Environmentally friendly and socially responsible IT services
Access to technology can improve people’s lives and streamline community functions. We regard it as our mission to build IT services and we want to do it responsibly, considering social aspects, our environment and future generations as well as legal, cultural, political, organizational diversity and differences in economic conditions, while being consistent with international norms of behavior. Basefarms management have since the start of 2000 had environmental awareness as an important focus area. Basefarm wants to be a leading player in its segment when it comes to provisioning environmentally IT services through a socially responsible eye.
This vision has been developed based on the ISO 26000:2010 Social responsible guidelines which provides guidance on social responsibility. Basefarm believes that the relationship to the society and environment in which we operate is a critical factor in our ability to continue to operate effectively. Basefarm therefore strives to operate in a socially responsible way and act in an ethical and transparent way that contributes to the health and welfare of the society.
Basefarm respect and care about the environment. It sets requirements for management and Basefarm´s employees and we show our suppliers, customers and partners that we take environmental work seriously.
We constantly work to increase the awareness of our own organization about how we affect the environment and strive to cutting costs by saving energy and reducing the environmental impact.
Our work
It is important to consider reducing our environmental impact as much as possible. At Basefarm we work with continuous improvement and comply with current environmental legislation. We always strive to achieve or exceed the requirements imposed by the authorities. Through environmental thinking in everything from IT equipment to our data centers, purchases, energy consumption, reuse and waste management, we are working to help make the IT industry greener.
We work for both internal and external environmental awareness. Our environmental impact must be minimized throughout our operations through conscious and active selection of the resources we consume and the services and products we sell and use. Managing the operation of large central IT platforms requires server capacity and high consumption of energy. Therefore, we always strive to use best available methods in the work to minimize the harmful impact of our business, with as little impact on the environment as possible. Outsourcing your data center operations to Basefarm reduces the environmental footprint of your IT services!
What we do
At Basefarm Environmental improvement measures are seen as investments, and therefore we only buy environmentally friendly electricity. We design our customers’ and our own operating environments as well adapted to actual needs as possible. Meaning, we optimize capacity so that solutions can scale up instead of having overcapacity that consumes electricity unnecessarily. We also use virtualization technology to the extent possible.
We raise awareness of the environmental issues amongst our employees and encourage them to take the environment into account in our daily work. To name a few examples our offices have built-in time-controlled lighting and we use LED lighting in our Data Center. We employ a low energy policy for our workstations and we strive to use eco-labeled products in our operations. To further reduce the Environmental impact, we print as little as possible and strive to come as near as possible to a paperless office. Our waste management is well organized; recycling paper, corrugated cardboard, glass, batteries, old IT equipment, hazardous waste etc. is monitored and all employees are well aware of where to dispose of what. We also follow a Procurement policy helping us to review and evaluate whether the intended products have an impact on the environment or not before purchasing.
Virtual interaction and travel policy
We work and interact as “virtual” as possible, both globally and with our customers and partner through video conferencing equipment or other collaboration tools. Basefarms travel policy ensures that trips are booked as environmentally-riendly as possible. Travel policy guidelines are linked to both staff and environmental safety and covers travelling to and from customers, to and from home, to and from airports as well as to and from seminars and courses etc. When possible, we choose to travel with public transportation, co-travel in environmental friendly taxi or co-travel in a private- or company car. As far as possible, we use video conferencing systems to limit business travel, both internally and with customers and consultants if the technology allows. Basefarm’s environmental thinking about travelling is valid globally within Basearm as well as abroad.
ISO 14001:2004 certification
It is essential to demonstrate both externally and internally that we respect and care about the environment. It sets requirements for management and Basefarm´s employees and we show our suppliers, customers and partners that we take environmental work seriously.
We started working towards an ISO14001 certification in Norway in February 2013, and got the certification in August same year. In 2015 our Swedish office was included in the Environment Management System and our certification.
Social and ethical responsibility
Social and ethical responsibility will permeate our entire business and is described in the Code of Conduct. We work actively to ensure good working conditions for our employees and along the supply chain. Our largest suppliers are also monitored through Factlines, a service providing us Supply Chain Management tool which assures us that our suppliers stay compliant with ethical trade guidelines, environmental requirements and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
CSR policy
Basefarm supports the human rights and labour standards that are set out in the UN Global Compact and, as such, commits to complying with and promoting the Compact’s ten principles in the areas of human rights, labour, the environment and anti-corruption. An important part of this work is to ensure that our products are brought to the market without any violation of our Code of Conduct (CoC).
Basefarm develops its approach and systems in line with the expectations that are placed on players in the Nordic- and European IT sector. We define our corporate social responsibility (CSR) relative to the world around us, and within the areas of human rights and labour, the environment, anti-corruption and risk management. We also place clear requirements on ourselves and our employees through the company’s Code of Conduct, Environmental Policy and work rules. Basefarm supports the CSR initiative, and complies with all requirements set out in the Code of Conduct for our suppliers and we place the same requirements on them, and monitor their compliance.
The updated Public Procurement Act (“Lov om offentlige anskaffelser”) is implemented in Norway 1st of January 2017, with new ethical standards to protect the environment, basic human rights and other social considerations in public procurement.
As from 2017, anyone who supply goods and services to the public sector must conduct a risk assessment of the supply chain and have procedures for ensuring that their supply chain is compliant with social, environmental and labour law.
Basefarm have started working with Factlines; a company that has developed a web-based service to follow-up and analyze our suppliers. This tool enables Basefarm to demonstrate compliance with the requirements through systematic, structured and updated information directly delivered from the chain participants, our most important suppliers.