Sustainability
Sustainability as part of Kuopas’ values
At Kuopion Opiskelija-asunnot Oy (Kuopas), we’re committed to making your home and our community more sustainable. As we are owned by the City of Kuopio, we’re committed to the city’s goals of reducing waste, achieving zero emissions, and improving energy efficiency. Here’s an update on how we’re doing and where we’re headed.
You can read Kuopas’ latest carbon footprint report here (only in Finnish): Kuopas carbon footprint report 2023–2024 (opens in a new tab)
Our Carbon Footprint: Current State
In 2023, our total carbon footprint was 429 tCO2e. This is a remarkable drop from previous years. We have been working on improving our energy efficiency, waste management, and sustainable procurement. We’ve completely eliminated emissions from our company-owned vehicles and switched to renewable energy for electricity and district heating. Most of our current emissions come from the goods and services we buy, the waste we produce, and commuting.
Understanding Emission Scopes
Emissions are divided into three areas:
- Scope 1: Emissions that arise directly from the activities of the company and are often within the company’s control. These include in-house energy production or the use of own cars.
- Scope 2: Indirect emissions from the company’s activities, which arise from the production of energy purchased by the company. These include district heating and electricity.
- Scope 3: Other indirect emissions that arise indirectly from the activities of the company and occur during the value chain. These include emissions from business travel, procurement and waste.
For Scope 1, Kuopas has zero emissions, as the vehicles we own are electric. For Scope 2, all our energy has been 100% renewable since 2019, reducing these emissions to zero. Our total carbon footprint is made up entirely of emissions listed in Scope 3, including renovation services, maintenance, purchased appliances, water consumption, wastewater, waste from operations, business travel and commuting.
Sustainable Practices
We’ve made amazing progress since 2018. Our carbon footprint has significantly dropped from 2969.5 tCO2e to 429 tCO2e in 2023. This decrease is due to our switch to renewable energy. For instance, in 2023, 57% of our emissions came from the goods and services we bought, and 39% from waste.
We have implemented better recycling programs and encouraged you, our residents, to help reduce mixed waste. We are focusing on making sustainable choices in what we buy, favoring eco-friendly and local products and services whenever we can.
More sustainable future by recycling
Our journey towards sustainability is ongoing, and your role in it is crucial. Together, we’ve made great progress in reducing our environmental impact, but there’s always more we can do. We plan to keep improving energy efficiency, enhancing waste management, and making sustainable procurement choices. We will continue to encourage and guide you, our residents, even more to make it easier for you to recycle more and reduce your energy consumption. Your efforts in recycling, reducing waste, and supporting our sustainability initiatives make a big difference.
Thank you for being part of this journey with us. Let’s keep working together to create a more sustainable future for everyone.