En­vir­on­mental is­sues

Harpa has set goals in environmental and climate matters. Harpa's Environmental Council was set up in 2020 and its aim is to find ways to promote sustainability, set environmental goals for the company and implement measures to achieve success. The Council holds regular meetings to evaluate results, review priorities and goals.

The Environmental Council places great emphasis on enhancing the environmental awareness of Harpa's staff and regularly holds educational meetings related to environmental issues, as well as presenting the milestones that have been achieved in environmental matters.

Harpa has a carbon-based emission of garbage, aviation and transport from the year 2020 through Kolviður - The Iceland Carbon Fund. Carbon credits were purchased to offset the emissions that were Harpa's direct responsibility (scope 3) due to waste, business trips and employee transportation to and from work. In 2022, staff transportation to and from work was added.

Water consumption

In 2022, the building's plumbing system was reviewed and now the halls are only heated if they are in use. The hot air from the halls is reused to heat the house itself. The rest of the hot water flows into the stream that adorns the square in front of the house. These reforms have produced great results and hot water consumption has decreased by 53% since 2019.

Energy consumption

The installation of thirteen car charging stations in Harpa's car park was completed. Over 2,500 lights were also replaced with LED lights to minimize energy consumption, and motion sensors were installed in smaller spaces. The these measures aim to reduce energy consumption in the building. The electricity used in Harpa's operations comes from renewable geothermal or hydropower sources.

Paper usage

Electronic accounting was introduced at the beginning of 2022 and all invoices are now issued in electronic form. With these changes, paper consumption has decreased by 125 kg between years. The number of printers in the office was also halved to make staff conscious about whether it is necessary to print the relevant document.

Classification

Harpa is currently sorting its waste into 23 categories in cooperation with Terra Environmental Services. Visitors and staff of the building use sorted bins with anything from 3 to 5 categories, depending on the size of the space in which it is located. However, conference guests always receive 5-class bins, where they are usually offered refreshments. Furthermore, a number of bins have been removed from public spaces, such as on the ground floor and in the square outside Harpa. The goal of this action is to make Harpa's visitors more responsible for litter and to reduce the carbon footprint associated with their visit to Harpa.

In recent years, considerable changes have been made to Harpa's waste storage facility. In 2021, the operators in the building got their own area in the waste storage facility and the responsibility for sorting fell on their shoulders.

Further construction is planned for the waste storage facility in 2023, to improve sorting facilities and also to improve the appearance of the storage facility.

Sorting and recycling rates of waste are on the rise, and it is worth drawing attention to the fact that in 2022 Harpa's recycling rate exceeded 50%.

Procurement policy

The goal of Harpa's procurement policy is that when purchasing goods and services, purposeful and organized work practices are applied and the laws and regulations on public procurement are complied with. Ecological and sustainable operations should be taken care of and innovation should be promoted and digital purchasing channels should be used whenever possible. The guiding principles are equality, transparency and honesty. The procurement policy and related procedures shall promote healthy competition and prevent unreasonable discrimination.

Cleaning

Harpa makes an effort to choose suppliers and service providers that meet environmental considerations. The service company Dagar was chosen to take care of cleaning the building. Dagar has ISO 14001, which is an international standard that defines requirements for companies and organizations that want to improve their overall performance in environmental matters by implementing an environmental management system in their operations. This means that purchases are ecological, environmentally certified materials are used, waste is minimized and recycling is increased.

All cleaning products used in Harpa have the Nordic Eco Swan label, which is a well-known and respected environmental certification mark in the Nordic countries. In public restrooms, hand dryers have been replaced with hand blowers to curb paper wastage. Harpa only buys environmentally certified toilet paper and hand towels.

Certifications

Great emphasis was placed on continuing work on implementing Green steps in public operations and keeping Green accounting. In 2022, Harpa fulfilled all 5 green steps of the Icelandic Environment Agency, which are the key to ecological public operations. An increased focus on sustainability in the business resulted in Harpa Swan Certification for conference facilities, which strengthens the company's competitiveness in an international context.

The swan is the official environmental mark of the Nordic countries, based on independent certification and standards that confirm the strict environmental and quality requirements of the activities. The purpose of the Swan is to promote the sustainable development of society with the benefit of future generations as a guide and to offer consumers a choice of environmentally friendly options.