Groothuis Construction Group far ahead of sustainable targets

Groothuis Bouwgroep has already reached the targets set in the Dutch Climate Agreement. "Entrepreneurs agreed to reduce their CO₂-emissions reduced by 49 percent by 2030. We are way ahead of that. That is why we are sharpening our ambitions. Within a year, we want to get to step 5 of the CO₂-performance ladder", say Willem Jan van de Worp and Siebren Groothuis.

They share this ambition after the successful recertification on step 3 of Groothuis Bouwgroep. That too is already a great milestone, Willem Jan believes. "As a provider of sustainable real estate solutions, we want to be leaders. That fits with our vision entrepreneurship is stewardship. That is why we have invested a lot in environmental gains in recent years. The CO₂-performance ladder is a good tool and has produced great results."

Large and small steps

Groothuis Bouwgroep achieved those environmental gains through both large and small steps. Willem Jan cites the example of making the vehicle fleet more sustainable. 50 percent of the vehicles now drive electrically. Steps have also been taken in our own real estate. "With simple measures we were also able to drastically reduce our power consumption. For example, we purchased green electricity. And since 2022 our office has been completely gas-free. This reduces our emissions and improves our working comfort. From the sustainable motives, we also realize financial benefits in our housing and operations."

Interesting insights

"The knife often cuts both ways...," says Siebren Groothuis. He is responsible within the company for data and business analyses. "If you look closely at your energy consumption, you soon come to interesting insights. Data provides insight and helps to take the right measures. The performance ladder is an excellent tool for focusing and achieving our goals in terms of environmental performance. We make significant savings by reducing our stealth consumption. This means that we turn off appliances completely when we are not using them. This not only benefits the environment, but also our bottom line. We are now investigating how to further optimize our processes and data analysis so that we can take further steps."

Follow-up steps

Groothuis Bouwgroep already has concrete plans for those next steps. In the coming period, the vehicle fleet will be made more sustainable by using hybrid or electric vehicles. "Furthermore, we are experimenting with PV panels on the construction site. With these we will then generate our own electricity. We also want to be even more active in cooperating with our construction partners to further reduce emissions together," says Willem Jan.

Planting trees

Groothuis Construction Group also looks beyond its own workspaces and construction sites. For example, the company is investing in planting trees within regenerative agriculture. That project is aimed at greening the environment, which is good for the environment and for biodiversity. "We offset our emissions by planting trees. Trees take CO₂ on and in these ways we offset our own emissions. We are also investigating whether this sustainable wood production can play a role in our demand for building materials. Then again, the knife cuts both ways...," says Siebren.

To the highest ladder

Groothuis Bouwgroep continues to make strides, Willem Jan emphasizes in conclusion. "We see our recertification as a nice intermediate step, but we continue to work on improvements. With this we want to get to step 5, the highest step on the CO₂-performance ladder. The future ambition remains zero-emission operations."