The café serves sustainable, ecological food, the company car runs on electricity and the lamps use LED- and low energy light bulbs. The Nordic House has put much effort into becoming more environmentally responsible in recent times. On 14 December 2020, the Nordic House was awarded a Green Key.

A Green Key eco-label is bestowed upon tourism- and event venues that systematically work to protect the environment. Venues must meet a host of strict criterion, ranging from organising rubbish and limiting consumption to using environmentally friendly cleaning products. The Nordic House aims to take part in the ‘green’ transition. Therefore, it made perfect sense to apply for approval and to invite Green Key experts to assess the conditions in the Nordic House, says Gunn Hernes.

“Taking action and responsibility is an important signal to us, our guests, partners and supporters,” says Gunn. “By applying and going through the process of being approved, and now continuing our work in this field, we have chosen to prioritise sustainability high on our agenda. The Nordic Council of Ministers' vision clearly states that we should be the world's most sustainable region by 2030. If we are to achieve this, it is important that everyone contributes, through action and increased competence amongst ourselves as consumers.”

Receiving the Green Key certification does not mean that the Nordic House will rest on its laurels. Green Key criterion to protect our environment will continue to increase. This means that the Nordic House will continuously train and educate its employees about these issues and will set new goals regarding environment protection in order to continuously develop our ‘green’ transition.

"This is merely the start of a long process,” says Gunn. “We have started with low-hanging fruit. We hope that over time, we can become more conscious and gain increased competence and knowledge about what good choices look like, seen from a local perspective. We have now sent a clear signal that we will and can help make a difference, and we will, naturally, demand more from our suppliers and partners.”

Green Key is awarded to more than 3,200 establishments in 65 countries. In the Faroe Islands, only Hotel Brandan and the Nordic House have been awarded the prestigious eco-label. Green Key is a part of Horesta, which classifies hotels and event venues, among other things. The Nordic House is the only event venue in the Faroe Islands to be classified with five stars.

Photo: Sami Kultima, technical manager, Gunn Hernes, director, Birna Jacobsen, project manager