Business ecology

Business ecology data are currently compiled only for the Liechtenstein site, which represents approx­imately 65 per cent of all employees. In 2018, values were recorded for our locations in Zurich, Luxembourg and Singapore for the first time. Comparative figures will also be available here from 2021.

As a general rule, VP Bank sends out client asset state- ments only once a year; daily and quarterly statements are printed and mailed only at the client’s express request. In recent years, this practice has led to a considerable reduction in the use of paper for forms and vouchers. For example, the number of printed forms declined steadily from 655,000 in 2005 to 309,500 in 2019. The number of envelopes used was reduced from von 1.5 million in 2004 to 611,476 last year. 

Paper consumption decreased from 68.03 tonnes in 2004 to 35.83 tonnes in 2019, including a 0.95 tonne reduction just in the past year. Electronic banking has contributed greatly to this long-term trend, thanks to its e-post func­tionality, which is growing in popularity even as paper use declines. Paper consumption per employee was 0.06 tonnes in 2019, the lowest amount since 2004 (0.15 tonnes). 

VP Bank prints its publications – including this Annual Report – on environmentally certified paper. FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certification guarantees that the paper is produced from wood harvested in exemplary, environmentally friendly forestry operations. Since 2010, payment order forms have also been printed on FSC- certified paper. When choosing printing firms, VP Bank gives preference to those which offer climate-neutral printing services.

The number of printed copies of the Bank’s annual and semi-annual reports has declined by more than 80 per cent over the past ten years thanks to the introduction of order cards and references to digital documents. The print runs for these publications fell from 7,000 in 2007 to just 1,300 in 2019. 

For the Vaduz and Zurich locations, the number of e-mailed digital documents has steadily increased: from approximately 130,250 in 2007 to more than 1,204,603 in 2013, then 2,060,375 in 2016 and finally 817,178 last year. As to the number of e-post transmissions, the 25 per cent increase recorded in 2014 was followed by further rises of 11 per cent in 2015, 23.4 per cent in 2016, 2.7 per cent in 2017 and 21.8 per cent in 2019. Since 2010, all VP Bank Group communications include the tagline “Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail”.

Water consumption trended steadily lower from 2008 through 2014, although in recent years it rose again slightly due to the increased number of employees. In 2019, a slight decline to the 2017 level was recorded. Water consumption per employee decreased continuously from 15.3 m3 in 2009 to 9.6 m3 in 2015 before posting a modest increase in the ensuing years. While a slightly higher figure of 10.0 cubic metres was achieved for 2017 and 2018, ­consumption in 2019 fell to 9.8 cubic metres per employee per year.

VP Bank Group has introduced numerous initiatives to promote responsible energy use. They include the ­envi­ronmentally friendly renovation of the Bank’s headquarters in Vaduz and construction of the new service ­centre in Triesen, the use of geothermal energy for ­ heating and cooling and the implementation of motion-­activated lighting. In 2016, renovation work began on the more than 20-year-old ventilation system in the Giessen building, which was replaced by an energy-efficient installation with heat recovery in 2017. 

At the Liechtenstein facilities, most of the lighting is ­regulated by a control system with motion detectors. This technology reduces power consumption by anywhere from 20 per cent to 40 per cent compared to manually ­activated lighting. When replacing or procuring lighting fixtures, preference is given to high-efficiency LED tech­nology. In 2014, LED bulbs were purchased instead of the once-customary fluorescent tubes, and the old ceiling light fixtures are being gradually replaced. In 2019, the measures to replace the previous floor lamps with LED ­luminaires were completed. The energy savings afforded by LED lighting over traditional lighting sources amounts to roughly 75 per cent.

Total energy consumption per employee at the Bank’s Liechtenstein facilities has fallen from 9,755 kWh in 2010 to 6,189 kWh currently. Power consumption at the head office had been declining from 2008 to 2017 thanks to efficiency-­enhancing measures and increased only slightly in 2019. The replacement of the central heating system and renovation of the building’s ventilation system also ­contributed to the reduced energy use. Modern ventilation systems recover and reuse waste heat from the offices and working areas. 

For the past 25 years, a photovoltaic solar power generator has been in operation on the roof of the building in Vaduz. It supplies environmentally friendly energy that is fed into VP Bank’s power grid (2017: 3,731 kWh, 2018: 20,181 kWh). Thanks to upgrades of the control system for this installation, solar power generation increased continually from 2009 to 2011. However, over the past five years it has declined mainly due to defective modules. In 2017/2018, the solar installation at the Giessen building was renovated and expanded, which increased its performance by 541 per cent. In 2019, the installation of a further system on the roof of the main building was completed and the total yield from the two systems was increased to 50,051 kWh in 2019. The installation of a new system on the roof of the administration building in Triesen will be completed in 2020. With the new photovoltaic systems, the yield from solar energy can be significantly increased through in-house production.

Since January 2017, the power supplied to VP Bank by Liechtenstein utilities has come exclusively from hydro and solar power sources. The related “LiStrom Natur” energy product consists entirely of renewable Liechtenstein energy, of which 85 per cent is generated through hydro and 15 per cent through solar power sources.

The differing types of buildings at VP Bank Group call for an overall concept that brings every one of its Liech­tenstein facilities up to the same level in terms of power ­technology. The goal of this concept is to harmonise the existing installations, optimise the distribution of power and efficiently exploit any ambient heat loss. To that end, energy flow meters were installed in 2009 in order to record and optimise the flows of energy from heating and cooling. The evaluation is adjusted to take seasonal fluctuations into account, and the results are integrated into the measures for fine-tuning the Bank’s overall energy supply. In 2017 this concept was completed following the renovation of the ventilation system at the Giessen facility.

The energy supply project is also based on the use of ­leading-edge technologies that enable heating through heat recovery systems. A new central cooling system in operation since 2014 affords both operational safety and energy efficiency. The waste heat from this system can also be reused for heating purposes. 

With the implementation of this system, the lion’s share of the overall concept has been realised. The next step is to plan for the use of groundwater in Vaduz. Through this initiative, existing groundwater can be used for cooling in summer and heating in winter. Discussions with the ­envi­ronmental protection agency have already been held and two pilot holes were drilled. The Environmental Protection Agency has examined the viability of the plan. Further measurements and implementation steps are planned in the years to follow. 

A separate energy report for the Liechtenstein facilities is produced each year.

Since 2004, waste separation has been the order of the day at VP Bank in keeping with its waste disposal concept. Newspapers and magazines are collected and recycled separately from the other types of paper. Glass, cardboard, polystyrene, PET bottles and green waste each have their own receptacles. In 2014, a 167 tonnes total waste volume generated reached its lowest level since 2004 but has since increased slightly as from 2015 due to the larger number of employees and showed 183 tonnes in 2019 (➔ chart below). 

Unnecessary printing is one of the largest sources of paper waste. Most of the documents are prepared in digital form but still printed, as in the past. 

Through measures such as digital invoicing, employee self-service for holiday planning and online boardrooms, VP Bank has already introduced key initiatives to reduce paper consumption. Currently, the volume of printouts per employee at VP Bank’s Liechtenstein office is around 9,800 per year, which corresponds to 20 reams (500 sheets) of paper. 

VP Bank’s goal was to reduce paper consumption by 10 per cent over the course of 2018. The “think before you print” sticker was placed on printers at the Liechtenstein facility at the start of the year and was intended to encourage employees to consume less paper. We have achieved this goal: While a total of 5,968,689 sheets were printed in 2017, the consumption figure in 2018 was 10.79 per cent lower at 5,324,750 sheets. The figures for 2019 – see in the paragraph “Printing solutions” – are not comparable.

VP Bank’s discarded waste paper is shredded in an in-house recycling unit and compressed into briquettes. With this process, roughly 21.6 tonnes of paper briquettes were produced at the Liechtenstein location in 2019. They were collected by a local recycler and put to new uses. 

The existing printers in Liechtenstein are getting outdated. We are taking this as an opportunity to replace the entire printer infrastructure and set it up again in order to ensure uniform, secure and cost-effective operation. The focus is on ease of use and efficiency.

The new printers can be managed centrally, trigger the reordering of toner cartridges independently and provide support with little effort. They also have a "follow me" function that allows employees to pick up their printouts with their badge at any printer in the future.

By using these modern multifunctional devices, we were able to reduce the existing 190 devices to 100. Due to the replacement in spring 2019, a significant reduction in printouts of about 25% was achieved. Due to the replacement of printers during the year, no comparative data is available for 2019.

The Facility Management & Services unit is responsible for the Bank’s environmental sustainability. VP Bank is a member of the Swiss Network for Sustainability and ­Management.

VP Bank also participates actively in Mobility Management working group of the Liechtenstein Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI). 

VP Bank is a member of Öbu, the Swiss think tank for environmental, social and management topics and network for sustainable business operations.

VP Bank’s operational mobility management is designed to encourage and promote efficient and socially acceptable mobility. More than a decade ago, we introduced a mobility concept in Liechtenstein that includes financial incentives for using public transport and a tiered fee system for employee car parks. The concept pays for itself, with the proceeds from rented parking spaces applied to bonuses given to employees who forgo a parking space. 

Employees who use public transport are reimbursed for their actual public transport fare cards up to a maximum of CHF 1,200. The proceeds from the mobility management are also applied to these reimbursements. In 2019, 113 employees benefited from this system.

The mobility management concept also encourages employees to form car pools. It also offers free use of mobility cars, a very popular initiative. In 2019, business travel totalled 13,004 kilometres, down 17.4 per cent from 2018 (15,742 km). The use of a videoconferencing system helps reduce employee travel to both VP Bank’s regional and international sites. Every employee also has the possibility of using online meeting tools to organise in-house web conferences, at which documents can be reviewed and edited directly and simultaneously by multiple users.

The mobility concept has proven to be a success. The goals of reducing automobile traffic, creating environmental awareness and promoting the use of public transport have been achieved. The concept is exemplary for the region and earned the Zurich Climate Award in 2011. This award recognises measures aimed at promoting energy efficiency and CO² emissions reductions. 

As in previous years, numerous employees participated in the 2019 “Ride to Work” challenge sponsored by the Liechtenstein Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LIHK). Employees in Liechtenstein often travel back and forth between the office buildings in Vaduz and the neighbouring town of Triesen for conferences and training. VP Bank is committed to the use of bicycles as an integral part of operational mobility. To that end, four electric bicycles were acquired in the summer of 2016 that can be used free of charge by employees and are very popular. Bus fare cards are also made available for this purpose. 

Since 2019, four electric vehicle charging stations have been made available for clients and employees. In 2019 an electric vehicle was purchased for in-house travel between the office buildings in Vaduz and Triesen.