"Living outside together" with VelopA

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Interview with Timo Krop of VelopA

 

VelopA is a specialist in street amenities. The company’s aim is to provide a pleasant experience of public space: “living outside together. People need to enjoy being outside,” says Timo Krop. He is head of Quality and Support and ensures that VelopA meets the quality requirements that the company has set for itself.

Socially responsible
The Netherlands has performance ladders for CO2 emissions and Socially Responsible Entrepreneurship (SRE). Krop: “In the first quarter [of 2012] , we will move up to level 4 on the CO2 performance ladder, and level 5 is within reach. We feel socially responsible and find it important to reduce our emissions. Moreover, we see the CO2 and SRE objectives recurring increasingly often in public tenders, so there also is a commercial driver. Our VCA  certification also is nearly completed, which is a requirement for our people.”

Sustainability and Cradle to Cradle
VelopA is going for sustainability. “We are a member of the Cradle to Cradle community.” In this community, companies share their expertise and experiences about cradle to cradle. The initiative was begun by the Dutch government, and this community now continues to exist without government support. “And practice what you preach: we also evaluated our own company with respect to sustainability and energy consumption. We’ve taken measures and now save much gas, water and electricity. We are heading for a more than 30% reduction of CO2 emissions by 2020.”

Energy-saving lighting
Lighting for company grounds makes up a large part of VelopA’s electricity consumption . “Since October 2011 our grounds have been equipped with Innolumis Moonlight illumination. The power consumption of each luminaire  has been reduced from 250 Watts to 24 Watts. An energy reduction of 90%. We are very happy with that. And the people from logistics and the drivers consider the lighting fine. People can work well with it and we have not received any complaints. In addition, the light remains contained to our property, so neighbours and the surrounding nature are not affected by our light.”