VELUX Group appoints new Head of Sustainability
Wouter de Groot joins the VELUX Group on May 1, 2024 as Head of Sustainability. With sustainability now fully integrated in the VELUX corporate strategy, Wouter de Groot will be responsible for leading the company’s efforts to capitalize on the growing business potential for sustainability.
The VELUX Group will strengthen its sustainability efforts with a new profile.
Wouter de Groot, 41 years, joins VELUX as Head of Sustainability on May 1, 2024. He comes from a position as Vice President of Sustainability, Marketing and Public Affairs at FLSmidth, where he led the company’s award-winning sustainability programme.
”I am extremely pleased that Wouter is joining us. VELUX has made significant progress towards our ambitious sustainability goals that include 100% renewable electricity as well as reducing CO2 emissions in our own operations and from our value chain. Together with Wouter, we are ready to take things to the next level as we want to turn our sustainability progress and achievements into business potential in line with customer needs and expectations – in collaboration with both internal and external stakeholders and partners,”
In 2023, VELUX fully integrated sustainability into its corporate strategy, ensuring that sustainability is at the very heart of the business – from selecting suppliers and designing products through to end-of-life handling.
Wouter de Groot looks forward to joining VELUX
Prior to joining FLSmidth, Wouter de Groot held various sustainability and marketing leadership roles at Danish beer company Carlsberg between 2008 and 2019. He was part of the team that started the company’s global sustainability strategy. He also worked with global production, procurement and logistics to build a dedicated sustainability approach and held various in Carlsberg’s marketing department integrating sustainability into commercial processes.
”I am very excited to join VELUX – an industry leader in its field and a pioneer in sustainability in the building industry. With the significant impact and opportunity buildings have on climate change mitigation, I am excited to further drive efforts together with the business to help contribute to addressing this challenge. I join a company with such a strong societal impact both through its business activities and its foundation ownership,”
Wouter de Groot has a master’s degree in economics from Copenhagen Business School. He has worked with global organisations like World Bank, World Resource Institute and The Nature Conservancy to publish industry standards on water management, ecosystem services and circular economy. He was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Apart from Denmark, he has lived and worked in Germany, Mozambique, United States and Switzerland.
Read more about our sustainability work in this report.
About the VELUX Group
VELUX roof windows have been bringing daylight and fresh air into peoples’ homes around the world for more than 80 years, creating better living environments. We offer a range of products including roof windows and modular skylights, decorative blinds, sun screening products, and roller shutters, as well as installation and smart home solutions. They help create bright, healthy, and energy-efficient places for people who live, work, learn, and play under the roof. We work globally – with sales and manufacturing operations in 37 countries and around 11,700 employees worldwide. The VELUX Group is owned by VKR Holding A/S, a limited company owned by the Villum Foundation and the Kann Rasmussen family. In 2023, the VELUX Group had a total revenue of EUR 2.91 billion while VKR Holding had a total revenue of EUR 3.97 billion. The same year, the Villum Foundation and the VELUX FOUNDATION donated a total of EUR 184.6 million in charitable grants.
For more information about the VELUX Group, visit velux.com