Innovation

One of Vätterhem’s core values is development and innovation. LUTA stands for “Långsiktighet, Utveckling, Trygghet och Ansvar” and in English “Long-term thinking, Development, Security and Responsibility”. The company tries to create new solutions, drive innovation issues with business sense and dare to think differently. A good example for how the company does this in practice can be found in the competition held by SABO in which they won the Climate prize 2016. They won the competition by making it easier for the tenants to read and understand the energy and water consumption meters in an innovative and motivating way. By doing this the company managed to decrease the electricity consumption with 50 percent and hot water consumption with 25 percent. Vätterhem will however continue to strive for better results. There is a goal for year 2023 which is to cut the electricity consumption with another 50 percent. They will do this through the innovative spirit that lives within the organization. Sometimes they also try to do small experiments to find new ways to cut down the electricity consumption and other costs. A good example of this was when they renovated some rooftops in Råslätt and installed solar panels to see if it was possible to use more solar energy.

Inspiration

Vätterhem wants to own, manage and develop attractive housing for everyone. They put tenants into focus and offer safe and sustainable living environments. Their organization is close to the tenants and they prioritize their services with their own staff. They combine business sense with corporate social responsibility.

"Sustainability permeates Vätterhems entire business plan, we aim to think long-term, develop, provide safety and take responsibility." - Tommy Johannesson

Overall impact

Sustainability is of great significance for Vätterhem and a part of the organizational culture. It is evident in their business plan and represented by the company’s four core values: long-term thinking, development, security, and responsibility. They work specifically with six of the seventeen sustainable development goals, which are: good health, renewable energy, good jobs and economic growth, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and lastly, peace and justice. The organization wants to improve, inter alia, the neighborhoods, schools, and healthcare.

When it comes to internal work, the company has started a sustainability department and they believe that the managers play a large role and it is important that they lead by a good example. All the departments in the company work together to achieve the best possible outcome when it comes to their work with sustainability. They educate the employees on the subject as well as in other areas, such as maintenance, repairing, and treatment of customers. It creates a great deal of credibility when the managers and the heads of the company show that the organization is not solely focused on the profit. To involve the employees more, they have cleaning days which is appreciated since it is something different from their regular tasks. The President and the Vice President of Vätterhem also interact more with the personnel by being in the other offices one day every week instead of sitting in the head office.

Business benefit

Contemporarily, sustainability is almost synonymously connected with creating value for the firm. The importance of keeping employees happy and in good health is often somewhat neglected in larger companies which could result in declining economic performance. Vätterhem has a work environment policy which is constructed to prevent things like stress and to promote good health. According to the interviewees, 89% of Vätterhems employees feel proud of their workplace and their work in sustainability, which indicates that Vätterhem does not have these types of problems in the workplace that can cause reduced profits. This is also confirmed by their stable economic growth during the past years, where there are no signs of reduced profits due to neglection of creating a well-functioning workplace.

Another major benefit of promoting sustainability is the reduction of energy costs. Reducing the cost of electricity and hot water is one thing that is of significant importance for Vätterhem since they are heavily promoting sustainability but also because they are a housing company, making energy costs one of their biggest expenses. Being a housing company with over 8000 apartments, a reduction in energy costs for those apartments would lead to a major increase in profits for Vätterhem. In 2016 Vätterhem won a climate prize by reducing their electricity consumption by 50% and hot water consumption by 25%. Vätterhem achieved this by making it easier for the tenants to measure the energy consumption in an innovative and motivating way.

Social and environmental benefit

The social and environmental benefits of supporting the sustainable development goals are tremendous. Sustainability permeates Vätterhems entire business plan, they aim to think long-term, develop, provide safety and take responsibility. This approach to managing a housing company include areas/tasks that would otherwise be out of their field. Being owned by the municipality of Jönköping, Vätterhem aims to be as sustainable in all areas as possible, in order to promote the municipality. Vätterhem takes this sort of sustainable responsibility by for example arranging cleaning of the neighborhoods, providing internships as well as helping promote schools and healthcare in Jönköping. They also work heavily with equality and continuously work with their tenants to get input on what they might improve to make it better for all parties. They are very concerned about their customers which is why they have spent a lot of money on factors boosting well-being and to provide an attractive neighborhood for the residents. In a recent survey, 97% of the tenants answered that they were pleased/very pleased with the sustainable work Vätterhem does for the community. Previously Vätterhem had a requirement that tenants needed a source of income from a job, but have revoked that rule. That rule was meant to keep the employment rate in their neighborhoods high since that goes hand in hand with a well-functioning society. The employment rate in Vätterhem areas is currently very high compared to other Swedish neighborhoods.

Interviews

Tommy Johannesson, Vice President

Christina Odén, Chief of Sustainability