Video Conferencing news & articles

TANDBERG Pledges 10 Percent Cut in Air Travel and Energy Use (18th March 2008)

TANDBERG has released the company's first environmental sustainability review, with a pledge to cut air travel and energy use by 10 percent.  The report, conducted by Bergfald & Co., establishes a benchmark study for TANDBERG and sets the stage for periodic evaluations of the company's environmental progress.

The report follows on the heels of a commitment made last year by CEO Fredrik Halvorsen in his "Global Warming: A Manifesto for Action" in which he said: "As the CEO of TANDBERG I am pledging to do what I can to provide workable environmental solutions for business. Within my own organization, that means initiating and sustaining CO2 reduction programs."

As a result of the study, TANDBERG will reduce by 2009 its carbon footprint due to air travel by 10 percent per employee, its energy use per square foot of office space by 10 percent and the environmental impact of its products. TANDBERG has set up a cross-functional team of experts in research and development, operations, facilities and marketing to ensure that TANDBERG meets these environmental commitments.

The TANDBERG offices in the United States represent a carbon footprint of 18 tons of emissions per employee per year, below the average current per person emissions in the United States at 20 tons CO2. Meanwhile, the TANDBERG office in Oslo has a carbon footprint of 2.8 tons of emissions per employee, only slightly higher than the average current emissions per person in Oslo at 2.3 tons CO2.

"This report is an important step towards incorporating greater environmental responsibility into the culture of our company and increasing environmental awareness among our employees," said Halvorsen. "This sets us on a course to continue environmental benchmarking within TANDBERG's operations worldwide and furthers our mission to be an industry leader in environmental responsibility."

The company strives to reduce employee travel as much as possible through the use of its own videoconferencing technology. The company, which conducts 50,000 videoconferencing and telepresence calls monthly, video-enables employees in order to reduce the need to travel for face-to-face meetings. When in-person meetings are necessary, TANDBERG attempts to reduce the environmental impact of employee travel.

TANDBERG plans to further reduce its carbon emissions impact through a series of initiatives to reduce the energy consumption of its video systems and increase the use of sustainable packaging. Video systems are being designed to go into standby mode automatically, reducing energy consumption by as much as 32 percent.

About the Environmental Responsibility Report
The environmental report surveyed TANDBERG’s operations in Norway and the United States, representing 70 percent of TANDBERG’s global workforce. The company's carbon footprint was calculated based on the 2006 energy consumption of office locations, flight and automobile mileage for employee business travel, and an estimation of climate gas emissions over the life of TANDBERG's products, from production through use and removal.

The full Environmental Responsibility Report is available online at http://www.seegreennow.com, TANDBERG's carbon-emission reduction resource.

About TANDBERG
TANDBERG is a leading global provider of telepresence, high-definition videoconferencing and mobile video products and services with dual headquarters in New York and Norway. TANDBERG designs, develops and markets systems and software for video, voice and data. The company provides sales, support and value-added services in more than 90 countries worldwide. TANDBERG is publicly traded on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker TAA.OL. Please visit www.tandberg.com for more information.

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