reducing the GHG footprint per container and truck movement.
This program will further intensify in 2024 as we continuously seek to reduce our logistics GHG footprint. Find out more about how we are improving process efficiency and reducing short lead times under the material topic Process Efficiency and Short Lead Times.
Energy in Operation and Application of Our Products
We aim to further reduce energy consumption per field device, both in standby and operational modes. However, we have reached the conclusion in recent years that further transparency is needed with respect to device efficiency in order to pinpoint optimal energy savings. We achieved another milestone in the fundamental renewal of our core platforms during the reporting period by incorporating energy consumption per field device into our development process requirements. The resulting new generation will be launched in the coming years.
According to the Belimo Impact Model, our most significant GHG footprint reductions are realized during the operational phase of our products. Our ambition is therefore to increase the overall energy savings of our devices while in use as well as improve the energy impact tracking of retrofit projects. Belimo has further ramped up its RetroFIT+ organization in 2023 to increase the renovation rate of existing buildings. Replacing underperforming field devices to improve the overall energy efficiency of existing HVAC systems allows us to minimize GHG footprints while simultaneously improving overall performance. We will continue to track the volume of products sold for future RetroFIT+ projects to monitor our energy-efficiency impact.
Doubling Avoided GHG Emissions with Our Products
Doubling Avoided GHG Emissions
Our goal is to double the total avoided GHG emissions from our sold field devices – from 8.2 million tCO2e in 2021 to 16.4 million tCO2e in 2030.
In 2023, we sold 7.3 million field devices – a decrease of 0.7 million over 2022 volumes – thus contributing to the avoidance of 7.7 million tCO2e.
Due to the decrease of sold field devices, we are currently below plan to achieve our 2030 target.
Promoting Indoor Air Quality
In 2021, we committed ourselves to promoting healthy indoor comfort in our end customers’ buildings worldwide by increasing the sales of field devices with a positive impact on indoor air quality. Concentrating on retrofitting field devices into existing buildings represents the most significant opportunity for promoting healthy indoor comfort, as most new constructions are already designed with this in mind. To monitor the positive impact of our field devices on indoor air quality, we will track the volume of products sold into future RetroFIT+ projects. Sensors allow us to quantify our progress towards increasing indoor air quality and improving the health of building occupants. In the period under review, the business line sensors and meters gained further traction with growth of 31.0% in local currencies.
Credibility Culture
Our credibility culture is built on trust, integrity, competence, and responsibility. It represents a cornerstone of our value creation model, and the goal outlined in 2022 was implemented to further advance our credibility culture. In the period under review, the key performance indicators show that our credibility culture is moving in the right direction. The engagement score – the key performance indicator for gauging employee commitment – reached an outstanding value of 8.9 in the most recent 2023 survey (find more information under the material topic Employee Empowerment and Engagement). Meanwhile, employee turnover – another employee engagement indicator – reached a value of 8.0% in 2023 (compared to 8.4% in 2022).