80 SWISS BUSINESS · July – October 2011 www.swissbusinessweb.ch SWISS BUSINESS · July – October 2011 81www.swissbusinessweb.ch

COMPANY

a positive effect on the motivation of our co-workers. They love the company they are working for and this enriches our cus-tomer relations as well.”

Concepts which make the future presentBusiness can extract inspiration also from sustainability concepts which can no longer be abandoned as idealistic think-ing. Albin Kälin, CEO of EPEA Switzer-land, promotes the Cradle-to-Cradle ap-proach which considers waste as a concept of yesterday and the no-waste-concept as much more efficient production-wise and in cost-saving and, therefore, profitable. Kälin sees himself as an industrialist. There is also the model developed by the non-profit organisation The Natural Step, which helps communities and busi-nesses better understand and integrate environmental, social, and economic as-pects. The Swiss branch of this global network is to be built up by Stanley Nyoni in Geneva. “Our strategy is based on pro-viding measures which produce adequate Return on Investment (ROI). Business and entrepreneurs are the main drivers of sus-tainability”, explains Nyoni. If we listen to Swiss business people nowadays it seems obvious that sustainabil-ity has become an important factor for cre-ating profit. So it is not anymore a question of being either a realist or an idealist – it is just a question of who gets there faster.

“As an entrepreneur I want to leave a positive footprint, that’s why I decided to engage in sustainable mobility.”

Fit for the future

Christian Huggenberg founded the Blue-Tech congress in 2008. The event, which will take place in Winterthur from 15 to 17 September, has become a major na-tional platform for sharing information, discussing solutions and news concepts in sustainability. Huggenberg worked as an economics journalist and communication consultant before he founded his own consultancy Taktform AG. He is also mem-ber of the advisory board of Briner AG.

What is Blue-Tech?Christian Huggenberg: It’s a platform for dialogue and its main topic is energy. It’s a place where people share and discuss their ideas and findings and where we develop how the future for business, environment

A new face of sustainability and it's maker Frank M. Rinderknecht

Christian Huggenberg

and society should look like. Our part-ners come from science, business, politics, NGO’s, culture. We aim to develop the future in an interdisciplinary dialogue. Blue-Tech consists of two major events: a congress in the Casino Theatre Winter-thur over two days, and a public exhibi-tion where new products and services are presented.

There are several events in Switzerland concerned with sustainability, like Na-tura or Energissima. What is the specific benefit Blue-Tech can provide?We focus very much on the topic of en-ergy and energy supply. In that respect I think we can provide a unique event in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. This is possible thanks to our contributors like the Swiss Federal Institute of Tech-nology and diverse universities of Applied Sciences. We also offer a platform for con-cepts, approaches developed outside Swit-zerland, which enhance our discussions. Our current motto – “The way to the new city – Is it all Utopia?” (Der Weg zur neuen Stadt – alles Utopie?) – has become a hot topic during the last weeks and months. After the events at Fukushima a lot of cit-ies are trying to cut down the use of nucle-ar power and they need some orientation

COMPANY

Sustain and gain!

Translating sustainability into action is certainly not an easy task. But some companies in Switzerland are taking it seriously and already profiting from it

By Matthias Müller*

Forget the old war between the idealists – whose defense that investments in sus-tainability are essential in order to save the world, humanity and the business – and the realists, who wait for the regulation to come, then adapt it quickly, therefore, sav-ing costs. This discussion is over, at least for a group of companies in Switzerland which have already understood that there are no chances of building or maintaining a profitable business without putting sus-tainability into practice. “The profit of sustainability is long-term economic success, a sustainable work and lifestyle and a mutual trust binding customers and Swisscom”, explains Kath-rin Amacker, head of corporate commu-nications and member of the group ex-ecutive board of Swisscom Ltd. A study by Verdantix named Swisscom, this June, as one of the five most sustainable telecom enterprises in Europe. One reason for this nomination can be found in the efforts of the company to reduce energy consump-tion for cooling the network. Swisscom de-signed a solution called Mistral which re-duces energy consumption by up to 90%. Do such investments pay off? Amacker answers: “Swisscom has experienced very rapid return on investment with efficiency measures and with its green ICT services portfolio in less than a year. Other in-vestments in sustainability are driven by standard economic consideration like positive net present value or short payback times and environmental consideration

(energy savings, CO²-reduction) and thus pay double.” In a study published in 2008 Bank Sara-sin contradicts that “... voluntary ecological and social initiatives of enterprises destroy economical value and stock performance.” The bank concludes: “Sustainability influ-ences the stock price in a positive way.” And it points out the benefit of risk management. “Sustainable enterprises can avoid long-term ecological and social risks which can become financially relevant.” Of course not every enterprise can release large-scale investments in sus-tainability like Swisscom. For instance Rinspeed, the company of car inventor Frank M. Rinderknecht, is quite small but with its concept cars, it attracts global at-tention: “I can’t change the world of car production but I can present prototypes which encourage and release forward thinking.” For him the sustainable car has become the major issue. “As an entrepre-neur I want to leave a positive footprint, that’s why I decided to engage in sustain-able mobility. But in no way am I inter-ested in being considered the fool of the industry.” Another example is Jost Druck AG in Hünibach near Thun. It is the first en-terprise to get the full certification of the tough Swiss PSO standard. According to Beat Hodler, managing director, his com-pany invests with conviction and pride. “Firstly, the certification differentiates ourselves in the market. Secondly, it has

“The profit of sus-tainability is long-term economic success, a sustainable work and lifestyle and a mutual trust binding customers and Swisscom.”

Kathrin Amacker, head of corporate com-

munications of Swisscom

80 SWISS BUSINESS · July – October 2011 www.swissbusinessweb.ch SWISS BUSINESS · July – October 2011 81www.swissbusinessweb.ch

COMPANY

a positive effect on the motivation of our co-workers. They love the company they are working for and this enriches our cus-tomer relations as well.”

Concepts which make the future presentBusiness can extract inspiration also from sustainability concepts which can no longer be abandoned as idealistic think-ing. Albin Kälin, CEO of EPEA Switzer-land, promotes the Cradle-to-Cradle ap-proach which considers waste as a concept of yesterday and the no-waste-concept as much more efficient production-wise and in cost-saving and, therefore, profitable. Kälin sees himself as an industrialist. There is also the model developed by the non-profit organisation The Natural Step, which helps communities and busi-nesses better understand and integrate environmental, social, and economic as-pects. The Swiss branch of this global network is to be built up by Stanley Nyoni in Geneva. “Our strategy is based on pro-viding measures which produce adequate Return on Investment (ROI). Business and entrepreneurs are the main drivers of sus-tainability”, explains Nyoni. If we listen to Swiss business people nowadays it seems obvious that sustainabil-ity has become an important factor for cre-ating profit. So it is not anymore a question of being either a realist or an idealist – it is just a question of who gets there faster.

“As an entrepreneur I want to leave a positive footprint, that’s why I decided to engage in sustainable mobility.”

Fit for the future

Christian Huggenberg founded the Blue-Tech congress in 2008. The event, which will take place in Winterthur from 15 to 17 September, has become a major na-tional platform for sharing information, discussing solutions and news concepts in sustainability. Huggenberg worked as an economics journalist and communication consultant before he founded his own consultancy Taktform AG. He is also mem-ber of the advisory board of Briner AG.

What is Blue-Tech?Christian Huggenberg: It’s a platform for dialogue and its main topic is energy. It’s a place where people share and discuss their ideas and findings and where we develop how the future for business, environment

A new face of sustainability and it's maker Frank M. Rinderknecht

Christian Huggenberg

and society should look like. Our part-ners come from science, business, politics, NGO’s, culture. We aim to develop the future in an interdisciplinary dialogue. Blue-Tech consists of two major events: a congress in the Casino Theatre Winter-thur over two days, and a public exhibi-tion where new products and services are presented.

There are several events in Switzerland concerned with sustainability, like Na-tura or Energissima. What is the specific benefit Blue-Tech can provide?We focus very much on the topic of en-ergy and energy supply. In that respect I think we can provide a unique event in the German-speaking part of Switzerland. This is possible thanks to our contributors like the Swiss Federal Institute of Tech-nology and diverse universities of Applied Sciences. We also offer a platform for con-cepts, approaches developed outside Swit-zerland, which enhance our discussions. Our current motto – “The way to the new city – Is it all Utopia?” (Der Weg zur neuen Stadt – alles Utopie?) – has become a hot topic during the last weeks and months. After the events at Fukushima a lot of cit-ies are trying to cut down the use of nucle-ar power and they need some orientation

COMPANY

Sustain and gain!

Translating sustainability into action is certainly not an easy task. But some companies in Switzerland are taking it seriously and already profiting from it

By Matthias Müller*

Forget the old war between the idealists – whose defense that investments in sus-tainability are essential in order to save the world, humanity and the business – and the realists, who wait for the regulation to come, then adapt it quickly, therefore, sav-ing costs. This discussion is over, at least for a group of companies in Switzerland which have already understood that there are no chances of building or maintaining a profitable business without putting sus-tainability into practice. “The profit of sustainability is long-term economic success, a sustainable work and lifestyle and a mutual trust binding customers and Swisscom”, explains Kath-rin Amacker, head of corporate commu-nications and member of the group ex-ecutive board of Swisscom Ltd. A study by Verdantix named Swisscom, this June, as one of the five most sustainable telecom enterprises in Europe. One reason for this nomination can be found in the efforts of the company to reduce energy consump-tion for cooling the network. Swisscom de-signed a solution called Mistral which re-duces energy consumption by up to 90%. Do such investments pay off? Amacker answers: “Swisscom has experienced very rapid return on investment with efficiency measures and with its green ICT services portfolio in less than a year. Other in-vestments in sustainability are driven by standard economic consideration like positive net present value or short payback times and environmental consideration

(energy savings, CO²-reduction) and thus pay double.” In a study published in 2008 Bank Sara-sin contradicts that “... voluntary ecological and social initiatives of enterprises destroy economical value and stock performance.” The bank concludes: “Sustainability influ-ences the stock price in a positive way.” And it points out the benefit of risk management. “Sustainable enterprises can avoid long-term ecological and social risks which can become financially relevant.” Of course not every enterprise can release large-scale investments in sus-tainability like Swisscom. For instance Rinspeed, the company of car inventor Frank M. Rinderknecht, is quite small but with its concept cars, it attracts global at-tention: “I can’t change the world of car production but I can present prototypes which encourage and release forward thinking.” For him the sustainable car has become the major issue. “As an entrepre-neur I want to leave a positive footprint, that’s why I decided to engage in sustain-able mobility. But in no way am I inter-ested in being considered the fool of the industry.” Another example is Jost Druck AG in Hünibach near Thun. It is the first en-terprise to get the full certification of the tough Swiss PSO standard. According to Beat Hodler, managing director, his com-pany invests with conviction and pride. “Firstly, the certification differentiates ourselves in the market. Secondly, it has

“The profit of sus-tainability is long-term economic success, a sustainable work and lifestyle and a mutual trust binding customers and Swisscom.”

Kathrin Amacker, head of corporate com-

munications of Swisscom