In 2023, the two companies agreed to enter a partnership to lower the carbon footprint of the steels used in VELUX roof windows by up to 70 percent, compared with conventionally produced steel. This co-operation involved the testing and validation of ArcelorMittal’s XCarb® recycled and renewably produced steel and its performance in VELUX roof window hinges and installation brackets. 

Successful results have now culminated in the signing of this 10-year commercial agreement which outlines a framework for steel supply. VELUX is now gradually increasing order intake so that by 2025, XCarb® will be used in several steel components for VELUX roof windows, replacing the conventionally produced steel that was previously used. 

Metals (excluding aluminium), of which steel constitutes the main part, accounts for 5.7 percent of the VELUX Group’s total scope 3 emissions. 

XCarb® is manufactured with a minimum of 75% recycled steel and by using 100% renewable electricity. An electric arc furnace powered by renewable energy sources is used to manufacture XCarb® at an ArcelorMittal production facility in Northern Spain. Investigations are underway to work on further reductions of the carbon footprint of the steel delivered by ArcelorMittal to VELUX. 

Steel is one of several key materials VELUX Group is investigating together with its suppliers to help achieve reductions in its product and overall carbon footprint. The VELUX target is to reduce its scope 3 upstream emissions by 50% by 2030.  

In the midst of global climate negotiations at COP26 in Glasgow, UK, the VELUX Group, the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi) and WWF CEE nature conservation organization have joined forces to inspire the business community across the CEE region to be nature positive in their approach to tackling climate change.

The IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report is clear in its direction. Unless there are immediate, rapid and large-scale reductions in greenhouse gas emissions the world cannot achieve the target set by the Paris Agreement to limit global warming to 1.5°C. Many of us are already feeling the consequences of global warming. This year in Hungary, after an exceptionally dry spring, a record-breaking summer followed: the average temperature in the first two summer months has exceeded 23 °C which never happened since the start of measurements some 120 years ago.

The regional event was the third in a series of roundtables hosted by WWF CEE and VELUX, aimed at making clear the opportunities for businesses in the CEE region who set goals that are supported by science and aim to be climate- and nature-positive. The virtual event now moves to Slovakia (30 November) and Czech Republic (1 December). A science-based method is the foundation of The VELUX Group’s pioneering approach to addressing the dual climate and nature crisis – the Lifetime Carbon Neutral commitment. This means the Group has committed to capture its historical carbon footprint through nature-based solutions, reduce its future carbon emissions in line with and beyond the prevailing climate science behind the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C scenario, and partner with (WWF) on forest conservation projects around the world.

The first VELUX funded forest project with WWF International – in Uganda’s Albertine Rift – officially commenced in August of this year. The project will serve as Uganda’s largest ever contribution to its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). The approximately 34,000-hectare project is expected to provide a saving of around one million tonnes of CO₂.

Through the partnership with WWF, the VELUX Group will address 5.6 million tonnes of CO2 (with a 25% buffer included) emitted since the company’s foundation in 1941. VELUX IS also pursuing the ambition to be a 100% carbon neutral company by 2030 (Scope 1 and 2), which it is doing in partnership with Schneider Electric. The partnership, which has been extended to three years, will see all VELUX factory sites successfully reduce their energy use and scale renewable capacity. Schneider Electric is supporting VELUX by implementing a global monitoring system and to deliver Zero Carbon Action plans. The first plans are to be piloted at two of the company’s top energy-consuming plants, which represent approximately 25% of all energy used in VELUX production: JTJ Sonneborn Industrie GmbH in Germany and NM Polska Sp. z o.o. in Poland. VELUX has also created an Energy Excellence programme in accordance with ISO50001. The Group is working to halve carbon emissions across its value chain (Scope 3) by 2030. These targets have been approved by the SBTi. 
 
The first VELUX funded forest project, in its 21-year partnership with WWF International, has officially commenced. The ‘Natural Forest Regeneration for Enhanced Carbon Stocks in the Albertine Rift’ (FRECAR) project will be led by WWF-Uganda in partnership with the National Forestry Authority of Uganda. The approximately 34,000-hectare project is expected to provide a saving of around one million tonnes of CO2. All carbon emissions reductions or removals generated from the project funded will serve as a contribution to the government of Uganda, Uganda’s largest ever contribution to its Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs).
The FRECAR project is located in the Albertine Rift in Uganda, an area of exceptional faunal and moderate floral endemism which spans five nations. It is the first of five forest projects which will see VELUX capture its historical carbon footprint since the business was founded in 1941.