E2 Management Consulting AG What's new

Arthur Braunschweig wrote the intro for "Fokus Nachhaltigkeit" of Zürich's "Tages-Anzeiger", on Nov 25th, 2023. His point: "Companies oriented towards sustainability are key - who else should develop sustainable solutions? Equally important are strong market rules - because all companies have to become sustainable." 
Read his piece here, (German; on page 2).

As we didn't buy a marketing campaign at > AI's, virtually nobody has heard about our great honour - except you just now :-) 
Your congrats reach us at e2post@e2mc.com. For each email on that matter which reaches us in the next 18 months, we shall donate CHF 5 to > Oceancare!

Sept. 2023

More than 100 participants, 13 presentations from universities, research and industry (e.g. Migros, Thermoplan, Siemens, etc.) on how to use scope 3 data for a company-wide assessment. We are especially happy about our co-operation with Roland Hischier (EMPA), for the whole forum as well as for our presentation on whether GHG vs. full assessment matters (it does!). Both the forum's presentations and the videos of the day are now available online.

(July 2023)

The 'IBEX' has been one of the first methods globally to broadly assess the sustainability performance of a company. Arthur Braunschweig and Domenico Saladino developed the Ibex-Label, together with sustainability minded Swiss hoteliers, in the year 2000, and developed it on the market. Today, Anita Gschwind is CEO of 'IBEX fairstay'. On March 6th, the Ibex's 25 years jubilee party took place at the (newly certified) Hotel Säntispark in Abtwil near St. Gallen/CH.

Interview with today's ibex president in the Swiss Hotel-Revue (in German)

(April 2023)

Many organisations use greenhouse gas and overall environmental analysis to assess their footprint across their value chain. The 'Scope 3' areas are often the most relevant elements, but also the most complicated ones.

Available data sources, i.e. process-based LCI databases and extended I/O-databases, or specific GHG-emission factor lists, are the bread and butter of our work, but in practice often leave us half satisfied, e.g. because of different scopes (14040/14064), incomplete data, for the issue of mixing databases, and the worrying choice between ‘GHG only’ or ‘full environmental’ analysis. This LCA discussion forum will address these topics, based on concepts and experience. More info on the Discussion Forum 

Note: If you ...

.. want to receive the program (still being developed), write a short note to the organisors (roland.hischier@empa.ch or abraunschweig@e2mc.com .

.. are interested in describing your current practice, issues, or improvement ideas, then do get in touch with us asap.

(February 2023)

30 years of GAIA – a moment to look back and into the future. GAIA has invited two persons for a talk on the current situation of sustainability and of GAIA. Arthur Braunschweig, founding member of GAIA association, its cashier and chair of the GAIA-Kuratorium, and Mira Kapfinger, Co-foundress and coordinator of the network Stay Grounded and one of the younger generation of GAIA readers. Leader of the talk was Ortwin Renn, president of Gaia association and Co-editor of the transdisciplinary scientific journal. (The latest edition 4/2022 of GAIA has recently been published. If you are interested in the talk - and if you understand German - write us at e2post@e2mc.com.)

Mondaine Watch has achieved climate neutrality for its watches in 2020 - as the first watchmaker globally. Mondaine achieved and achieves this with both internal improvements, like photovoltaic rooftop panels and renewable electricity, reduced packaging, as well as by supporting climate protection projects, e.g., in Indonesia and in Switzerland. In September 2022, Mondaine published its second sustainability report. E2 has been accompanying Mondaine Watch AG since 2017, the cooperation on Greenhouse gas- and Eco-Balance as started in 2019.

(October 2022)

The Swiss Ecofactors (Info on the the new version, in German; info on the 2013 version in English), which allow weighting in LCA and Ecobalances, have been updated to 2021. The publication (DE available, EN to follow) describes the ecofactors for Switzerland. In this 5th version, all ecofactors were updated. Greenhouse gases become more pertinent (what a surprise!), as the Paris agreement demands steeper reductions. As a novelty, marine fishing can now be included in an LCA assessment. The assessment of fresh water use and of biodiversity losses has been methodologically overhauled, using internationally recommended approaches. The new version will now be implemented into the LCA softwares.

The project has been commissioned by the Swiss FOEN (BAFU) and executed by treeze, Carbotech und E2.

(February 2022)

Arthur Braunschweig was asked to reflect how relevant - or not - the trend to sustainable investments can be. Read this in the German language article, published in the Swiss Yearbook (Schweizer Jahrbuch) 2022 "Sustainable Investment",

(January 2022)

In a working group "Rethinking business" of Swiss öbu, companies will develop SDG targets - each company for those SDGs which are most relevant for it - with the idea of aiming and achieving the targets of the SDGs. Regarding climate change, we know how to do this, with the Science Based (Climate) Targets Initiative. However, some companies want to also have a serious understanding of how to continue towards other relevant SDGs.  This working group idea was launched by öbu  president Arthur Braunschweig at öbu's forum ö 2021 in Aarau (CH). For further infos here.

(Nov. 2021)

E2 Management Consulting AG coaches Gasser Baumaterialien AG, a building materials wholeseller and professional retailer in the canton of Graubünden, in development of its new cooperative management team.

(June 2021)

Carbon accounting is a prerequisite for achieving net zero targets and climate neutrality. Since 2003, the VfU Indicators Standard has provided the financial sector with a free tool for this purpose. Today, more than 300 institutions use it to calculate their operational footprint, including most recently a very large number of savings banks in Germany. Read an interview with Oliver Schmid-Schönbein in the Sparkassenzeitung.

(February 2021)

The PCAF/VfU regional group D/A/CH/Li has started the content-related work. More than 20 financial service providers from Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein and Switzerland apply the PCAF standard for the German-speaking region in three subgroups divided according to asset classes. E2 is involved in the project management together with the VfU office. Details on the project can be found in the project description.

(February 2021)

At the management day of Kästli AG (CH), E2 organized and facilitated a workshop on "sustainability in underground engineering". Two short presentations gave input on the new federal law on public procurement (Bundesgesetz über das öffentliche Beschaffungswesen, "BöB"), and on the "Standard sustainable construction Switzerland" (SNBS). The new "BöB" introduces a sustainable orientation of procurement, whereby federal offices shall no more choose the lowest priced but the best suited offer. And even regarding cost, not just the sales price but its plausibility as well as life cycle cost shall be considered. This raises important questions, such as how to define and measure "best suited". In groups, participants formulated remarks and questions. These then created the basis for a virtual panel discussion. "Thanks" to Covid, the event took place online. (Jan. 2021)

Nonwithstanding (or rather: Withstanding!) the Corona blues in tourism comes this investment in sustainability: The Mountain Resort "Cervo" in Zermatt has undergone the Ibex assessment, and starts strongly - with "gold" level, the best-but-one level (press report; in German). Arthur Braunschweig had developed the Ibex label together with Domenico Saladino, and he is a member of the certification committee. 

The Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials (PCAF), a global industry initiative to standardize the measurement of greenhouse gas emissions for the financial sector, has announced its partnership with the Association for Environmental Management and Sustainability in Financial Institutions. (VfU). The VfU is a professional association for sustainability specialists in the financial sector in the DACH region and has been the leading provider of a not-for-profit solution for calculating the corporate carbon footprint of financial institutions for 20 years, the VfU Indicators. E2 is involved in the project management for the implementation of the PCAF standard in the DACH region.

(November 2020)

Wie kann eine KMU das 'Gerede' um Nachhaltigkeit konstruktiv nutzen? Gerade jüngere Kunden und Mitarbeitende erwarten auch von KMUs nebst passender Qualität und Preis auch eine nachhaltige Ausrichtung. How can an SME constructively use the hype around sustainability? Especially younger clients as well as staff expect, next to suitable quality and prices, a sustainable orientation of companies. Also in this matter, an SME can use its fundamental advantage: the ability to work simply and swiftly! Here you find the (German language) interview with E2-Partner Arthur Braunschweig, with conceptual and practical tips. (Nov. 2020)

In this report, Swiss Sustainable Finance explores the broad range of finance solutions at hand to support the transition to a climate-friendly economy. E2 participated in the steering committee in the preparation of this publication.

(November 2020)

The discussion takes place oct. 13th, 16 h (CEST), The public vote on the people's initiative for adding corporate responsibility to the Swiss constitution is scheduled for Nov 3rd. 2020. Which companies will be affected if the initiative is accepted? To what extent does parliament's counter proposal serve the purpose? Etc. For more details on the event and inscription see here. Note: The event is held in GERMAN language. (Oct. 2020)

In their article, Rolf Frischknecht and Arthur Braunschweig describe the basics of LCA and ecobalance - why, how and with which tools one does it - and the Swiss experience with LCA for products and services, in the political and legal sphere, and with Ecobalance for companies, The 18 page article has been published 2020 in the book "Umweltpolitik in der Schweiz. Von der Forstpolizei zur Ökobilanzierung". The book is available in German and in French. (Sept. 2020)

The PCAF Initiative (Partnership for Carbon Accounting Financials) is launching a regional group D/A/CH together with the VfU. This standard is compatible with globally recognized standards such as the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, etc. The "GLOBAL CARBON ACCOUNTING STANDARD FOR THE FINANCIAL INDUSTRY" developed by PCAF is to be brought closer to German-speaking financial service providers and applied in a joint learning process in the coming years. E2 has helped prepare this regional group and will participate in the project.

(September 2020)

The IWÖ-HSG invites submissions for the Hans-Christoph-Binswanger-Prize, to be awarded for the 2nd time this fall. The prize commemorates Hans Christoph Binswanger (1929-2018), one of the most important unorthodox economists of the 20th century.

The prize is awarded to young scientists and postgraduates who do not yet have a full professorship. The prize honors studies which go beyond mainstream economics and in areas to which Hans Christoph Binswanger has made significant contributions. Submissions are welcome in German or English. They shouldn't be older than 5 years. No Master's or Bachelor's theses. Originality and social relevance of the contributions are particularly relevant. The ceremony will take place during the 2020 oikos conference at HSG. E2 partner A. Braunschweig is a jury member. For details on submitting see below. (June 2020)

Since April 2nd, 2020, E2 partner and öbu president Arthur Braunschweig has been moderating four "öbu-online" talks on different issues of management in Covid19 times, such as management's responsibilities, and supply chain issues. 

(May 2020)

Today, the VfU indicators are the standard for corporate environmental and climate reporting for (financial) service providers and are largely maintained and further developed by E2. The accompanying final report was updated and published in early January 2020. The current calculation file VfU Indicators 2018 Version 1.3 can be obtained free of charge from VfU.
(January 2020)

Ruedi Müller-Wenk was part-time faculty and honorary professor at HSG. He is one of the pioneers of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for products and ecobalance for organisations. At HSG, he taught environmental technology and ecobalance/LCA. In the early 1980ies, R. Müller-Wenk developed the first single-score LCA impact assessment method. Here you find the full obituary (German), written by Arthur Braunschweig und Thomas Dyllick.

LCA (Life Cycle Assessment of products, services and processes) should help to reduce our way too big environmental footprint. But to they really? Or do we use LCA for minor decisions, which are anyway overcompensated by rebound effects? Due to Covid19, we had to reschedule the (now) DF78 to September 13/14, 2021, where we'll discuss situations in which LCAs have influenced major decisions (in a pro-eco way :-) ), and what we can learn from these. This DF is organized by Arthur Braunschweig/E2 and Rolf Frischknecht/treeze.

The 2nd call for participation is on (www.dflca.ch).

A short article on the topic "Is LCA relevant?" and the DF78's goals.

(Dec. 2019/Apr 2021)

E2-Partner Arthur Braunschweig analysed two publications with Ecofactors (weighting factors for Ecobalances of companies or LCA of products) for the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN, in German, BAFU) and compared the former with the Swiss Ecofactors 2013. The two EU-wide ecofactor sets partly contain similar weights (e.g. for CO2), but partly vary by large margins, both in their choice of flows and in the actual ecofactor values. Both new publications do not contain an explicite endorsement by the relevant authorities. Yet, they indicate the rising international interest in consistent, neutral and authoritative weighting factors for LCA and ecobalance. (August 2019)

The stautary annual meeting of öbu, the Swiss Association for sustainable management, re-elected Arthur Braunschweig (Partner of E2) into its board, who subsequently confirmed Arthur as its president. Anne Wolf (Director Corporate Responsibility at Swiss Post) continues as vice-president. öbu supports Swiss companies and organisations to become more sustainable. It has 316 members, of all sectors and sizes. (June 2022)

Oliver Schmid-Schönbein, co-founder of E2, is a candidate for the Green Liberal Party in the Canton of St. Gallen for the upcoming elections to Swiss Parliament (National Council). With his candidacy, he would like to contribute his 30 years of experience in environmental and sustainability management of companies to the parliament, so that Switzerland can successfully master in particular the challenge of climate change. (June 2019)

In November 2018, UNEP FI presented the draft Principles for Responsible Banking (PRBs). A feedback phase on the PRBs will run until the end of May 2019. Together with the Association for Environmental Management and Sustainability in Financial Institutions e.V. (VfU) and supported by Swiss Sustainable Finance, the E2 partner Oliver Schmid-Schönbein is carrying out a project on the PRBs to discuss the content and collect feedback from banks in German-speaking countries.

The 'ibex fairstay' scheme and label, seen as one of the best sustainability labels in tourism, denotes a hotels' level of sustainability performance and management. Some 55 hotels and hostels are certified against the 'ibex' method, a dozen with the highest 'platinum' level. The methodology allows a hotel to assess and improve in five sustainability dimensions: management, economic, environmental, societal and regional/cultural. While built similarly to ISO standards (9001; 14001), the ibex focuses on performance. A full management system can be built with the ibex fairstay as well, leading to the Swiss Tourism Quality Program's highest QQQ level. The ibex fairstay improves the quality of management as much as it spurs improvements towards more sustainable performance of hotels. The article describes the ibex fairstay structure, and gives detailed analyses of hotels' performance in environmental and societal issues, such as energy, waste, staff related management, and it closes with learnings from participating hotels.

The "Milano School of Policy, Management and Environment" of the New School for Social Science has invited Arthur for a sabbatical during the spring semester 2019. The aim is a mutual exchange with faculty, own research on sustainability oriented management, and guest lectures - such as in the "Milano Brown Bag Talk" series on April 11th, in a talk with student clubs of the Borough of Manhattan Community College BMCC of the CUNY, and at Columbia University. (March, April 2019)

Three students of a SANU course analysed the STF (Swiss Fashion School) re its sustainability potential. They calculated the school's carbon footprint, and collected dozens of possible sustainability actions. And they implemented: With a design competition among STF's students, a special design for water saving nozzles was created, produced and applied to STF. As a 2nd measure, the project team organised a three-day fashion exchange, as the lifespan of textiles is a key ecological aspect. The project factsheet can be found here. (May 2018)

How much responsibility should Swiss companies carry for their subsidiaries and suppliers, concerning human rights and ecology? How and in which cases should they become liable? Discussions around the "responsible business initiative" in Swiss parliament turn around a possible legal counter proposal. Swiss industry association "öbu" considers the initiative as too bold and advocates for a counter proposal, See the "Arena" on "Dirty Gold" from June 15th 2018 (in German). The emission starts on the initiative, after min. 28 on the counter proposal, on öbu's position after minute 31.

McDonald's has developed 'Science based (climate) targets' for the own processes and for the most relevant supply chains. The targets are partly based on the standardized reduction paths, and, where this is not yet possible, on so-called "ambitious targets". E2 participated in the working group of McDonald's, based on our long work and experience around the Eco- (incl. GHG-)controlling of McDonald's Europe. (Link to the McDonald's announcement.)

As part of its further education module ‚Energy and Resource Efficiency’, WERZ (Institut für Wissen, Energie und Rohstoffe Zug) of the HSR Hochschule für Technik Rapperswil provides this course. E2 will teach the section on “Sustainable Supply Chains – Strategies and Instruments”.    

This CAS is offered again in 2021, jointly by the Swiss Textile School STF (Zürich) and the University of applied sciences Ticino SUPSI (Lugano). The course meets on 15 days, fridays and saturdays, in Zürich and Lugano (TI). In this CAS, E2 teaches sustainability oriented management. Currently, the course 2022/23 is running.
(August 2022)

The learning goals of the course: Students can ...

.. describe key sustainability problems of the current economy
.. illustrate how to improve the sustainability orientation of an organisation
.. discuss approaches to measure an organisation's environmental performance
.. demonstrate life cycle costing from a sustainability viewpoint
.. describe sustainability supply chain management

The course is given in english. It takes place annually, in the autumn semester. The course meets every 2nd week for 3 lessons (9 - 12 h). The course is mandatory for some Environmental Engineering studies, and open for other M.A. students of ETH Zürich, for Ph.D. students of ETHZ and University of Zürich, and - depending on available space - for external persons.

Oliver Schmid-Schönbein was interviewed in the Bundesbank-Magazine 1/2016 on the new environmental and carbon targets of Bundesbank.

March 2016

E2 supports clients in their sustainability reporting, also to ratging agencies and sustainibility ratings.

The CDP is the global leader for the reporting of companies on their carbon strategies. The clients supported in their CDP reporting have achieved excellent results in their 2014 disclosure ratings, among them Credit Suisse with 99 and Deutsche Bank with 100 disclosure points.

November 2015

McDonald's Europe with a certified Carbon Footprint for its entire value chain

McDonald's Europe has, with the support of E2, calculated the 2007 Carbon Footprint (the greenhouse gas emissions) of its own processes in restaurants etc., of its suppliers starting with agriculture, as well as the traffic of motorized customers. In supply chain, the assessment covers 80 % of spend, covering e.g. food and beverages, logistics but also paper, plastics and toys. The calculations and assumptions were verified by SGS London. This wide ranging system analysis will serve as basis for focused optimizations and improvements over the next years..

(December 2009)

Good Ratings for Carbon Disclosure

The importance of reporting to the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) increases steadily for listed companies. Swiss Ethos foundation and Bank Pictet have analysed the carbon reporting 2008 of Swiss companies. Among the Swiss top 10, three companies are supported by E2: Berne Cantonal Bank BEKB | BCBE, Credit Suisse and Vontobel. BEKB was ranked 3rd

(November 2009)

Integrated Corporate Responsibility Report McDonald's Switzerland

Based on its environmental and societal reporting, McDonald's Switzerland for the first time published an integrated Corporate Responsibility report about its activities in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. E2 supported McDonald's in the report development and the environmental analysis (ecobalance, greenhouse gas calculation, etc.). The report, which was verified by SQS, covers the years 2006/07 as well as their new goals. It is available in French and German. A detailed GRI-Index covering also earlier McDonald's publications is available as well.

(October 2008)

Commendation for the Sustainability Report of Ernst Schweizer AG, Metallbau

Ernst Schweizer AG, a leading Swiss company in metal construction, with 525 collaborators, has been publishing annual sustainability reports since 2003, with the support of E2. The reports inform in detail about Ernst Schweizer's market, social, environmental and financial performance. In the newest rating of Swiss Company Reports done by the University of Applied Sciences Northwestern Switzerland, Ernst Schweizer AG reached the 11th place, which is the top result among the medium sized companies.

(October 2008)

Seminar on Energy and Greenhouse Gas Strategy for Companies

Increasingly, energy use and greenhouse gas emissions get strategic relevance for companies. E2 participates as keynote tutor at a new seminar by SANU which discusses possible approaches by companies. Detailed information (in German) can be found here here.

(September 2008)

CO2-neutral Sunstar Hotels

Sunstar-Hotels is the first hotel chain worldwide achieving full climate neutrality: From the 2008 summer season onwards, each stay at Sunstar, including all key supply and disposal chains (like food production and waste treatment), will be climate neutral. E2 has supported the development of Sunstar's new company strategy, which focuses on guest activity and sustainability. E2 has also calculated Sunstar's CO2eq-footprint. More...

(April 2008)

E2 on Greenhouse Gas Protocol and ISO 14064

At the 34. Swiss LCA Diskussion Forum, A. Braunschweig gave the introductory presentation on the "Relation between LCA and Greenhouse Has Accounting", i.e. between the ISO standards on product life cycle assessment (ISO 14040) and Greenhouse Gas accounting of organisations (ISO 14064). The forum was a cooperation of E2 and Ecointesys. The presentation of E2 is here.

(March 2008)

Carbon Disclosure Project

The Carbon Disclosure Project gains importance. Investors are increasingly using the data on corporate climate strategies published there. E2 more than ever supports clients in developing climate strategies and reporting against the standards of the greehouse gas protocol in the CDP-questionnaire.

(March 2008)

New LCA weighting method "UBP'06" (Ecological Scarcity '06) published

The fully reworked weighting method for LCA and Ecobalances "Ecological Scarcity 2006" has been pre-published by öbu and is downloadable (in German) here. This new, third version of this weighting method (authors: ESU-services, project management: A. Braunschweig/E2, G. Hildesheimer/öbu, N. Egli/BAFU) offers up-to-date weighting factors for the well known issues, but also additional ecofactors for environmental issues which could not be assessed in LCA hitherto, such as fresh water use. This new weighting method will be included in commercial LCA softwares such as EMIS, Regis or SimaPro.

(March 2008)

BEKB with Sustainability Mission Statement

BEKB | BCBE is the first cantonal bank in Switzerland with a generic sustainability mission statement on its environmental and social responsibility. You can find the new sustainability mission statement here

(January 2008)

Fourth Environmental Report of the Swiss Federal Administration

The environmental impact of all administrative units having introduced the environmental management system RUMBA was reduced by 8 % til to-date. In its introduction to this new report, Swiss President Ms. Calmy-Rey reiterates the government's aim to reduce the environmental impact of each departement by at least 10 % in the coming 10 years. The report was developed with E2's support and can be downloaded at www.rumba.admin.ch

(July 2007)

Sustainability report of Ernst Schweizer AG, Metallbau

In its 3rd sustainability report, this leading metalworks SME presents its current services to clients, staff, society, environment and shareholders. Next to their performance indicators, Ernst Schweizer also publishes their sustainability goals and the state of implementation. The report's concept was developed in co-operation with E2.

(June 2007)

Globalisation and Sustainability

In his speech "Globalisation and Sustainability a contradiction?", Arthur Braunschweig discusses the relation between these two concepts, and why globalisation and the goal of sustainable development may be seen as the two sides of one coin. The speech in German language can be downloaded here.

(May 2007)

E2 develops sustainable company strategy with Romabau-Gerinox AG

Romabau-Gerinox AG is a leading SME in mechanical engineering, located in Weinfelden/TG. Supported by E2, Romabau-Gerinox has redefined its company strategy, based on the principles of sustainable development. For more information in German see here.

(May 2007)

E2 teaches on  "LCA" at Zurich University

The Institute for Environmental Sciences (IfU) at Zurich University again offers a three-day course on Environmental Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Ecobalancing (in German), given by Arthur Braunschweig. Participants will be enabled to interpret LCAs and Ecobalances and co-operate in their development. A short description can be found here. Further information may be obtained at ours or at the IfU (Susann Eichenberger, susaeich@uwinst.unizh.ch )

(May 2007)

Conference on "Sustainability and Corporate Strategy" on November 10th

What is an integrated sustainable corporate strategy? This question is the focus of this year’s St. Gallen Sustainability Forum, where central aspects of strategic management are discussed.

E2 Management Consulting is this year’s partner of the Institute for Economy and the Environment of the University of St. Gallen in organising this conference, which exceptionally will take place in Zurich on November 10th.

Conference program and registration are available here.

(September 2006)

E-Learning Course on Management of Corporate Sustainability

E2 has developed a two hour e-learning course on "Management of Corporate Sustainability" together with the University of  St. Gallen and the Swiss Virtual Business School. Co-authors of the course are Prof. Dr. Thomas Dyllick and Oliver Schmid-Schönbein.

The online course serves as a training tool for management, introduces the paradigm of corporate sustainability and allows for a company-specific analysis of risks and opportunities. It also gives guidance on the implementation of corporate sustainability.

Have a look at the demo version of the course or download the info brochure. The course can be accessed online at www.swissvbs.com/demos.html.

(September 2006)

E2: New Partner - New Topic

As new managing partner, David Keller has strengthened E2 since the beginning of 2006 with regards to both content and human resources:

• David Keller will advise on

private involvement in development cooperation. Clients are companies, foundations and wealthy individuals who want to actively invest in development projects in a focussed manner. David Keller has many years of experience and a broad network of "social entrepreneurs".

Credit Suisse: First Larger Company to become Greenhouse Gas Neutral

Credit Suisse is the first larger company in Switzerland to become greenhouse gas neutral. E2 has significantly supported Credit Suisse in the last two years in developing and implementing a climate strategy which is based on the four paths of optimising operations, capital expenditure, substitution and compensation.

(May 2006)

E2's Ads on Sustainability in Management

Short, but to the point: as of May 24th, 2006 E2’s ads will appear in the NZZ every Wednesday and Saturday. You can have a look at them here.

(May 2006)

McDonald's Switzerland's First Social Report

McDonald's Switzerland reports about the social dimension of its products and activities for the first time: Food and Nutrition, Employees as well as Society are key topics of McDonald's Switzerland's first CSR report. E2 advised McDonald's during the conceptual work. The Swiss CSR report supplements McDonald's first European CSR report published in 2005

(April 2006)

New Partner at E2

E2 enters 2006 with new drive, strengthening itself both with regards to content as well as human resources. As of the beginning 2006, David Keller joins E2 as managing partner. Davic Kellerer focuses on sustainable-oriented private development cooperation.

(January 2006)

Marketing for sustainable "Ibex"-Hotels

Sustainable "Ibex"-Hotels currently offer reduced rates for the readers of the Zurich "Tages-Anzeiger" in January 2006. Details (in german). In 2006, further marketing activities are planned with Mobility Car-Sharing and with the Swiss "Club of the Car-Less". E2 developed and manages the "Ibex" sustainability certification for Hotels.

(January 2006)

Praise for the Swiss Federal Administration’s Environmental Management

The Council of States’ business examination board certified that the Federal Administration conserves its use of electricity, water, paper and other resources. The design and the implementation of RUMBA (Resource and Environmental Management of the Federal Administration) is purposeful and appropriate. The environmental impact of the affected departments has been reduced. (News from the TA of 9.11.2005)

E2 is significantly involved in the design and implementation of the Swiss Federal Administration’s Environmental Management.

Sustainability Report of Ernst Schweizer AG, Metallbau

With 500 employees, Schweizer belongs to the leading metal construction companies. Schweizer’s second sustainability report, which can be downloaded here, reports on the company’s performance towards customers, employees, society, the environment and investors. Schweizer not only published a comparison of indicators with previous years, but also the internally set sustainability goals and achievement of objectives.

(November 2005)

The Swiss Federal Administration’s Effective Environmental Management

E2 has been supporting the Swiss Federal Administration to build up their environmental management RUMBA in over 70 departments. The recently published second environmental report shows clear improvements in resource consumption and environmental impacts. The report can be downloaded in German, French and Italian at www.rumba.admin.ch.

(October 2005)

Trend towards Sustainability in Real Estate Investments

On behalf of Rhomberg Bau AG and together with Flatz & Partners, E2 carried out a survey amongst institutional investors regarding the topic of sustainable real estate investments. The key results can be downloaded here.

(October 2005)

Sustainability Certification for Sunstar-Hotels and Boldern

The Sunstar hotel chain is the first hotel chain to be assessed according to the Ibex sustainability label. All seven hotels achieved 4 (of 5 possible) Ibexes. Next to achieving the highest award of 5 Ibexes, the convention center 'Boldern' (Männedorf/Zürich) is also the first Swiss hotel to obtain the EU environmental label for hotels. Together with the Ö+ Association, E2 developed the Ibex Label for hotels run in a sustainable manner.

(June 2005)

Internal Environmental Performance Indicators for the Financial Industry

The VfU Indicators 2005 project has updated the VfU internal environmental performance indicators developed in 1996. The final results of the project (report and calculation file) can be downloaded at www.epifinance.com/VfU.htm

(May 2005)

BEKB | BCBE (Berner Kantonalbank) certified to ISO 14001

BEKB | BCBE has been carrying out internal  environmental protection since 1996. Thanks to pragmatic measures, its  environmental impacts and costs have been substantially reduced in recent years. In October 2003, BEKB | BCBE became certified to ISO 14001 for its internal  environmental managament and logistics areas.

Since then, the bank's products and services have also been integrated in the  environmental management system. In November 2004, following a successful certification audit, the ISO 14001 certification was expanded to include products. As a result, BEKB | BCBE is the first bank in Switzerland to have an ISO 9001 (quality management) and ISO 14001 certified management system covering the entire bank.

(November 2004)

McDonald's Switzerland publishes its Environmental Report 2004 with a new design

The fourth environmental report published by McDonald's Switzerland addresses various audiences using 3 different formats: the most comprehensive information can be found at the McDonald's website or directly at McDonald's Switzerland's environmental webpages. The casually designed printed summary also contains information on environmentally relevant aspects and describes the results of the last two years. Lastly, a flyer informing guests about a number of key environmental issues for McDonald's Switzerland can be found within McDonald's restaurants. E2 supported McDonald's conceptually and in carrying out the eco-balance.

(November 2004)

Sustainability at Ernst Schweizer AG, Metallbau

The Ernst Schweizer AG, Metallbau is a family-owned business with 500 employees, which has just published its first comprehensive sustainability report. E2 has been supporting Ernst Schweizer AG over many years to integrate sustainability issues within its mission statement, strategy, annual planning and management system. The report, which can be downloaded here, explains the company’s holistic sustainability approach.

(October 2004)

For the first time McDonald's Europe reports comprehensively on its environmental management and effects

In its first Environmental Report, McDonald's Europe describes its environmental aspects, its own environmental performance and the upcoming challenges for the fastfood business in Europe. The environmental aspects span the entire added value chain - "from the stable to the table". The report also contains an analysis of the environmental relevance, based on a rough corporate eco-balance, of the different environmental aspects.

(September 2004)

3 new publications on sustainability management

E2 published three new articles on sustainability management in spring 2004.

• Sustainability and strategy in the journal "io new management"
• Sustainability reporting of financial institutions in the book "Values to Value" by UNEP FI
• Sustainability certification for hotels in the journal "Umwelt Focus".

(April 2004)

Canon (Schweiz) AG's Success

Canon (Schweiz) AG has been publishing an annual environmental report already since 1994. The new 2003 report shows how the company's overall environmental impact was reduced by 31% over the last 8 years during a time of growing revenues (for details see www.canon.ch). E2 was involved during the development of Canon's certified quality and environmental management systems and during the production of the environmental reports.

(April 2004)

The Bâloise Group published its first sustainability report

The report builds on Bâloise's management principles and describes the company's sustainability aspects, ranging from its management of human, financial and environmental resources to its products and communication. E2 accompanied Bâloise's sustainability team intensively during the development of the report's concept.

(February 2004)

The PetroplastVinora Group, supported by E2, was recertified to ISO 14001

In a concentrated two-month project, the basic principles of an EMS for the plastics processing company were further developed: relevant environmental aspects including a company ecobalance were compiled, environmental law documents were reviewed, the environmental programme was updated. The results of the ecobalance and the financial assessment unfolded important new synergies between financial and environmental optimisation.

(February 2004)

BEKB | BCBE (Berner Kantonalbank)

Since 1996, the BEKB | BCBE has carried out internal environmental protection activities. Environmental impacts and costs were substantially reduced in the past few years as a result of pragmatic measures. Within internal environmental management, the BEKB | BCBE expanded its bank-wide ISO 9001 certifed quality management system according to the  requirements of ISO 14001. The certification of internal environmental management according to ISO 14001 was successfully completed in October 2003.

(December 2003)

ISO 14001 Certificate for MIB AG

MIB AG developed the elements required of the ISO 14001 standard for environmental management, and integrated them within their existing ISO 9001 certified management system. During the project, the  company already gradually began improving their own internal environmental performance, as well as their performance towards clients. MIB AG successfuly achieved certification to ISO 9001/14001 in September 2003. facility manager, MIB AG oversees a large  number of Credit Suisse's facilities in Switzerland. With E2's  support.

(December 2003)

The Swiss Federal Administration's Second Environmental Report

The Resource and Environmental Management of the Swiss Federal Administration encompasses the ETH (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) and the VBS (the Swiss Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports), as well as over 60 federal departments. E2 contributed significantly during the development of the environmental management system and during the production of the second environmental report. The report in German, French and Italian, as well as further information, is available at www.rumba.admin.ch.

(November 2003)

MIB AG's Energy and Materials Report

As facility manager, MIB AG oversees a large number of Credit Suisse's facilities in Switzerland. With E2's support, MIB AG published its "Energy and Materials Report 2002" under Credit Suisse CSG mandate. Besides covering the environmental management system and the energy and materials flows, for the first time the report also contains an eco-balance analysis of ca. 400 buildings. The report is available in German and French in brochure and PDF format at MIB AG.

(August 2003)

Internal Environmental Performance Indicators for the Financial Industry

The VfU Indicators 2003 project has updated the VfU internal environmental performance indicators developed in 1996. The draft results of the project (report and calculation file) can be downloaded for public consultation at www.epifinance.com/VfU.htm

(April 2003)

Social Performance Indicators for the Financial Industry

The SPI-Finance 2002 project has developed indicators to measure the social performance of financial institutions. The  final report is now available to download at www.spifinance.com/perform.htm. The project delivered one of the first sector-specific supplements to the Global Reporting Initiative GRI "Sustainability Reporting Guidelines" 2002.

(January 2003)

Zürcher Kantonalbank certified to ISO 14 001

Zürcher Kantonalbank (ZKB) is the first Swiss cantonal bank to certify their environmental management system to the ISO 14 001 standard. ZKB, with the support of E2, developed a process-oriented EMS, which was audited by and certified through SQS.

(Dezember 2002)

Measure and communicate the sustainability of hotels

In co-operation with hotels, E2 developed the  first "Sustainability Certification" for hotels. The method assesses a hotel's social, environmental, regional and economic performance, as well as its sustainability management. The maximum award is 5 ibexes. Eleven hotels and conference centres received their first Certificate on 28.11.02. Both traditional hotels and hotels that are  environmentally/sustainability oriented were participating. The certification is part of the EU-project "VISIT" on Sustainable tourism. Information on methodology (Adobe, 409 KB) as well as on the label bearer Ö-plus incl. the certified hotels.

(November 2002)

E2 uses ecologically produced electricity

Sinces spring 2002, we are fully using "eco-electricity" for our office, based on the Swiss electricity ecolabel "Naturmade": Our supplier EWZ guarantees us that 95 % of the electricity we buy is produced by hydropower (of high environmental level), 5 % from solar power. All these installations have been labelled "Naturmade Star"

(July 2002)

Publication of MIB AG's Energy and Resources Report

As Facility Manager, MIB AG advises a large numer of CSG's banking buildings. Together with MIB AG, E2 conceptually shaped and produced MIB AG's "Energy and Resources Report 2000". The report covers the environmental management systems as well as the environmental performance of over 400 buildings used by CSG. The report is available in German and French in print and as PDF file from MIB AG.

(July 2002)

Basler Versicherungen publishes first Environmental Report

Basler Versicherungen recently published their first environmental report, comprehensively covering their environmental activities. E2 Management Consulting AG accompanied the production of this first environmental report from a Swiss retail insurance. To order the report: umwelt@basler.ch

(June 2001)

Award for Canon’s Environmental Report

The Canon (Schweiz) AG's Environmental Report 2000, which was produced with support from E2 Management Consulting AG, won the 1st prize in the large company category of the ÖBU environmental report awards 2001.

(March 2001)

Environmental Performance Indicators for the Financial Industry

During the EPI-Finance 2000 project, E2 Management Consulting AG, together with financial institutions from Germany and Switzerland, developed standardised environmental performance indicators for the financial industry.

(November 2001)

E2 mourns for founding partner Dr. Daniel Rufer

The shareholders and partners of E2 Management Consulting AG are grieving for the founding parnter and president Dr. Daniel Rufer, who passed away on October 23rd, 2016 suffering from a craniocerebral injury.
(October 2016)

Update 2015 of the VfU Indicators

The 2015 update of the VfU Indicators Standard is available.12 Financial Institutions from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein have participated in the update project.

The updated calculation tool is available here.

(November 2015)

An energy-plus-house put to test

The prizewinning residential house in Küsnacht (ZH/CH) produces three times as much (solar) energy compared to its total consumption. The report in the Swiss journal 'Umwelt Perspektiven' discusses the energy balance of the house, the daily and annual energetic clearing, and the total energy balance including building materials, as well as financial aspects of this Energy-plus-house. (More)

(December 2012)

'ibex' designated for tourism prize

The ibex sustainability label for hotels, which was developed by E2 together with Saladino Umweltprojekte, was designated as one of the twenty possible prize winners of this year's "Milestone", the Swiss tourism prize. (Milestone media news in German and French.)

(September 2012)

ibex fairstay

The ibex sustainability label for hotels, co-developed by E2, is now called 'ibex fairstay'. The internet page (in German and French) offers informations on all ibex-labelled hotels, specials, background information etc.

(Juli 2012)

Workshop on the LCA of recycled and new concretes at the 'Natur' congress in Basel

With the Swiss association of gravel and concrete FSKB, Arthur Braunschweig lead a workshop on the LCA on concretes from natural stone and from recycled building materials. The workshop in German language was part of the 'Natur' congress in february 2011 in Basel.

(February 2011)

Ibex-Label gets high marks

The Lucerne University of applied sciences and arts (Hochschule Luzern) recently published a Study (in German only) on sustainability oriented labels for tourism and hotels. From among more than 300 labels, it identifies the "Ibex-label" as one of only four tourism labels wordwide, which cover all sustainability dimensions with high credibility. Forthermore, the Ibex is considered "the best-known sustainability label for hotels in Switzerland". E2 has co-developed the Ibex-label and is engaged in its certification comitee.

(November 2010)

Environmental screening of hundreds of packagings at Coop Switzerland

FE2 assessed the packagings of all food products labelled as Coop products from an environmental viewpoint. This included an LCA approach. But the core of the analysis for once was not geared to compare specific packaging alternatives, but an overall assessment of hundreds of packagings (therefore 'screening') from varous suppliers.

(December 2009/September 2010)

New Partner at E2

Gaby Oetterli is back at E2 and joins the company as a new Partner. She spent three years in Hong Kong at the ‘Business Environment Council’ consulting companies in Asia in the area of Corporate Sustainability. Before that she worked for six years as a Consultant at E2.

(May 2010)

SANU-Course on "Integrated Management Systems"

The next holding of this 6 day course will take place between Nov. 2010 and March 2011. The course is spread over five months in order to allow participants to incorporate the learnings into their own work environment. E2 will again co-chair this course on "Integrated Management Systems", offered by the Swiss education organisation SANU. The course is held in German. It covers the development and improvement of a management system on environment, social issues, quality and health&safety. Next to the course days, each participant writes a short thesis, where possible directly on his or her company. Further information can be found in German and French at www.sanu.ch starting late spring 2010 (until then via email to E2 or to SANU, Anne-Christine Chappot).

(May 2010, amended)

Presentation of gravel, concrete and building LCA (Ecobalance)

At the french speaking winter session of the Swiss Gravel and Concrete Association, E2 presented first results of the environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) of gravel and concrete. The study, which was made at the 'Hochschule Rapperswil', has a special focus on the environmental effects of using recycled concrete.

(April 2010)

BEKB | BCBE with Prime Sustainabilty Rating

BEKB | BCBE has been rated "Prime" by the rating agency oekom research. Our long-term customer BEKB | BCBE is thus - compared to other companies in the banking sector - among the leading companies with higher-than-average performances in the social and ecological sector.

(March 2010)

Energy-plus-houses –i.e. 'the house as power station' – produce more (solar) energy than their total energy consumption for heating, hot water and electricity. Based on a family house which produces three times the energy it consumes, Heidi Huber, Thomas Metzler and Daniel Rufer describe in this 48-page German-language publication the basic principles and practical approaches to develop Energy-plus-houses. Energy- and ecobalances (LCAs), economic assessments, information on feeding back electricity into the grid, and other issues are discussed. (Table of content and order form at the Zürich based publishing house 'Faktor Verlag'

(January 2013)

How much does photovoltaic electricity production impact on the environment? We critically recalculated the LCA of photovoltaics, based on the recent technological developments of production, conversion efficiency and of mounting systems. This leads to a further improved LCA of photovoltaic electricity, as, e.g., the emission of greenhouse gases per kWh solar electricity are reduced to less than half of the most recently published values. The results are relevant for any assessment of solar electricity, notably on the Swiss Energy Strategy 2050. The results are available in two versions (German only):
-- The article "Die bessere Ökobilanz von Solarstrom (DE)", published in Umwelt Perspektiven, nbr. 4/2013, pages 9 - 13
-- The more detailed article "Ökobilanz von Solarstrom", published as PDF on www.e2mc.com in September 2013 (18 pp.). In addition, you can find the calculation tables to these articles as PDF. (If you are interested in receiving the Excel file, please do contact us.)

(September 2013)

Many erroneous ideas about photovoltaic can be heard. Daniel Rufer comments some of these prejudices in this explanatory note, based on detailed assessments and reliable sources. The note is available in German and French.

(April 2014)

KVZ Business School was awarded the title 'eco-school' in this program supported by the Zürich Canton school administration. KVZ BS is the first school on its level of education (professional schools and gymnasia) to receive this award. Since autumn 2013, KVZ-BS has been working on its eco-concept, supported by E2. In the eco-team, headed by a prorector, teachers, students and staff develop various projects, such as anchoring environment in the internal organisation, improving recycling possibilities, and environmental information on the school. (Link to the project 'Umweltschulen' (Eco-Schools)

May 2014

The Zurich based Energie 360° AG has successfully "environmentalized" its management system and received ISO 14001 certification. E2 coached Energie 360° AG for the last 18 months in that undertaking.

(June 2015)

The increasingly strong Swiss franc poses problems to many Swiss companies. Will sustainability remain relevant in that situation? Sustainable Management aims at improving the environmental and social performance, with the goal of strengthening the company's competitivity. Sustainability and strong franc are therefore no alternatives, but have to be tackled concurrently. This thought is discussed by Arthur Braunschweig in a short German language article, together with comments by entrepreneurs Christian Hunziker and Hans Ruedi Schweizer. The article appeared in the "CSR" supplement of the Zurich "Sonntagszeitung" on July 5th, 2015.

July 2015

Since E2 was founded in 1995 we have worked for many financial institutions. So it is a matter of course to support the further promotion of sustainability in the financial sector. E2 is proud to be among the founding members of Swiss Sustainable Finance (SSF).

June 2014