Introduction THE BEST SOLUTION – FOR CLIENTS AND SOCIETY A new year and another new Green Advisor Report from ÅF, showing that our passionate commitment to projects that make a difference in terms of sustainability continues around the clock, around the world, year in, year out. As usual, there’s room in this issue to present only a handful of the hundreds of fascinating technical challenges that we have been working on since the last report. But the more I read and hear about the often ground-breaking achievements that ÅF consultants accomplish for our clients, the clearer it becomes to me that success in sustainable development is predicated not only on new research and technology, but also on long years of practical experience and the kind of creative, cross-discipline thinking that only teamwork in a large, well-integrated organisation like ÅF can produce. As an internationally established technical consulting company with assignments in all parts of the world, we are constantly being reminded of the need to look beyond national borders and simple answers. To achieve truly sustainable results we need to painstakingly factor in every parameter in order to determine what will produce the best result in the long term. For our clients and for society as a whole. In addition to our role as Olympic Green Advisor © to the national Olympic Committees in Finland, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland. ÅF’s assignment to help decisionmakers in China make informed choices about investments in eco-cities (page 10), and the key part we are playing in helping to prepare for a wind farm in Sweden that will produce electricity in quantities corresponding to those produced by a nuclear power plant (page 16) are clear examples of projects whose end result will benefit not only the clients themselves, but also people and the natural environment far beyond the region in which these changes are implemented. It is further evidence that every choice that is made for a more sustainable solution is yet another piece in the jigsaw puzzle that will ultimately create a more sustainable world. Because we are guided by our clients and their needs, we work hard to gain their confidence and harder still to keep it. We want to develop with our clients and for our clients, because the challenges we face are challenges that we share. Of course, they vary from client to client and are as numerous as they are complex, but they all have one thing in common – they must be resolved. And they can be, usually most efficiently and effectively with ÅF’s vast technical knowledge and cumulative experience. The balance between economic, social and environmental sustainability is seldom an easy one to achieve. However, to prove that it can be done, we are continuing our efforts to meet our own sustainability targets – some of the toughest that have yet been seen among European businesses. That means, among other things, halving our direct impact on the climate between 2010 and 2015. One of the reasons we are doing this is because we are convinced that, in the long run, sustainable solutions are profitable from an economic perspective as well as in terms of society and the environment. Read through the ÅF Green Advisor Report 2011:01 and find out how, over the coming years, ÅF will help clients in six countries around the world to save money at the same time as they are saving the planet. Then get in touch with us and ask us to show you how ÅF can help your company or organisation to meet the demands of the future. That’s why we’re here. And that’s why we publish the Green Advisor Report. To inspire you to make a choice for a more sustainable future. Today. “Every choice for a more sustainable solution is another piece in the jigsaw puzzle that will ultimately create a more sustainable world.” Regards, Jonas Wiström, CEO GREEN ADVISOR REPORT 2 011: 01 1
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