VELUX wins innovation award at Sustainability Awards 2023

VELUX, nemlig.com and DLF Seeds were finalists for the Innovation Award. The award was given based on the winner’s visions for the home of the future.

Between inspiring presentations and fiery debates, winners of this year's awards were announced when Sustainability Awards was held by the Dansk Erhverv and EY on 14 September. The Innovation Award was among the awards that were given away in Børssalen, which was crammed to overflowing. The winner of the Innovation Award was chosen by an independent jury who have assessed nine nominated companies based on various criteria. Of the nine nominees, three finalists were chosen:

• VELUX
• nemlig.com
• DLF Seeds

And it was VELUX who took the prize.

The Innovation Award is given to a company to which sustainability is the driving force for innovation. Focus is on companies that through their novel approach and innovative initiative have created a clear and positive change with a documented effect and set new standards in one or more areas of the broad ESG agenda, says Jan C. Olsen, CEO of EY in Denmark:
 
“When talking about innovation in the context of sustainability, we look both at the E, the S and the G. Innovation is not necessarily about a new product but could also take the form of using existing technologies in new ways. The independent jury found that VELUX is a good example of that.”

Homes in a new way

Among other factors, the jury justified the choice of VELUX on the grounds that, based on their Living Places project, they have shown the courage to push the agenda and reshape the conception of how things are done within an area where people live every day. Literally.

“They have demonstrated how new homes can be built while reducing the carbon footprint by two-thirds, which is impressive. Moreover, the fact that all technologies and solutions are open source and freely available to everyone highlights the significant potential for scalability”, says Brian Mikkelsen, CEO of Dansk Erhverv.

“We are very proud to receive this award and recognition from EY and Dansk Erhverv for our Living Places project. Being part of an industry, which accounts for 37% of the global CO2 emissions, it is important to us to lead the way and accept our part of the responsibility for ensuring that the building industry takes a more sustainable direction. With Living Places, we have, together with our partners, shown that it is possible to build homes with state-of-the-art indoor climate and a carbon footprint which is 3x below the Danish standard - and that we do not need to wait for new materials, technologies or building methods. With this project, we hope to be able to inspire to rethink how we build homes of the future”, says Lone Feifer, Director for Sustainable Buildings in the VELUX Group.

About Sustainability Awards
The background for the Sustainability Awards, launched in 2021 by Dansk Erhverv and EY, is the desire to pay tribute to companies that work strategically, innovatively and transformatively with sustainability. In addition, the aim is to share inspiration on the effective initiatives that make a real difference to companies and society.

Three prizes are awarded at the Sustainability Awards: The Climate Impact Award, Innovation Award and Green Transition Award to which Danish companies are invited to nominate themselves and which an independent jury assess. In addition, the Dansk Erhverv and EY select and give away the Special Prize for Long Term Value Creation, a prize for which you cannot be recommended.