Ethical Guidelines
Environmental policy
A-lab places great emphasis on acting as a responsible company. It is important that we are an open, safe, and responsible partner, customer, and client. We have thus ethical guidelines that states that everyone should be treated with dignity and respect.
The company's executive management team has overall responsibility for the company's development and ensures that the company follows and complies with relevant laws and regulations, such as the Working Environment Protection Act, the Penal Code (forced labor and corruption), the Planning and Building Act, the Internal Control Regulations, and the Transparency Act.
A-lab's guidelines are compiled in our employee handbooks that explains how to handle and comply with everything from equal opportunities to discrimination and confidentiality in the company. One of the relevant laws in the field of ethics and accountability, both internally and externally, is the Transparency Act. By complying with the Transparency Act, we work continuously to promote respect for human rights and decent working conditions, as well as ensuring public access to information. All employees are made aware of the company's ethical guidelines and are encouraged to treat people, be it clients, suppliers, or society in general, with respect and personal integrity.
Due Diligence Assessment
We assess the likelihood of negative impacts on human rights and working conditions through our annual risk assessment, set out in the company's HSE handbook. The aim is to map how our operations affect people, both inside and outside the company.
An overview has been made of the company's supply chain and partners, and an ongoing assessment of their Code of Conduct and follow-up of the Transparency Act has been initiated. Reference is made here to external actors' own publication of completed risk mapping in accordance with the legislation.
Notification system
Notification procedures have been established in accordance with section 2 A-1 of the Working Environment Act. In the event of a breach of this, a separate notification system has been set up, where you can send an e-mail to the company's Head of HR. We are working on establishing an anonymous whistleblowing channel that will be publicly available on our website.
In the event of a breach of the Transparency Act, the company's management will review the matter in question and assess the measures to be implemented. No breaches of the Transparency Act or other ethical guidelines have been detected as of July 1, 2023.
Our Vision:
A-lab's mission and social responsibility is to create green living cities with beautiful and low-emission architecture. We aim to be a leading player in the development of sustainable architecture and urban development. We create buildings and cities that reduce environmental impacts on nature, promote social sustainability and contribute to a climate-positive future.
Our commitment:
· Continuously improve our knowledge, expertise and performance within sustainability.
· Use our role as architects to influence and inspire clients, partners and suppliers in a more sustainable direction.
· Through our role as an advisor, help our clients make climate- and environmentally friendly choices in all our |projects.
· Comply with all relevant laws, regulations and climate goals, and work in line with Miljøfyrtårn and other recognized environmental standards (e.g. BREEAM- NOR and FutureBuilt).
· We communicate our environmental work in an open and precise manner, based on realistic goals and with clear documentation and real data.
Follow-up and audit:
· The environmental policy is evaluated annually by the Sustainability manager (Bærekraftsansvarlige) in collaboration with management and is updated as needed.
· Progress is measured through Miljøfyrtårn reporting and annual sustainability report.
· All employees must contribute to achieving the goals through daily design choices and project practices.
If you want to know more about our environmental policy or give us input on how to improve ourselves, write to us at office@a-lab.no. You can also get a copy of our annual reporting on environmental achievements by request.