Delivery, the guy on the bike carries the parcel. Urban landscape. courier driving bike fast food food. Flat design vector illustration.

Sustainable logistics - bike couriers

To ensure sustainable logistics, emission-free solutions such as bike couriers must be found. These are being used more and more frequently in major cities due to the high volume of road traffic and for the sake of the environment.

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Post-growth & Green-IT - b.r.m. in the resource efficiency event series of Thega

Postwachtum & Green-IT - b.r.m. in the resource efficiency event series of Thega in Thuringia

 

Post-growth & green IT - b.r.m. in Thega's resource efficiency event series. As part of the "Resource Efficiency Qualification", Thega from Thuringia offers further training for consultants. This is carried out with the support of the Thuringian Ministry of the Environment's State Initiative for Resource Conservation. In what is now the third block of the series, practical examples will be discussed and we are particularly pleased that Mr. Harald Rossol will be able to present b.r.m. and the award-winning green IT data center.

Qualification for resource efficiency through the Thega

SMEs can receive funding for resource efficiency measures through the Thuringian GREEN Invest funding program. The consultancy itself is also supported. Thega's series of events focuses on the continuous training of experts in the field of resource efficiency. In particular, the methods and instruments for analyzing and increasing resource efficiency in production processes are addressed. Theory and practice will be discussed over a total of 6 days. On 27.04.2022, various practical examples of resource efficiency will be presented, including b.r.m.'s green IT data center.

Energy and resource efficiency in data centers - Green IT

The environment and IT must not and should not be thought of separately. The energy costs of IT systems are still not recorded separately and therefore cannot be optimized.

The focus of new IT systems is on energy efficiency while maintaining high quality and security. We have developed a cost-effective operating concept that can save more than 60% energy - using standard market software and server components.

b.r.m. is a pioneer in green IT and helped develop the 'Blue Angel' certificate for energy-efficient data centers in collaboration with the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and the German Federal Environment Agency. Our energy-efficient data center has been certified for quality, environment and occupational safety with its integrated management system according to 'ecostep' since 2005. In the same breath, the association blühfläche.de e.V. should also be mentioned, which is committed to the preservation and development of flowering areas and strips in northern Germany.

Post-growth leads to sustainable companies

These and other companies are synonymous with the efficient use of resources and their careful handling under the term post-growth. The fact that post-growth & green IT is also represented by b.r.m. at the Thega series of events on resource efficiency is naturally a particular pleasure for us. The basic idea behind the alternative economic model "post-growth economy" is that the economy should also function without growth. The current competition in the economy, which is all about faster, higher and further, is depleting natural resources.

As early as 1972, the Club of Rome warned of the consequences of unchecked economic growth. The path to post-growth can begin with small steps. For example, reducing output can lead to an improvement in quality. Certain products and services should be offered less, but in higher quality. 

This topic was also recently discussed in Impulse magazine, in whose article. b.r.m. is also cited as an example. Interested readers can find these articles here.

Certified EcoStep 5.1 management system at b.r.m.

Certificate Management System EcoStep 5.1 IT-Service Bremen b.r.m.
Certificate Management System EcoStep 5.1 IT-Service Bremen b.r.m.

Certified EcoStep management system: b.r.m. has once again been certified in accordance with the EcoStep 5.1 management system for small and medium-sized enterprises. Starting in 2008, this is now the 15th and 16th year in a row that b.r.m. has been certified for its operating procedures and processes. For all management systems, the focus is on ensuring that tasks and activities are in line with the objectives and that operational processes run smoothly.

EcoStep is a practice-oriented alternative to the conventional ISO standards. Combined in one system, it uses the most important standard requirements of the following standards from an SME perspective:

  • DIN EN ISO 9001:2015 Quality management
  • DIN EN ISO 14001:2015 Environmental management
  • DIN ISO 45001:2018 Occupational health and safety

With the help of the three aspects (quality, environmental protection and occupational health and safety), various process descriptions are possible, ranging from value creation processes to management processes. Development processes and other supporting processes are also recorded.

The EcoStep management system uncovers potential for reducing costs, implements controlling and key performance indicator systems to support management and increases legal certainty. Continuous improvement is one of the top priorities here. Not only the certification audit for the award of certification is important here, but also the continuous chain of internal adaptations and adjustment of existing processes to the new, changing circumstances of day-to-day business.

Our thanks go to the great cooperation with the certification body GUTcert. Mr. Markus Rossol from b.r.m. carried out the audit with Mr. Hauke Kreutzfeld from GUTcert.

The resulting potential for improvement is constantly being exploited and we are already looking forward to the next 2 years, after which it will once again be: certified management system according to EcoStep.

You can view our complete certificate here .

Sustainability: thinking outside the box ...

Forestry has coined the term sustainability: a forest should always be managed so carefully that, firstly, the biotope remains healthy and, secondly, the timber yield does not decrease over the generations. Sustainability therefore describes a long-term method of management. In the course of the ecological debate, this principle was then transferred to other sectors of the economy.

The concept of sustainability has also found its way into IT. At the end of the life cycle, the raw materials used should be recycled. Secondly, the energy used to operate the computers should come exclusively from renewable sources. The latter can be easily achieved today. This is nothing more than a question of goodwill. The complete recycling of technical components, on the other hand, cannot yet be fully implemented in IT services. However, our servers are working at the current maximum level of sustainability.