In 2007, the Rotterdam Climate Initiative was founded and, in 2008, it launched a campaign to encourage citizens and companies in Rotterdam to pledge to reduce their CO₂ reduction.

Part of the campaign was a very accessible online tool to calculate your CO₂ footprint. VenhoevenCS used this tool to start calculating our carbon footprint in 2009. It was also the first time we started to really think about the impact of our operations, based on the Trias Ecologica:

1. reduce emissions as much as possible;
2. enhance sustainability wherever possible; and
3. offset all emissions you cannot avoid.

Certificate of the CO₂ offset in 2009

Our CO₂ footprint between 2009-2012 was offset according to the Gold Standard. On paper, VenhoevenCS was a climate-neutral company during that time.

In 2013, VenhoevenCS was hit by the financial and property crisis in the Netherlands, and our emissions offset scheme was discontinued as CO₂ reduction faded into the background. In 2015, we picked up the thread again, motivated by one of our client’s demand for a Level 5 on the CO₂ Performance Ladder. We set up and a General Energy Management Action Plan, using SMART goals to reduce our CO₂ footprint. We were rewarded with the highest certification level for the CO₂ Performance Ladder.

In 2016, the management team decided to set up a new quality management system; this gave us the opportunity to redevelop our vision of sustainability and integrate it into the new policies and procedures. We created a more holistic sustainability approach and translated our vision into clear goals and policy, resulting in our ISO 14001:2015 certification in 2017.