Case Study: Amsterdam Standard’s Carbon Footprint Initiative

Environmental sustainability has become a global priority, prompting businesses to take responsibility for their ecological impact. Committed to this cause, Amsterdam Standard is taking strides to measure and reduce its carbon footprint. This case study outlines the beginning of our journey—from data collection and analysis to actionable plans—and our strategies to meet our environmental objectives.

 

We partnered with Greenhouse Sustainability, experts in environmental impact assessments, and used the Life Cycle Assessment methodology connected with the GHG Protocol. This comprehensive approach helped us evaluate environmental impacts across three scopes of emissions: direct, indirect from purchased electricity and heating, and other indirect emissions in our value chain.

Throughout 2023, we collected data from all offices on:
- Energy consumption from utility bills.
- Employee commuting through surveys and our attendance feature on Slack.
- Remote work energy use estimations.
- Business travel logs.
- Waste generation and recycling volumes.
- Hardware procurement and its associated emissions.

 

Ensuring data accuracy required cross-departmental collaboration and standardized reporting methods.

Our total carbon footprint for 2023 was 339.9 tons of CO₂ equivalent (tCO₂e), broken down as follows:

 

 

Key contributors:

- Electricity Consumption: The largest single source, primarily from office operations, accounting for 69% of total emissions.
- Remote Work: Accounted for 16.65% of total emissions due to increased home energy use.
- Commuting: Made up 7.44% of emissions, influenced by employee transportation choices.
- Business Travel: Reduced emissions compared to previous years.

Notably, our Kraków office contributed approximately 70% of the total carbon footprint, highlighting a significant area for improvement, which we did by moving to the new office, powered entirely by green energy, in September 2024.

Energy Use
The significant emissions from electricity highlighted the need for renewable energy sources, which is currently challenging to obtain in Poland. Office equipment, lighting, and HVAC systems were major contributors. Scenario analysis showed that adopting renewable electricity sources like solar and wind could drastically decrease our Scope 2 emissions. Using 100% solar electricity, our total footprint could be reduced to 138.9 tCO₂e, and wind energy could reduce it even further to 119.7 tCO₂e.

Remote Work
While reducing commuting emissions, remote work increases energy consumption in home offices, often powered by non-renewable energy sources. Thus, there is a trade-off between decreasing commuting emissions and increasing energy consumption during remote work.

 

Commuting
The IT landscape has changed significantly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with most IT staff working remotely. Thanks to this, commuting emissions are not as significant as before 2020 but still represent the third-largest emitter in our company.

Emissions per employee
Analysing emissions on a per-employee basis provides valuable insights into the efficiency and effectiveness of our sustainability efforts across different offices. Here's a breakdown of the carbon emissions per employee at each of our locations:

Kraków: 3.83 tCO₂e per employee
Rzeszów: 2.32 tCO₂e per employee
Wrocław: 1.17 tCO₂e per employee
Poznań: 0.74 tCO₂e per employee
Amsterdam: 7.10 tCO₂e per employee

Average across all offices: 3.00 tCO₂e per employee

Understanding emissions on a per-employee basis allows us to identify disparities between offices and tailor our strategies accordingly. By focusing on locations with higher emissions per employee, we can more effectively reduce our overall carbon footprint and progress toward our sustainability goals.
Additionally, our customers who are also environmentally conscious can immediately know the impact of our cooperation. We will strive to lower these emissions as much as possible.

 

Since last year, we have introduced several sustainable policies to reduce our environmental impact and foster a culture of sustainability within the company. These initiatives address various aspects of our operations, from travel and waste management to energy consumption and procurement practices.

Sustainable Travel Policies
-Domestic Travel by Train: We have implemented a policy requiring all domestic travel to be conducted by train rather than by car. This reduces the carbon emissions associated with business travel within the country.

- Group Transportation for Company Events: We organise group transportation using buses or trains for company integration events and company gatherings. This collective approach significantly lowers emissions compared to individual car travel.

- Reduced Air Travel Between the Netherlands and Poland: We have made a conscious effort to limit flights between our offices in the Netherlands and Poland. In 2023, we had only 48 plane trips compared to over 100 in previous years, effectively halving our emissions from international travel.

Waste Management and Recycling
- Enhanced Recycling Efforts: We have placed significant emphasis on recycling waste and garbage across all offices. Recycling protocols have been adjusted to ensure that materials like paper, plastic, glass, and electronic waste are properly sorted and recycled.

 

Sustainable Procurement
- Optimized Equipment Use: To minimize waste and reduce the environmental impact of manufacturing new devices, we have adopted a policy of not purchasing new equipment unless absolutely necessary. When an employee requires a new laptop or other hardware, we first check our inventory for suitable equipment that can be repurposed.

 

- Energy Conservation
Employee Engagement in Energy Savings: Recognizing that energy consumption is the largest contributor to our carbon footprint, we encourage all employees to be mindful of their energy use. This includes turning off devices, A/C, and lights when not in use and optimizing the use of energy-intensive equipment.

 

Supporting Sustainable Commuting
- Green Budget for Sustainable Actions: We have restructured our training budget into a program that supports sustainable initiatives. Employees can now use this budget to finance the purchase of bicycles, public transport tickets, and other actions that promote sustainability. This not only reduces emissions from commuting but also promotes a healthier lifestyle among our staff.

By implementing these policies, we are making tangible progress toward our sustainability goals.

Energy Use
- Office Relocation: We moved our Kraków headquarters to a building powered entirely by renewable energy, which is significant since the Kraków office contributes approximately 70% of our total emissions.
- Energy Efficiency: Since we cannot change the energy provider for other offices, we focus on reducing power consumption—optimising HVAC usage, installing LED lighting, and encouraging efficient laptop use by employees.

 

Remote Work
- Education: Conducting workshops on energy-saving practices for remote workers.
- Green Budget: Encouraging employees to spend their Green Yearly Budget on green energy equipment like solar panels and converters.

 

Business Travel and Commuting
- Policy Changes: Instituting a policy that domestic travels can be conducted only by trains.
- Sustainable Commuting: Implementing programs to subsidise public transport passes or bikes purchase (already done within our Green Yearly Budget), facilitate carpooling arrangements, and improve biking infrastructure.

Waste Management and Hardware
- Recycling Programs: Standardising recycling guidelines across all offices.
- Sustainable Procurement: Partnering with suppliers prioritising sustainability and offering take-back programs for old equipment.

While carbon offsetting is a crucial component of our strategy to achieve carbon neutrality, our ambitions extend beyond balancing our own emissions. We are investing in an opportunity created by our former client, ZonnepanelenDelen, a platform that facilitates investments in solar energy projects. Through this partnership, we aim to contribute to the global expansion of renewable energy, not just offset our carbon footprint.

Our investment in solar farms is driven by a desire to support the generation of green energy on a broader scale. By participating in these projects, we are helping to generate green power and gaining valuable knowledge and experience in the renewable energy sector. This aligns with our long-term vision to participate more actively in sustainable energy initiatives.

Our ultimate goal is to leverage this experience to build our solar power plant in Poland within the next five years. By doing so, we aim to contribute directly to the availability of clean energy in the region, support local communities, and foster sustainable development.

This initiative reflects our commitment to making a meaningful contribution to the world. We believe that by actively engaging in the creation and support of renewable energy infrastructure, we can have a positive impact that extends beyond our immediate operations. We aspire to be a catalyst for change, promoting environmental sustainability within our company and throughout the industry and the communities we serve.

As we progress into 2024, we are actively implementing strategies to achieve our ambitious goal of reducing our emissions by 50%, aiming for a total of 169.5 tCO₂e. One of the significant steps we have taken is relocating our headquarters in Kraków as of September. While the positive impact of this move has begun, we will fully reap the benefits in the coming year. Our models estimate that the Kraków headquarters will emit approximately 40 tCO₂e in the second half of the year, compared to 119 tCO₂e from the previous year—a tremendous achievement in reducing emissions.

In addition, we have introduced a new policy in 2024 requiring employees to be present in the office at least once per week (or once per month, depending on their distance from the office). We anticipate this will lead to an increase in energy consumption within our offices and a rise in emissions from commuting. However, we also expect a slight decrease in emissions from remote work due to reduced home energy usage.

Moreover, we have expanded by opening an additional office in Baarn, Netherlands, which will contribute a few more tonnes to our overall emissions. Taking all these factors into account, our estimations indicate that we will emit approximately 308 tCO₂e in 2024. This represents a reduction of 31 tCO₂e from the previous year, bringing us to 91% of our 2023 emissions—not yet at our 50% reduction target.

To bridge this gap, our offsetting partnership with Greenhouse Sustainability is expected to cover around 96.5 tCO₂e, reducing our net carbon footprint to approximately 211 tCO₂e, which is 62% of our 2023 emissions. We recognize that we will need to offset an additional 42 tCO₂e (plus a 10% buffer to account for potential discrepancies) to meet our goal of reducing emissions by 50% compared to 2023.

The encouraging news is that when we analyze our monthly emissions, after implementing all our changes, we anticipate reducing them from 28.3 tCO₂e to approximately 16.6 tCO₂e per month. This equates to 58.7% of the 2023 monthly emissions, leaving only 2.4 tCO₂e away from our target. If the increase in emissions is lower than expected, we have a chance to achieve our goal on a monthly basis with a single offsetting initiative.

In January 2025, we will conduct another comprehensive survey to assess our carbon emissions for 2024. This will allow us to validate our models, evaluate the effectiveness of our efforts, and determine the additional actions and offsetting required to achieve our 50% reduction goal.

Looking ahead to 2025, we plan to update our models and allocate appropriate resources to become a carbon-neutral company. Our current estimates suggest we will emit approximately 170 tCO₂e in 2025, equating to 14 tCO₂e per month, precisely 50% of our 2023 emissions. With our ongoing offsetting efforts through Greenhouse Sustainability, we expect to lower our emissions to 100 tCO₂e overall. This means we must offset an additional 61 tCO₂e to achieve carbon neutrality. From a monthly perspective, after this offset, we will be emitting "just" 5 tCO₂e per month—a significant reduction compared to 24.2 tCO₂e per month in 2023.

We acknowledge that carbon offsetting is the last resort step, and we will undertake it to address only emissions we could not eliminate through reduction efforts. Beyond the initiatives already mentioned, we continue to seek new solutions. As a service company where every employee requires access to a computer for eight hours a day, we face inherent limitations in reducing emissions. However, this is not an excuse. Our mindset is focused on reducing emissions wherever possible without compromising the quality of our services or the comfort of our employees.

- Data Collection: Obtaining standardised data about emissions based on bills wasn’t straightforward, as every office had different billing formats, measurement units, and periods.

- Time Investment: The entire process took three months—two months for kick-off and data collection and one month for preparing the data model and report by consultants.

- Continuous Data Collection: Setting up systems to collect data constantly, rather than once a year, will improve data accuracy and help make informed decisions.

- Remote Work Data: Since remote work significantly contributes to our carbon footprint, improving data collection on remote work is crucial. This can be achieved through surveys or interviews to understand employee behaviour better when working remotely.

- Regional Differences: Each office is located in a different region, so the energy mix varies, affecting our overall emissions.

- Behavioural Change: Adjusting long-standing habits required consistent communication.

We aim not only to achieve our ambitious goals but to inspire change among our employees, partners, vendors, and customers. We want to show that you can have a positive impact and it’s not as hard as everyone thinks.
We are exploring options to source renewable energy in our second biggest office. Our scenario analysis shows that adopting 100% renewable electricity could significantly reduce our carbon footprint. We are also committed to continuous data collection and analysis improvement, which will help us track our progress more accurately.

In the short term, we aim to achieve our very ambitious goals (most companies on a path to be carbon neutral plan to achieve that around 2030, not in just two years). Long term, we want to lower our emissions constantly and share our knowledge and insights with other companies too, hoping that in the next years, the majority of IT companies will be transparent about their emissions and strive to be carbon neutral.

 

We encourage other companies to join us in prioritizing sustainability. Together, we can make significant strides towards a greener future. We are open to collaborations and eager to share our experiences to support collective efforts in combating climate change.