Sustainable legacy – sustainable future

Message from our CEO

 

The building industry is responsible for a third of all gashouse emissions on a global scale, mainly through material spend and energy used during construction. In this context, Vieser has a crucial role to play in safeguarding these buildings with first-in-class floor drain solutions, whose technical lifespan extends to some 60 years. The longevity and quality of our solutions is our most important contribution toward responsible business, outsized in its overall impact. Whilst this is positive, it does not suffice: We raised sustainability as one of our most important strategic initiatives to tackle in 2020 and with that, we have now taken strides to formalize a roadmap forward with minimizing our footprint as the initial goal of net-zero operation by 2035.

Annika Jyllilä-Vertigans

Vieser’s sustainability journey – key insights and figures

At Vieser, sustainability is owned by the board of directors, CEO and leadership team. Sustainability issues are regularly discussed at the board meetings along with other business priorities. Sustainability is one of the performance metrics used by top management to set targets, and Vieser’s leadership team evaluates sustainability risks as part of its business risk evaluation.

Double materiality assessment conducted in 2023

In 2023, Vieser conducted a double materiality assessment to identify, evaluate, and prioritize the environmental and social sustainability impacts, risks, and opportunities. It also aimed to provide insights to guide future actions by aligning business strategies, targets, and governance accordingly. The assessment encompassed the entire value chains, including both internal and external activities. As a result, six material topics were identified: climate change, resource use and circular economy, own workforce, workers in the value chain, consumers and end-users, and business conduct. These topics will guide Vieser’s sustainability efforts and reporting in the future.

Greenhouse gas emissions – Scope 1, 2 and 3

Vieser’s total carbon footprint in 2023 amounted to 580 tCO2. This number includes Scope 1, 2 and 3, partially (categories 1, 4, 6, 7 & 9). Scope 1 & 2 generated 37 tCO2 (8%) while Scope 3 generated the majority of the emissions 533 tCO2 (92%). In Scope 3 category 1, purchased goods and services, was the biggest source of emissions 507 tCO2. Vieser does not own any manufacturing facilities which is why Purchased goods and services stand for most of the emissions. Our aim is to improve the data quality and cover all Scope 3 categories for the reporting year 2025 and set it as the base year set. Once we have achieved that, we aim to set Science Based Targets.

Personnel is our greatest asset

The well-being of our employees is at the heart of Vieser’s value creation. Vieser’s Human Resources (HR) services are provided by Paree Group. At Paree Group, the HR function is dedicated to fostering a work environment that prioritizes employee engagement, well-being and continuous development. Our social targets for 2023 and beyond align with our commitment to social sustainability, encompassing various aspects of talent acquisition, and competence development.

Vieser is committed to promoting equality and fostering diversity and inclusion. We systematically adhere to the obligations set forth by the Act on Equality between Women and Men and the Non-Discrimination Act. As of December 31, 2023, 56% of our workforce were women, and they held 60% of the managerial positions. These are notable figures in the traditionally male-dominated construction industry. Vieser has also been actively gathering feedback from its employees for several years, using an external partner to conduct an annual employee survey. The People Power Index, which offers an overall rating of the survey results, indicated an excellent performance for Vieser in November 2023, reaching level seven (81.4/AAA) on a seven-point scale.

Business Conduct

At Vieser, we consider responsibility a collective endeavor. Knowing and following applicable laws and regulations is a basic requirement for all of us. In 2023, we launched our Code of Conduct that includes, for example, general guidance on anti-corruption, environmental topics, human rights, and harassment prevention. At the end of 2023, 100% of Vieser employees had completed the training, passed the test and committed to our Code.

Whistleblowing channel

In addition to our Code of Conduct, Vieser has a whistleblowing channel available for its internal and external stakeholders, together with Paree Group. So far, we are not aware of any breaches of our Code of Conduct and no notifications were sent through the whistleblowing channel in 2023. Find the whistleblowing channel here.

Future sustainability focus areas

In the future, Vieser is committed to sustainable business simply because it is the right thing to do. Being the core component of decision-making, sustainability will be included in Vieser’s incentive scheme from 2024. Committing to sustainable business also means that we meet compliance related requirements and take systematic action to follow sustainability laws, regulations and codes of conduct. We also recognize the rising customer expectations and requirements in the construction industry, and are set to position ourselves as the industry leader in sustainability. To promote sustainable innovation such as circular economy initiatives, Vieser is continuously mapping out new business opportunities with strategic partners.

Vieser’s first sustainability report is a concrete step forward on our journey to aligning our brand and communications with sustainability principles. Later in 2024, we are beginning internal sustainability communications training as well as the pilot preparation for CSRD reporting to meet the European Sustainability Reporting Standards in the future.

More sustainable construction – together with the industry players

Vieser is a member of Green Building Council Finland, and together with Paree Group, of several other organizations, including FIBS ry, UN Global Compact, The Association of Finnish Work, Chamber of Commerce and Family Business Association (Perheyritysten liitto). Our goal in participating is to engage in discussion, understand the systemic problems of sustainability, identify business opportunities, learn from our stakeholders and provide our employees with opportunities for sustainability education, aiming to support our business and sustainability efforts.