UN Global Compact and SDGs

The VELUX Group has joined the UN Global Compact. The CSR Report relates and documents our progress in implementing the principles of the UN Global Compact.

In 2015, the UN member states agreed on 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We have assessed these goals to determine which matter most to our business and where we can make the biggest difference. 

The VELUX Group takes responsibility in addressing crucial societal challenges associated with buildings and living environments. We believe our responsibility extends further than just building components and comprises buildings and living environments as a whole.

Our contribution to the UN Sustainable Development Goals

Our footprint

The RenovActive renovation concept expands the living space, lowers the energy bill and ensures a good indoor climate with daylight and fresh air. It offers a solution for affordable and healthy housing.

The RenovActive concept is designed to be easily scalable, replicable and feasible within social housing renovation budgets.

Creating better living environments for all

54 million people in Europe cannot heat their homes adequately due to energy poverty.

With our RenovActive demonstration project, we are helping to show the way to affordable renovation of social housing.

Our footprint

The Natural Light project has donated solar lamps in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Sierra Leone and Malawi bringing a sustainable light source to off-grid communities and allowing local sales agents to make a living by selling Natural Light solar lamps.

Creating better living environments for all

More than 790 million people worldwide still lack regular access to adequate amounts of dietary energy.

Our footprint

Designing sustainable products is our core business. The key drivers are healthy and sustainable buildings offering more daylight, more fresh air and nearly-zero energy consumption.

Creating better living environments for all

In the developed world, people spend up to 90% of their time inside buildings. In Europe alone, approx. 84 million people live in damp and unhealthy buildings, with increased risk of developing asthma and other allergies. 30 million people suffer from lack of daylight. Preventive actions are necessary to achieve good health and well-being. 

Creating better living environments for all with healthy and sustainable buildings is at the core of our CSR efforts. With our products, we help create bright, healthy, energy-efficient places for people to live, work, learn and play in.

Our footprint

Through several demonstration projects in schools and pre-schools, we seek to improve the indoor environment for children and share the knowledge we gain.

In Endrup School before renovation, the daylight factors in the classrooms where critically low – averaging just 0.8% and 1.1% – and electrical lighting was needed throughout the whole day. The addition of VELUX Roof Windows raised the daylight factors to 3.7% and 5.7%, and the light distribution in the classrooms also became more even.

The optimized and controlled use of daylight has cut the use of electric lighting in the renovated classrooms down by 30%.

Creating better living environments for all

Children’s learning ability is significantly reduced by lack of daylight and fresh air in classrooms.

Studies have shown that learning ability can rise by up to 15% in classrooms with an adequate amount of daylight and fresh air.

Our footprint

With a strong foundation in its Model Company Objective, the VELUX Group has always had a natural focus on being a good and inclusive workplace for all employees. Our intention is that our workforce should reflect the demography of the local society. 

We encourage women in management, and the VELUX Board of Directors now has 50/50 male/female representation among the members elected by the general assembly.

Creating better living environments for all

According to the UN, in the majority of the 67 countries with data from 2009 to 2015, fewer than a third of senior- and middle-management positions were held by women.

Our footprint

98% of the wood used in VELUX products comes from certified sustainable forests (FSC or PEFC). The goal is to increase this figure to 99% by 2020.

Creating better living environments for all

According to the UN, more than 2 billion people globally are living in countries with excess water stress Well-managed forest plantations can protect drinking-water supplies and usually have lower input of nutrients, pesticides and other chemicals

Our footprint

All our production and warehouse sites are certified according to ISO 50001 energy management. We continuously invest in energy-efficiency projects and the use of renewables at our sites. 

VELUX roof windows and accessories are carefully designed to minimise heat loss and make the most of solar heat gain through them. The launch of VELUX Smart Ventilation heat-recovery units in 2016 and the VELUX ACTIVE product range show how we continuously seek to help optimise the performance of a building.

Creating better living environments for all

In Europe alone, buildings account for 40% of total energy consumption. 

We actively promote political action to ensure better living environments for all. Specifically, we advocate that future building performance directives address the need to design and build for people’s health and well-being, and for high energy efficiency. 

Through a series of building experiments, we have demonstrated that it is possible to comply with the expected EU building energy standards for 2020 with existing technologies and without compromising people’s health and well-being.

Our footprint

Our market leadership depends on our ability to attract, retain and engage the best people. Every second year, we conduct a global employee survey to understand how our employees perceive working at the VELUX Group and any concerns they may have. In 2016, the response rate was 94%. We provide a safe and motivating workplace for all of our 9,500 employees around the world. 

We work with our suppliers and apply the VELUX Supplier Code of Conduct in order to secure decent working conditions in our supply chain.

Creating better living environments for all

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Our footprint

We are a founding partner of the Active House Alliance. The alliance is a global network of builders, researchers, designers, contractors and manufacturers who work together to realise the vision for buildings that create healthier and more comfortable lives for occupants with no negative impact on the climate.

Creating better living environments for all

Innovation advances the technological capabilities of industrial sectors and prompts the development of new skills.

We engage with key industry stakeholders to discover innovative solutions for better living environments.

Our footprint

It is our fundamental belief that the composition of our workforce should reflect the composition of society. To ensure equality, we apply a company-wide performance evaluation tool and external benchmark. Likewise, a structured annual evaluation of managers and administrative staff provides transparency and an objective approach to career development and appointment of managers.

Creating better living environments for all

Goal 10 calls for reducing inequalities in income as well as those based on age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic or other status within a country.

Our footprint

We believe our products are part of the solution to creating sustainable cities and communities. Energy efficiency and access to daylight and good indoor climate are important elements in ensuring sustainable, adequate and affordable housing.

Creating better living environments for all

The UN expects that almost 60% of the world’s population will live in urban areas by 2030. This rapid urbanisation development is becoming a challenge to the people living in urban areas and for the environment as a whole. 

We create and share know-how, and invest in building experiments that can inspire cities and communities to create better living environments. One example is the RenovActive demonstration project. It shows how to carry out affordable and sustainable renovation of social housing. The renovation concept expands the living space, lowers the energy bill and ensures a good indoor climate with daylight and fresh air. The concept is designed to be easily scalable, replicable and feasible within social housing renovation budgets.

Our footprint

We carefully manage our own footprint. All our production and warehouse sites are certified according to ISO 14001 environmental management. We aim at zero-waste in our production and document the environmental impact of our products with Life Cycle Assessment. 97% of the waste from our production is reused in other types of products or used for renewable heat production.

Creating better living environments for all

It is estimated that housing accounts for up to 50% of the total material use in Europe. The VELUX Group is committed to pioneering innovative building solutions that balance care for people and planet. 

Among other measures, we do this through our support to the Active House vision and principles. The Active House takes a holistic approach to sustainable buildings, setting requirements for the comfort, energy and environmental performance of the building. The VELUX Group is a founding partner of the Active House Alliance.

Our footprint

We have reduced our CO₂ emissions by 26% compared to 2007 levels. In absolute terms, the saved CO₂ in 2016 is equivalent to the emission from 8,000 households.

Our target is a 50% reduction in 2020 compared to our baseline in 2007.

Creating better living environments for all

The VELUX Group actively supports the political agenda on climate change and engages with key stakeholders to influence the international agenda on buildings. We were, therefore, very pleased to see that, at COP21 in Paris, buildings were made a permanent agenda item for future COPs.

Our footprint

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Creating better living environments for all

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Our footprint

We take an active role in promoting sustainable forests. 98% of the wood used in VELUX products comes from certified sustainable forests (FSC or PEFC). The goal is to increase this figure to 99% by 2020. In 2016, we became a member of FSC International.

Creating better living environments for all

Goal 15 focuses specifically on managing forests sustainably, restoring degraded lands and successfully combating desertification, reducing degraded natural habitats and ending biodiversity loss.

Our footprint

The VELUX Group works with suppliers who share our commitment to responsible business practices. We support suppliers in improving their performance and achieving full Code of Conduct compliance. In 2016, 99% of all product related suppliers had signed the Code of Conduct for Suppliers.

Creating better living environments for all

As a market leader, we have a special role to play in ensuring fair market conditions. Business integrity, anti-corruption, anti-competition law and responsible public affairs engagements are critical issues for the VELUX Group, from both a legal and business ethical perspective.

Our footprint

We are the founding partner of the Active House Alliance, which brings together some of the world’s leading manufacturers, consultancies and research institutions. The ambition for the Alliance is – in the common interest of its members -to create a viable, independent and international influential alliance, which supports the vision of buildings that create healthier and more comfortable lives for their residents without impacting negatively on the climate and environment – thus moving us towards a cleaner, healthier and safer world. (more information: activehouse.info)

Another example of our activities is the annual Healthy Buildings Day in Brussels, where we invite key stakeholders to discuss the development of healthy and sustainable buildings.

Creating better living environments for all

We collaborate with governmental institutions, the private sector, NGOs, end users and the broader civil society to enhance the development of sustainable buildings.

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