AF Bostäder reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by almost 80 % in the period 2016–2017. A contributing factor is the change to renewable electricity in the properties– an initiative suggested by a proactive tenant.
“AF Bostäder has a target to be 100 % fossil fuel-free by 2020,” says Klara Svensson, former Sustainabilty Coordinator at AF Bostäder. “That’s why we have begun to calculate the carbon dioxide emissions of our company vehicles, heating, electricity, water and bought-in transport services. For most of the student housing, electricity is included in the rent and is purchased centrally in one and the same contract. A tenant got in touch to ask if the electricity in her rental agreement was renewable, and this set the ball rolling. The result is that from 1 January 2017, AF Bostäder has only purchased 100 % green electricity.”
“The residual mix in our prior electricity contract consisted mainly of nuclear power and fossil fuel, which resulted in emissions of 2 500 tons of carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2 e) in 2016,” says Klara Svensson. “We checked the price difference and it was not an obstacle, so we could immediately switch to green electricity. Now, the electricity we use in our operations and in the majority of our properties is completely sourced from hydro-electric power.”
AF Bostäder’s service vehicles run on electricity or gas. From 1 January 2017, the company’s gas- driven vehicles have run solely on sustainable biogas.
“Traditional gas for vehicles is a mixture of fossil natural gas and biogas. Using biogas as a fuel, there is an estimated reduction of 80–90 % in particle emissions that are harmful to health and the environment, compared with petrol and diesel. Since the start of 2017, we have only used 100 % biogas as fuel in our gas-driven vehicles, which is a welcome improvement,” comments Klara Svensson
Latest update June 4, 2018