Sungevity International - Sungevity’s first impact report
TheRockGroup assisted Sungevity International in making an impact analysis and sustainability report. We also helped set up a reporting cycle to strengthen and deepen Sungevity’s sustainability proposition. In the reporting cycle we put the focus on incremental improvements.
Context
Sungevity International is a social enterprise specialized in solar systems for individual households. The company operates in a sector characterized by rapid technological and regulatory changes and strong competition. Sungevity’s mission is to help as many households as possible wanting to make the switch to sustainable, self-produced energy, thereby reducing CO2 emissions. Next to Sungevity’s day-to-day business, this mission has led to many sustainable and social initiatives. Concrete examples being the free ‘Climate College Tour’, ‘the School Rooftop- and Rental Rooftop Revolution’ and the collaboration with The Refugee Company in training refugees to become solar panel installers. Sungevity Intl was looking to take the next step in their sustainability ambitions, to examine its own achievements and to identify any areas for improvement.
Our Work
Sungevity contacted TRG with a specific request: they were looking for a mentor for their recently appointed impact report coordinator during the whole reporting process.
TheRockGroup served as a mentor and soundboard for the Sungevity impact report coordinator. Some questions that were posed were: How to involve external stakeholders? And, how do you find and activate the internal players needed to make a project a success? We also gave feedback on the reporting methods and structure, and the correct use of the GRI standards.
TheRoclGroup helped Sungevity Intl with creating a materiality matrix to determine which topics are important to act and report on. We provided input for setting sustainability goals and KPI’s. The focus was on designing a reporting cycle, including a system of continuously collecting and storing sustainability data so sustainability performance can be easily tracked and reported on.
During the reporting process, two areas were discovered in which more knowledge was wanted. Therefore master student research positions were created. One on sustainability in the solar panel supply chain and one on how to motivate solar panel installers to take sustainability into account more. This does not only provide Sungevity with valuable information, but also makes the company a frontrunner in the Dutch solar sector considering those two topics.
