Last year the BTC Company’s three solar power plants produced 1,535,263 kWh of green energy which meets the average yearly needs of 400 households. The Company managed to reduce the CO2 emissions by 1,913,501 kg by implementing energy efficient use, thereby reducing energy consumption from non-renewable energy sources and increasing energy consumption from renewable sources. By renovating the water supply network the Company managed to reduce the water loss from 20 % to only 5 % and together with its business partners established a system that enables recycling as much as 64 % of all waste in the BTC City area. There are 400 bicycle parking spaces, the public city transport and the free Citybus which encourage the visitors to reduce the pollution as well. Within the BTC Campus project as much as half of participating graduates were helped to their first employment.

Ecological awareness, green projects and socially responsible activities that reduce negative effects on the environment and strengthen the bonds with a wider social community have for several years been the main focus of the BTC Company’s sustainable development. Based on experiences and positive results from previous years, in 2013 the Company merged all the sustainable development activities into an independent organisational unit, included in the trademark Mission: Green, and implemented it into their long-term development strategy as a new pillar of the Company’s business activities. The 2013 Sustainability report presents the most visible results of the Mission: Green project, which connects the areas of environmentalism, green energy, energy efficiency and social responsibility.

Jože Mermal, President of the BTC Management Board commented on the Sustainability report: “Our approach towards sustainable activities is strategically positioned – the Mission: Green project within the Europe 2020 strategy represents one of the fundaments of our business activities. Over the last 13 years we have invested over 44 million EUR into sustainable development activities with 115 projects in the past year, supported by different partners from the fields of environment, science, culture, sports, education, art and humanitarianism, and which have also won several Slovenian and European awards. Personally I like to emphasize the BTC Campus project, which was organised together with the Centre of Business Excellence of the Faculty of Economics in Ljubljana and the Employment Service of Slovenia, and which enabled young unemployed graduates to gain advice and their first practical skills, knowledge and self-confidence, with the help of practical examples from business environment, which helped as much as half the participants to find new employment or their own business success in a very short time.”

CO2 emissions reduced by 4 tons

The ISO 50001:2011 international certificate proves that the BTC Company is effectively and consistently managing its use of energy. With three solar power plants on the Logistics centre building, on the southern facade of the Crystal Palace and in Murska Sobota, over the last three years the BTC Company produced 3,779,079 kWh of green energy and reduced CO2 emissions by 4,112,408 kg.

Atlantis has its own water supply

An efficient system of collecting and separating waste, intended for all the employees, business partners and visitors, was established at the water supply source. With successful awareness raising they have managed to increase the share of separated waste from 20 % to 64 % in only a few years.

The BTC Company uses a geothermal water hole to add water into the pools of Atlantis Water Park, which on a monthly basis pumps up to 3,500 m³ of water. However, for the operating of the cooling towers in the Crystal Palace, rainwater, stored in the special pool in the cellar, is used instead of drinking water from the water supply network. By replacing more than 1,500 m of water pipelines they reduced the loss of water from 20 % in 2000 to only 5 % in 2013.

Free-of-charge Citybus also contributes to the reduction of CO2 emission effects
In its efforts of reducing the effects of exhaust fumes and increasing the traffic flow as well as ensuring a sufficient number of parking places the BTC Company has made large investments in the modernisation of the traffic infrastructure. Cyclists can make use of more than 400 parking spaces, drivers of electric vehicles can charge their cars on two locations, while other drivers can park their cars in one of the 8,500 available parking spaces and make use of the city transport (bus) or the free-of-charge Citybus.

Active also in the fields of culture, education and sports

The BTC Company is socially responsible with its activities in the fields of creativity, culture, youth, education and sports, in which it has invested 2,848,000 € over the last three years. An important cultural milestone for the BTC Company was the opening of the BTC Comedy Theatre in 2000, the performances of which are held in the Mercurius hall, as well as across Slovenia. The 2013/14 season covered 326 shows also in other parts of Slovenia, which have attracted more than 35,000 theatre enthusiasts. This theatre season once again enthralled all the theatre goers in the Mercurius hall, as it offered them exceptional shows such as Star fotr, TAK SI, Mulc… vas gleda. Apart from that the SiTi Teater BTC stage also hosted an array of concerts within the “SiTi za dobro musko” project, including several excellent Slovene musicians, who provided the visitors with popular Slovene musical performances.

The BTC Company has been measuring the efficiency of their sustainable projects for the last six years with the Ecoindex business model, which evaluates projects in regards to their effects on the society, on the BTC Company and in regards to their complexity. For each of the three criteria every individual project can receive up to three points, altogether the maximum of nine points. In the past year 115 projects received altogether 445 points, whereas the goal of BTC Company for the year 2014 is to achieve at least 450 points.
The efficiency of sustainable activities of the BTC Company has not gone unnoticed by the experts at home and abroad, as shown by several awards received by the company in 2013:

• InLoCom award for the innovative project on the level of local communities “BTC City and Women’s Ski Jumping”,
• special award in the scope of the 15th Days of Energetics – for the achievements in the field of efficient energy use and energy production from renewable sources and energy management,
• the European award of socially responsible business practices in Slovenia in the category of bigger companies – for the project “BTC City and Women’s Ski Jumping”,
• the award “Zelena logistika 2013” (“Green Logistics 2013”) – for the realisation of environmental goals in the field of logistics,
• the award “Turistična prizma” (“Tourist prism”) – for achieving a new level of quality in tourism,
• the award “Platinasti donator Slovenske znanstvene fundacije” (The platinum donator of the Slovenian Science Foundation”) – for the exceptional number of donations to various organisations and projects.

The most significant goal of sustainable projects is not receiving the awards, but rather giving back to the community through symbiosis and synergy with the city, business partners, the employees, visitors and others. Mr Mermal of the BTC Company said: “Only with joint efforts can we contribute to a better and more beautiful tomorrow.” The BTC Company has also in 2014 continued with several sustainable and socially responsible projects, which you can check out on the website www.misijazeleno.si. They will also be presented in the BTC Company Sustainability Report 2014 in greater detail.

>>BTC Company 2013 Sustainability Report

Additional information

Maja Oven, Director of the Market Communications and Public Relations Sector

• T: 00386 (1) 585 13 15
• E: maja.oven@btc.si