Paramètres des cookies

Choisissez vos paramètres et enregistrez ou apprenez-en davantage sur les cookies.

Cookies nécessaires

Ils aident notre site Web à fonctionner correctement pour vous en tant que visiteur. Ils ne peuvent donc pas être désactivés.

Cookies fonctionnels

Utilisés pour vous faire partager une bonne expérience en tant que visiteur, telle que se rappeler quels documents se trouvent dans une collection de documents.

Cookies analytiques

Ils nous aident entre autres à produire des statistiques et des schémas d’habitudes des visiteurs qui nous permettent d’améliorer nos services en fonction de la façon dont vous les utilisez.

Nous utilisons des cookies Pour vous faire partager la meilleure expérience possible de notre site Web, nous utilisons des cookies. En savoir plus sur les cookies chez Fagerhult.
Fagerhult Innovator
  • Categories

  • Case studies
  • Product
  • Trends
  • Knowledge
  • Portraits
  • Sustainability
  • Insights

Visit fagerhult.com

How to make money on sustainability

It’s common sense!

Corporate social responsibility isn’t just a buzzword anymore. Big or small, retailer or supplier, every company needs to be accountable for its actions. Sound expensive and difficult? Then you’re being short-sighted, says Per Grankvist, a Swedish trends analyst specialising in sustainability issues.

text amelie bergman photo anna hållams, H&M
Facebook LinkedIn Twitter E-mail

Can you really make money on sustainability?

“Of course! Some of the world’s most innovative companies make sustainability a central part of their strategy. And not because they’re paragons of virtue. They’re just being sensible rather than short-sighted.”

Per Grankvist is a trends analyst, writer and lecturer. He’s passionate about some of the key issues of our time: sustainability, ethics and social commitment at the private, political and professional levels. Viewing sustainability as a common-sense issue instead of a matter of policy and legislation makes it much easier to see what needs to be done and how to do it.

“We need to get away from all these silly abbreviations – CSR, ESG, GRI. They may sound impressive, but mostly they’re just confusing. If we want people and companies to understand what sustainability is all about, we need to explain it in a way that even my old mum would understand,” Grankvist says.

PerGrankvist_03.jpg

At the core it’s just plain common sense. It’s about getting back to how we used to act – up until around 100 years ago. It’s about conserving resources.

“We need to find a long-term sustainable way to take care of one another and our planet so it can support all of us. Sustainable development is about being able to make free choices now without robbing our children and grandchildren of that same opportunity.”

Conserving resources is everyone’s business. It’s something we’re all capable of, regardless of nationality or culture. Every time we use nature’s resources wisely, we save money. It’s about being sensible rather than short-sighted.

“Look at it this way: it’s great to have lights in the bathroom, but it’s wasteful to leave them on when you’re not there. So why not have lights controlled by motion sensors? That conserves your resources and saves money.”

Making money on sustainability is an abstract concept that seems hard to grasp. But making money on resources – physical and human – is easy. Every company wants to make money; that’s why they exist.

“Corporations are global, undemocratic organisations that are ruled by money. But consumers can make them listen through their buying power. When customers vote with their wallets, things start happening,” Grankvist says.

He puts the case of a certain global sports shoe manufacturer as an example. About 15 years ago, this company got into hot water when it emerged that their Indonesian supplier used child labour. Customers were not happy and started a boycott.

“It could have been one of the most ineffectual boycotts in history, but because the campaign went viral in the new social media, the company’s sales took a substantial hit. That made them get to grips with the issues in their supply chain.”

H&M-BD-2014-(81).jpg

It’s a common misconception that prioritising sustainability is something companies do out of the goodness of their hearts.

“In much of northern Europe, particularly Scandinavia, we have a somewhat naive view of sustainability work. That you do it because it’s the right thing to do. Perhaps it’s a part of our Lutheran heritage, striving to be virtuous for virtue’s sake. But sensible companies see it as a way to make money.”

Grankvist describes how an international mining company brought that message home to him. “I met their marketing manager in New York, and she told me about their successful project to reduce the number of deaths in their mines. A very noble and worthy cause, I thought in my typical Swedish mindset. However, I soon felt foolish when she explained the company’s motivation: Digging a body out of the rubble takes days and costs a lot of money in terms of lost production time and unused equipment.”

Another example is an oil company replacing its pipelines to reduce the risk of leakage. Oil is simply too expensive to be leaked onto the tundra. The polar bears’ welfare is just an added bonus.

“If it’s possible to conserve resources whilst avoiding poisoning the world and still come in on budget – then of course we’ll do it!”

The US office furniture manufacturer Steelcase became a pioneer in its sector when it decided to clean up its textile dyes.

“They analysed every substance and slashed the list from 800 dyes to just 34 that were all environmentally defensible. As I recall, they were even edible, and still included every colour of the rainbow. They also consulted one of those famous Swiss analytical institutes and found that the local watercourses get less polluted when the dye process occurs upstream rather than downstream. Very smart!”

There are loads of examples like this. IKEA, famed for its flatpack furniture, switched to lightweight recyclable cardboard pallets instead of wooden ones, saving valuable volume and weight in transit. Then there was UPS, which redrew its delivery routes in New York so that its vans only make right turns.

“By eliminating left turns, you avoid idling at red lights, which saves time and minimises exhaust fumes. Not only can they deliver more parcels, they also save big money on fuel. So stop looking for ‘sustainability’ and ‘profitability’ solutions – if you look at resources instead, you’ll find all three!”

“If we want people and companies to understand what sustainability is all about, we need to explain it in a way that even my old mum would understand.” Per Grankvist, Swedish trends analyst specialising in sustainability issues

Sensible rather than short-sighted thinking has even become a key parameter of stock market analysis. Can the company turn a profit while conserving resources? Can it deliver what the customers want? Does it accept its social responsibility? If the answer is yes, the recommendation is: Buy! And if not – Sell!

Sustainability has become a competitive advantage, an opportunity to meet the market’s demand in the long term. One company that embraced sustainability as an important part of its brand was the Swedish fashion giant H&M. With its sustainable Conscious Collection, H&M established itself as one of the most progressive fashion companies in the market. Film stars, royalty and ordinary people are all clamouring to wear the Conscious Collection.

“Instead of overworked employees slaving in sweatshops, which is bound to negatively impact product quality, H&M ensure good working conditions from the start. The company learned from its previous mistakes. They changed their procedures and did it right. At first they just focused on having a sustainable collection – they forgot about being a fashion company. The trick, of course, was to combine high fashion with sustainable production. That’s when they hit the jackpot.”

Diversity is a much-vaunted word in companies’ CSR reports – but even this is all about resource management.

“It’s easy to reduce diversity to a focus on gender, ethnicity or age. But really, it’s about making the most of all the resources the company has. Consider language. Language is a unique resource. A company that can approach its customers in their own language will have a huge advantage in the global economy. At your local IKEA store, every employee wears a name badge with little flags indicating what languages they speak. It’s a lot easier to understand how to assemble your Billy shelves when it’s explained in your own language. Starbucks has a similar policy, where additional languages are seen as a bonus. The major banks have also started thinking along the same lines. How much better is it for customers to negotiate their home loans in a language they know? Diversity can always be converted into service, and service is money.

“The same thinking applies to diversity in the boardroom. Is it sensible to only have men on the board of a fashion company that manufactures and sells clothes for women? Or is it short-sighted?”

Conscious-Exclusive-3---high-res.jpg
Conscious-Exclusive-4---high-res.jpg

A company that works actively with its values and focuses on sustainability, and which integrates both into its brand, will be able to attract the very best staff. Assuming that it lives up to its values, of course.

“I don’t care if you have the most admirable values in the world emblazoned on the wall in your staff canteen. Your Code of Conduct means nothing until someone gets sacked,” Grankvist says.

If an employee is fired for visiting a brothel while on a business trip, it shows that the code of conduct is a force to be reckoned with. The alternative – playing down what happened or covering up the real reason the employee was fired – diminishes the code’s clout.

“If there’s one thing that makes companies take action, it’s when they mess up and lose business to their competitors. So there’s no question we’ll see companies step up. Politics is always local, but business is global. In the next 10 years, sustainability considerations will have a much greater impact on how companies do business than even the Internet has had. You can count on that.”

Find inspiration

  • All
  • Case studies
  • Product
  • Trends
  • Knowledge
  • Portraits
  • Sustainability
  • Insights

Lighting insights - from the land of the midnight sun

Travelling Sweden in summertime is a crash course in lighting theory. Watching the sun dipping her toes in a deep blue lake, before she reluctantly se ...

From the grave to the cradle - full circle for a luminaire

The concept of refurbishing and/or rebuilding old luminaires in order to save material and energy is a field that is rapidly growing. And sometimes, w ...

The future is handmade

Art and culture are excellent ways to turn given concepts upside down, and create new approaches and solutions. One avant-gardist, who does not fear n ...

Work-welfare and safety in smart lighting - lighting for underground spaces

Working in an underground environment is a great challenge both physically and mentally – and even biologically. The constant lack of daylight, and co ...

Redefining the workplace - a visionary outlook on the office from Kinnarps

Interior design company Kinnarps originated as a family owned business (and still is to this day) from Sweden - and is now a synonym internationally f ...

Keep up with standards

This autumn 2021 a revised version of EN 12464-1 is published, which sets requirements for Lighting of indoor work places. We met with Tommy Govén, Se ...

What is the purpose of the office?

To have or not to have, a physical office space – might be the question many companies ask themselves these days. Our flexible and digital way of work ...

The waste is the win - making your carbon footprint tip-toe

Sustainability and environmental awareness are (thankfully) on everyone’s agenda these days. And for real change to happen, we all need to make new ch ...

Agitated, anxious and alone - living with dementia

Imagine not being able to recognise your own children. Not knowing where you live, where you are going or even how old you are. For many people suffer ...

In the club - I have a feeling I belong here

Building a community is not a quick win. So, why do for-profit brands invest time and money in this activity? In short, creating a community connected ...

Lighting First Aid for the TikTok-generation

When lighting expert Shelley James realized how lockdown affects the wellbeing of kids and teenagers, she was shocked. Now she is joining forces with ...

Feel the brand

When we finally emerge from our homes, after months of shopping from the couch, we will most likely look for brick-and-mortar experiences that gives u ...

Effects of working from home during Covid -19 - Physical problems, pain and posture

More people are working from home amid the COVID-19 pandemic. While avoiding the office and staying socially distant is crucial to stopping the spread ...

Changing habits - Nudging our way to a more sustainable future

For some time now, it has been clear that us humans need to change the way we act and live to a more sustainable way. But change can be hard. Lucky fo ...

There is a light that never goes out

The innate longing and love for light is something universal for mankind. But how do you cope with an everyday life where the access to electrical lig ...

Recover better - UN-iting businesses for a better world

In a time of global disruption, ambitious climate action is as urgent as ever. The United Nations has therefore worked continuously to unite business ...

Double Dynamic Lighting - combining two worlds

Double Dynamic Lighting (DDL) is a lighting design concept for dynamic indoor lighting. In short, you adjust the electrical lighting in real time so t ...

Kitchen Ghosts: Cooking delicious cinemagraphs

Kitchen Ghosts is a duo that has taken the foodie culture to a higher level. By focusing on displaying homemade food and its handcraft in a tasteful w ...

A changing world USA, China and Russia

A decade after the United Nations declared that a tipping point had been reached and more than half the world’s population now lives in urban areas, c ...

A life of colour and light

Liz West is a UK-based light artist with an immense passion for colour, playfulness and light. She is renowned for her innovative artworks that explor ...

HNoMS Maud - a full scale hospital at sea

HNoMS Maud, the Royal Norwegian Navy’s new logistics and support vessel, has arrived to its new homeport of Haakonsvern navy base. She was built on be ...

Setting the biological clock - the use of light in Health and Care

Even though we consider ourselves modern people, our brains are really not that up to date. We are still biological creatures, affected by the shifts ...

Saved by the light How lighting can prevent unwanted behavior

The expanding capabilities with LED's are well suited to the shifting urban landscape. Creative outdoor lighting can change, and prevent, unwanted beh ...

The beauty is in the brain of the beholder

Advances in neuroimaging allows us to have a more indepth understanding of how our brain processes impressions. We now know more of how the brain perc ...

Recipes for creative patterns

A rotating tube light and a postmodern spotlight – both a part of the architectural universe created by Design Campus for an upcoming project in Londo ...

John V. Muntean - a story of light, art, truth and science

Can you trust your eyes? Or is the object in front of you open to multiple interpretations? Chicago-based scientist and artist John V. Muntean uses li ...

Lifelong learning - a journey throughout life

Lifelong learning concerns every individual’s opportunity – and responsibility – to continue developing and learning new things throughout life. Howev ...

A democratic learning environment - creating spaces for equality and possibilities

A well-planned learning environment increases the pupil's possibilities to take part of the education. Malin Valsö, registered psychologist and autho ...

75 years of light

Fagerhults Belysning is the story of a man who saw the world in a bright new light. Who spotted opportunities in technological advancements and in the ...

Holding it together

In a time when ingrained behaviours and patterns are being questioned, alternatives are needed. Something, or someone, that puts the focus on things o ...

Danborg & Kundla The researcher’s guideline to human-centric library lighting

How can lighting be used to create different activity zones that meet the visitors’ needs and enhances the experience in the library? In a new master’ ...

Lighting up the darkness Bringing light to places of grief

The cemetery is a place for meetings and farewells, a place associated with a range of emotions and moods. How can you, in a good way, turn a place th ...

Back to basics! How to put human centric lighting into practice

Do you have neck and shoulder pain? It could be caused by bad lighting. Up to 40 percent of the population is sensitive for visual stimuli like glare ...

Reducing energy consumption - the transformation from "mechanics" to electronics

At Fagerhult we have developed, manufactured and offered lighting solutions for 75 years. At the time our company was founded, only one type of light ...

To serve and inspire - making the store the USP

Today, e-commerce is booming through the roof and a lot of brick-and-mortar stores struggle with the competition. In times like these, it could be tha ...

Sim Sala BIM! The revolution of the construction process

The construction and real estate market is undergoing a major change where digitization plays the leading role. The magic is spelled BIM – Building In ...

Storytelling with BIM - White Architects share their view

Soon enough, lighting designs will be integrated directly into BIM models with the help of game technology. Christoffer Sundberg, farsighted BIM-strat ...

Bringin the right light to the stage

Lighting designer and Director Alexander Hesse, is currently travelling the world with Swedish House Mafias come back tour. Here we learn his thoughts ...

Don't fear the robots.

The reporting of digitalization and automatization in the media, can sometimes seem dark and pessimistic. Instead of focusing on all the possibilities ...

Material girl. Designer Emma Olbers encourages to material awareness.

Emma Olbers is one of the pioneers in sustainable design. By being consistent in their choice of materials and production, she helps customers and con ...

Going to the movies

In the quest to quantify the emotional part of human centric lighting solutions we need to involve the end users. But advanced lighting professional l ...

Lighting controls How to increase lighting quality and lower energy consumption.

Yes! You can eat the cake and have it too… New research from the IT University in Copenhagen suggests that investing in high quality lighting can actu ...

Behavioral design Psychology that changes thoughts, feelings and actions

What do the toilets at Amsterdam Airport Schiphol have in common with pendant light fittings in Danish primary schools? Both are design initiatives in ...

Enhance your environment The lighting advisors guide to inspiring environments

Investing in exterior lighting designs is an effective way to increase the value and attractiveness of a property. ”Innovative and energy efficient t ...

The office of the future

Over the past few decades we have seen office trends come and go. What are the current trends, and what might the office of the future actually look l ...

Focus on the human centric lighting

Light is well-being, but it can also be terror. Human centric lighting is, and should not, just be about increasing people’s performance. ”Smart ligh ...

Prep Work The showroom that makes room for the senses

How do you construct a friendly, healthy, and high-performance workspace? A space where conditions are sustainable for the employees and environment a ...

Primary light forms - Bespoke lighting for Fotografiska London

Opening mid 2019, Fotografiska London will be one of the largest museums in the world dedicated to photography. A postmodern architectural universe cr ...

Details that make a difference

”It is so easy to get caught up in the big words. I prefer the smaller ones. With many small changes you can make a huge difference. It takes knowledg ...

Ageless but not sharp-eyed How do we meet the increased lighting needs of an aging population?

We are getting older. Probably wiser. But as the human eye is aging, our needs for light increase dramatically. ”We are talking about raising the reti ...

Back to the future An innovation from the 1990s helped Fagerhult solve the LED equation

All the efficiency and all the visual comfort. How do you solve the light industries trickiest equation? The clues were in the past and the classic r5 ...

How to make money on sustainability. It’s common sense!

Corporate social responsibility isn’t just a buzzword anymore. Big or small, retailer or supplier, every company needs to be accountable for its actio ...

Fresh foodie technology There are 2 000 chefs lined up in your kitchen!

After spending hours – and probably a small fortune – searching for the right ingredients, there’s no excuse for bad cooking. So what to do when the r ...

Convergence: Restaurant Tying the knot. Noma in cross over collaboration with Club Monaco

What is your industry? Retail? Restaurant? Interior Design, Hospitality or Entertainment? And does it really matter? In The Convergence Economy brands ...

Breakthrough in gerontology?

What if lighting could help the elderly to a happier and healthier life? Actually, it can! A new research project at Lund University indicates that d ...

Copenhagen Connected Lighting infrastructure and smart city solutions

Copenhagen brings connectivity to a new level. In the project Copenhagen Connecting the streetlights play a key role in the infrastructure for the new ...

Hästens: A feeling of home

The luxury bed company Hästens new shop concept is based on recreating a feeling of home where you can sit down, have a coffee, read a book or even fa ...

Innovations for better light

Over the last 70 years within the lighting industry various new findings have come our way and we have embraced the change. When we started 1945 there ...

Fabulous Fabian – an icon reincarnated

Fabian is a subtle retro fixture, deeply connected with our innovative heritage. When launched in 1969 Fabian was Sweden’s – maybe even the worlds – e ...

Creating the world’s best conference room Communicator on a crusade

After experiencing hundreds of badly planned conference facilities, communication expert David Phillips is taking things into his own hands. In the be ...

Skywalker − our brightest shining star

The 2018 Red Dot Award Winner Skywalker gives a brand new perspective on office space lighting. With a touch of magic, the design team from Above and ...

Proof of the pudding

Throughout the world, innovative designers and employers applying the Well Building Standard to create workplaces that are healthy for body and mind. ...

Light prophecy A journey into the future of 2025

We are only one year away from when Ridley Scotts adaptation of the Novel “Do androids dream of electric sheep”, more commonly known as Bladerunner, i ...

The Lobby - a new retail concept

The increasing online shopping trend within retail has made an impact in all traditional stores. Customers today are placing their order with a click ...

Lighting design cowboys aiming for change

It is all about people, not the places. Swedish lighting designers Olsson & Linder are forerunners in Social Lighting, challenging politicians, offici ...

Still a toddler, The MSC Lighting Design Programme at Danish Aalborg University, is considered one of the best in the world. In 2017 the programme was ...

70 years of lighting knowledge

Fagerhult is the story of a man who saw the world with new eyes. Who spotted opportunities in technological advancements and in the world around him. ...

Food experiences with Tongue Twister

Have you ever thought about how complex food is? We used to say that we eat with our eyes, but are there several key factors to finding stunning flavo ...

Food trends Lifestyle choices and their effects on food industry

Strong is the new skinny, LCHP instead of LCHF, dieting with Instagram and slow food instead of fast food. How will these trends effect the food indus ...

Studio Streck create concepts - No magic, just hard work

When the interior designers at Studio Streck create a shop concept it is always based on the customer’s brand and perspective. This is something they ...

The many lives of Dino

Is it a cat? Or is it a chameleon? Architects Lars Pettersson and Morgan Rudberg are the masterminds behind Dino – the luminaire with a versatile char ...

Booster Pro Lighting for a premium shop experience

In the Stockholm based Mall of Scandinavia (the largest shopping centre in Scandinavia) the Norwegian cosmetic company Booster Pro opened a shop with ...

The Dandy Lab: Exploring the future of retail

Smart cities, smart homes and now – smart shops. Hyped London pop-up store The Dandy Lab explores the Internet of Things in a physical retail environm ...

The glittering light of Nordic summer

Devina Solglitter is a creative collaboration between Fagerhult and Orrefors Glasswork. ”I wanted to reflect the glittering light that captures the s ...

History of the lantern

The design of outdoor lighting has always been determined by the shape of the light source. Not anymore. In co-operation with groundbreaking lighting ...

Exploring in adaptable light Little Explorers at Marina Mall in Dubai

Lego is one of the most popular children’s toys in the world. No wonder that, alongside Little Explorers, Majid Al Futtaim Holding have based a seriou ...

Islands of Light pendant lighting versus office distractions

A study into the use of pendant lighting at a school in Denmark could have lessons for increasing productivity and reducing stress in the workplace. ...

The electric Advent candelabra – A Swedish lighting phenomenon

No, it is not the Northern Lights but it is still a phenomenon. The electric Advent candelabra are a Swedish lighting tradition that cannot be experie ...

Storytelling in a Virtual Reality 

The consumer won’t buy what you are doing. They buy why you are doing it. Virtual Reality is the new, intriguing way to tell that story. ”It’s so real ...

Light – the soul of Electronic Dance Music

With his Cloud Nine-tour, artist and producer Kygo has taken musical entertainment to a new level. The creative force behind Kygo’s spectacular light ...

Connecting through fibre and thread

Conventional woven handcraft meets modern lighting in Malin Bobeck’s art pieces. As a Textile designer and artist she creates using optical fibre text ...

Pendant Gallery

Design is a universal language without end, within the form of expression there is something that speaks to all of us. The time when the options were ...

Play with Notor

Defined by a minimalist style that houses so many possibilities, Notor’s flexibility has helped keep it relevant for over 15 years. The technology has ...

Putting the wheels in motion

A total of 188 Evolume pole luminaires have been equipped with e-Sense Motion in a breakthrough project undertaken in conjunction with the Swedish Tra ...

The science of shopping

There are several visual techniques used in a shop to dictate which products are discovered and how they are interpreted. We might believe we have ful ...

Involving all senses in retail

An ideal store environment is one that engages our senses. When working with light, we are constantly developing lit experiences focusing on the visua ...

Industrial Chic

Industrial chic, and rugged pendant lighting in particular, has been a part of the interior designer’s palette for longer than many of us might imagin ...

Expressing and enhancing the qualities of the surrounding

Architectonical lighting, outdoor lighting, exhibitions, discos, shows, operas… Oscar Nyström has done it all. From luxury hotel resorts to super yach ...

No compromise – The Blue Planet

The Blue Planet is the largest aquarium in northern Europe, with more than 20 000 animals living in 7 million litres of water. From the outside, it’s ...

The revitalization of outdoor lighting control

With advanced lighting control, energy consumption in urban areas can be reduced by 40% – without affecting people’s perceived safety and visual comfo ...

How to make money on sustainability It’s common sense!

Corporate social responsibility isn’t just a buzzword anymore. Big or small, retailer or supplier, every company needs to be accountable for its actio ...

Making an entrance

You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Lighting is the ”red carpet” of the hospitality industry and one of the most effective ways ...

Vialume – designing good light

It’s very easy to understand why one wants to make some effort in the design of an pendant interior luminaire, just like you make an effort with the r ...

Branding interiors

In 1954, Coca-Cola’s advertising slogan was “For people on the go”. Sixty years later the same phrase embodies the design of the company’s new Europea ...

Repair shops – a new retail category?

Behind that rough and eye-catching shop concept there is an underlying sustainable mind-set for every choice and decision, from walls to the type of f ...

Catching fire

The "Spira Lamp” is a piece of art. It is the vision of designer and artist Ingegerd Råman, realised by Fagerhult in collaboration with skilled partne ...

Labelling the light The six emotions of lighting design

Communication is vital when creating innovative and functional lighting design. When things go wrong it is normally caused by misunderstandings. ...

Ageless but not sharp-eyed. How do we meet the increased lighting needs of an aging population?

Fagerhult

Innovator is a celebration of the wonderful world of light, drawing inspiration from the latest trends, insights inspiring projects and, most importantly, the people that make it all happen.

Head Office. Fagerhults Belysning AB. SE-566 80 Habo. Sweden +46 36 10 85 00.
Copyright © 2017 AB Fagerhult. All rights reserved.

chevron-down chevron-right facebook linkedin medium mynewsdesk twitter vimeo youtube