Halvar: introducing the winner of the Sponsor Contest

At DrupalCon Barcelona 2024, the DrupalCon Europe organizers introduced the Sponsor Contest to celebrate and recognize the sustainability efforts of sponsors and exhibitors. Standing out for their exceptional commitment, Halvar took first place, ranking highly across all scoring categories: Travel, Stand Construction, and Goodies & Leaflets. This award reflects Halvar's dedication to sustainable practices in their exhibition and beyond.

As a sponsor and exhibitor at DrupalCon Barcelona 2024, Halvar set a high standard by reducing travel emissions through rail travel, reusing booth branding from previous events, and offering eco-friendly goodies like Fairphone Fairbuds XL and erasable Bambook notebooks. Their sustainability-focused approach also included energy-efficient technology, minimizing business card usage with one QR- and NFC-enabled card, and an overall commitment to environmental responsibility.

Halvar however makes extraordinary sustainable efforts reaching far beyond the Sponsor Contest. 

Learn about the company’s core values and their drive towards a more sustainable future:

• Can you tell us about your company’s core values and how sustainability fits into your overall mission?
  
  Our core mission is to be a leading sustainable hosting company that enables clients to achieve their objectives with the help of our platform.
  
  Therefore our core values focus on customer satisfaction, quality, and sustainability.
  
  We only use datacenter-grade hardware and use multiple internet-routes to ensure service uptime. Spare parts are in place and servers are equipped with a Service Level Agreement on RMA from the supplier. All core parts are intensively monitored 24/7/365.
  
  Sustainability is deeply embedded in our mission: we use sustainable energy, collaborate with sustainable partners, and reuse as much hardware as possible. For each server we buy bunds by the JustDiggit Foundation, re-greening 162 square meters of land in Kenya, and we choose eco-friendly solutions from shirts to refurbished laptops and from choosing train travels to sustainable goodies.
  
  To further achieve our 200% green energy-hosting, we only use very energy-efficient data centers with low PUE and at our main location the waste heat is re-used to warm nearby offices, leading to significant gas savings. Our network is secured by a real-time filter and multiple layers of fire-walling. This lowers the serverload and reduces the amount of necessary server-energy. With this approach, we aim not only to assist our customers but also to make a positive impact on the planet.
   

•  What specific sustainability goals has your company set, and how are you working toward achieving them?

  Efficient servers and increasing efficiency We minimize our server energy consumption by virtualizing all servers, which increases the effective power usage per server. Additionally, our firewalls block malicious traffic, leading to less CPU cycles and further energy savings. While we can't control external factors like future processor-architecture or how websites are built (and used), we maximize efficiency within our reach. When buying new processors we favor a good performance-to-Watt-ratio over relatively inefficient ones.

  Refurbished hardware: To prevent waste, we use refurbished hardware whenever possible. This allows us to extend the lifespan of equipment and reduce its environmental impact.

  Traveling: We encourage our team to travel sustainably, such as by taking the train, carpooling, or biking to their destinations. All employees benefit from discounts on their domestic train travels. All necessary sustainable trips are fully reimbursed by Halvar. Additionally, our entire team works from home, eliminating the need for daily commuting. If we cannot use public transport (or commercial buses) we give priority to carpooling with an electric car.

• What inspired your company to prioritize sustainability in your business practices? Was there a particular turning point?
  
  We are committed to sustainability both personally and professionally. At Halvar, we utilize as much self-generated solar energy as possible. We practice mindful shopping, purchasing quality products only when truly necessary and when repair or reuse is not an option. We also extend the lifespan of our devices, such as computers and headphones, often opting for second-hand options.
  
  A significant inspiration for us to prioritize sustainability within the company was Yoast's presentation at WordCamp 2022, "Improve the environment – Start with your website!”. The emphasis on the importance of sustainability in the digital world and making conscious choices resonated with our values and motivated us to take further steps in reducing our ecological impact.
   
• How do you balance sustainability efforts while maintaining competitiveness in the industry?
  
  We maintain the balance between sustainability and competitiveness by using 200% green energy and collaborating with sustainable partners. We utilize eco-friendly physical marketing like shirts, banners, and undated flyers, along with one business card per employee featuring QR codes to minimize paper use. Additionally, we reuse efficient hardware. Traveling green by trains and buses while still compensating pollution is something we strongly value. This combined approach reduces our ecological footprint and achieves cost savings, allowing us to meet our sustainability goals while remaining competitive in the market. A lower serverload is a goal for all our customers as a result of blocking unwanted traffic and promoting cache techniques. Servers with a low serverload are faster in delivering websites compared to servers with a high serverload. In this way, we continue to provide value to our clients without making compromises. We are confident that our way of business attracts the right clients with a green mindset and is an advantage over other webhosts that are only using sustainable energy for their servers.
   
• Have you seen tangible benefits (e.g., financial, reputational, or operational) from your sustainability initiatives?
  
  At conferences we have good talks with participants about our 200% green energy match. Our goodies and contest prizes have always received love from sustainable minded people. As awarded First prize at DrupalCon 2024 for the most sustainable exhibitor we love how our efforts are paying off.
   
• What role do you think businesses in your sector should play in combating environmental challenges and promoting responsibility?
  
  We strongly believe that companies in the ICT sector must play a pivotal role in tackling environmental challenges by embedding sustainability into their core business strategies. They need to be transparent about their environmental impact, work with sustainable partners, and innovate in ways that reduce their ecological footprint. This includes programming websites to run efficiently, ensuring they consume minimal energy when accessed, and minimizing data storage requirements. Moreover, they should collaborate with energy-efficient data centers that use renewable energy and contribute their excess heat to other businesses, thus supporting circular energy use.
  
  Beyond these technical measures, ICT companies have a responsibility to actively engage their customers and the wider community in eco-friendly practices, fostering greater environmental awareness. By doing so, they not only contribute to a more sustainable world but also strengthen their competitive advantage in an increasingly eco-conscious market.
   
• Looking ahead, what are your company’s next big steps or innovations in sustainability? What role do you hope your company will play in shaping the future?
  
  We choose to continue innovating in sustainability over the coming years to have all our business operations running with maximum positive impact on our footprint. We plan to further expand our use of green energy, invest in energy-efficient technologies, and strengthen our commitment to eco-friendly initiatives. Additionally, we hope to set an example for other companies by promoting sustainable practices and making a positive impact on the planet.
   
•  If you could give one piece of advice to other companies looking to enhance their sustainability efforts, what would it be?
  
  Our advice to other companies looking to improve their sustainability is to incorporate sustainability into their very core strategies. Sustainability is a mindset. Start with a thorough evaluation of your services or products to identify areas for improvement and set measurable goals. Collaborate with sustainable partners and engage both employees and customers in eco-friendly initiatives. Once again, it’s important to be transparent about your sustainability efforts to build trust and foster community involvement.
   

• Is there anything else you would like to share about your sustainability journey or future plans?
  
  We’re hard at work testing our hosting services in exciting new locations, including Brazil and Italy! There are plenty of intriguing developments and ideas on the horizon, and you’ll want to keep an eye on us to catch all the latest news, our sustainability journey and future plans. Get ready for what’s coming next!

   

As the winner of the Sponsor Contest at DrupalCon Barcelona 2024, Halvar demonstrates that sustainability and technological excellence can go hand in hand. Their dedication to eco-friendly solutions sets an inspiring example for all, proving that businesses can thrive while prioritizing environmental responsibility.