What our customers think: Real estate company Willhem

WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS THINK

“IVL helped us to develop our climate work.”

The real estate company Willhem wants to be at the forefront in its sustainability work. This also includes mapping emissions from tenants and suppliers, an objective for which IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute has developed a concept.

“We wanted to do this alongside IVL for a number of reasons. One is that our owners are demanding that we take action. Another reason is that we want to be certified in accordance with Science Based Targets. That would be a stamp of quality for our climate work,” said Sofia Rehn, sustainability strategist at real estate company Willhem.

The Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) has emerged from the Paris Agreement and is designed for those in the business sector who want to take responsibility for the climate work. The requirements are relatively stringent and the companies that manage to qualify are more than happy to tell the outside world.

One of the requirements to qualify for SBTi involves mapping the company’s indirect emissions, such as those produced by tenants and suppliers, and which come under the designation Scope 3 according to the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. Willhem already has a good grasp of the emissions directly from their own fleet of vehicles as well as from heating and energy. But what if the tenants drive a lot of miles using thirsty SUVs? Willhem doesn’t cause these emissions directly, of course, but it does have the potential to influence them and wants to get a grip of them.

To get help with this, Willhem sent an enquiry to three operators, including IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute.

“There wasn’t much to choose between them.” The decision came down to IVL’s previous experience, for example in public utility projects. Of course, it’s valuable to have someone who has done this before. You gain a lot more out of that experience,” says Sofia Rehn.

In particular, experience saves time. Over the years, the work of IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute has given rise to a concept for identifying emission items more rapidly and mapping the role that the company plays in the overall amount of emissions. This would otherwise require time-consuming detective and analysis work, which in the worst case scenario might drag on for several years. Using IVL’s methodology, the task can be completed in a matter of months or even weeks.

“We have found a way of doing this more effectively,” says Annamaria Sandgren, who led the work from IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute’s side. The fact that it can take such a long time acts as a brake for many companies.

One of the tricks is not to go into the details unnecessarily quickly, but instead to start with a more schematic overview of the sources of emissions and perform standard calculations on that basis. In addition, it is important to adopt a very broad approach and include all possible emission items. These calculations don’t need to be precise, and they can be adjusted later, but they kick-start the work, Annamaria Sandgren explains.

“We start with a mapping process that is deliberately loose, but that helps us distinguish the large from the small. Because the important thing is to find out where it is possible to make a difference,” says Annamaria Sandgren.

This work may involve a large proportion of the staff in the company. Many key individuals may then be included in discussing resources and roles, as well as considering possible actions. In Willhem’s case, a workshop was arranged where employees were had the opportunity to ask questions and give their views.

“I gained a great deal of confidence in IVL’s expertise and experience. This has been a major asset for us.”

Sofia Rehn sustainability strategist at the real estate company Willhem

“Everybody had the chance to give their opinion, and they were able to ask all their questions. It was extremely valuable,” says Annamaria Sandgren.

There were questions along the lines of: “Shouldn’t we calculate things in this way instead?” “Are we really covering the actual emissions?”

“I witnessed a genuine endeavour to identify the causes of major emissions, which resulted in all of us being very engaged,” says Annamaria Sandgren. The latter point is particularly important, according to Annamaria Sandgren. Because it isn’t enough for only the management and sustainability strategists to be along on the journey. There are a large number of people in the company who will be doing the work in practice: project managers, buyers – everyone. As a result, they need to understand the underlying thought process.

“It’s been fun working with Willhem, because they haven’t just bought things straight away. They’ve listened, taken everything on board and asked all sorts of questions to make sure things will work well,” said Annamaria Sandgren.

The preparatory work reduces the risk of investing in the wrong areas. In addition, the work is established across a broad front in the company. This will result in a knowledge boost for the organisation. Based on the preparatory work, IVL laid a foundation that enabled the company to make decisions regarding which system limits should apply.

Sofia Rehn describes this as a rational way of working. Because things quickly become very complex, she says.

“The area is pretty large anyway. Everything from how to build houses to how to handle waste. I gained a great deal of confidence in IVL’s expertise and experience. This has been a major asset for us. They have also been able to make use of the experiences of their colleagues when necessary. The only thing we would have liked is to have a little more time with these skilled individuals, but they’re fully booked up,” says Sofia Rehn.

Willhem had previously conducted a mapping process, which it implemented seven or eight years ago. There was nothing wrong with this, but it wasn’t as extensive, explains Sofia Rehn.

“In this type of assignment, it’s important for them to have an understanding of the complexity, but still to make things manageable for us. After all, we are the ones who have to live with the results. They have to be reliable, at the end of the day. IVL has demonstrated a pragmatic approach combined with a high level of knowledge.” One problem to be solved in mapping operations of this type is the choice of system limits. What should we choose to measure and not measure? When are precise calculations required and when is it sufficient to use standard calculations? In this respect, it is vital to identify the important sources of emissions and the ones where changes can be made.

An example of a standard calculation related to the residents’ driving. It’s difficult, almost impossible to get precise data on this. But you can get pretty close. In the project, statistics were produced regarding the cars that are registered at Willhem’s properties, including data about the number of cars and what fuels they run on.

“There’s no easy way for us to find out how far they are driven. But we used the average mileage for Sweden in order to have something to work on. That’s good enough for assessing the extent of their emissions,” says Annamaria Sandgren.

It’s a matter of mapping and then drawing up a roadmap that can be followed up. IVL Swedish Environmental Research Institute will now be helping Willhem to produce such a roadmap, and an important part of the work is to communicate it to the organisation.

And how did things go with Science Based Targets? Well, IVL has acted more as a sounding board for Willhem in this respect. To qualify here, the company has had to make cuts in its three most significant emission items. Willhem has submitted an application, but the application is still awaiting approval.

“There are long lead times and more formalities than I had anticipated. But I believe and hope that we will be granted approval. Other than that, the work has progressed well. We had a fixed deadline of the results being included the Annual Report, and we kept to this,” said Sofia Rehn.

ABOUT WILLHEM

Willhem is a housing company that owns, manages and develops rental apartments in growth centres around Sweden. Willhem currently has housing in Borås, Eskilstuna, Gothenburg, Halmstad, Helsingborg, Jönköping, Karlstad, Linköping, Malmö, Skövde, Stockholm, Trollhättan and Västerås. Willhem is owned by the First AP Fund.