To our stakeholders:
I am pleased to confirm that Gaia Solar A/S reaffirms its support of the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact in the areas of Human Rights, Labour, Environment and Anti-Corruption.
In this annual Communication on Progress, we describe our actions to continually improve the integration of the Global Compact and its principles into our business strategy, culture and daily operations. We also commit to share this information with our stakeholders using our primary channels of communication.
Sincerely yours,
Peter Terman Petersen
CEO 

Respecting the human rights principles is naturally incorporated into everything we do at Gaia Solar A/S. We have a long-standing tradition of treating people with respect and in observance of the human rights.
We take responsibility for our employees, the environment and the community we are a part of. We have high internal requirements to secure a safe and respectful work environment for our employees.
We use the framework of the UN Global Compact as a road map in our daily decision making.

Policies
Our HR policy stresses that “we do not discriminate on the basis of gender, sexual orientation or religion” and “We do not use forced or child labor”.
The company's employee handbook clearly describes the company's values and employees' rights. The handbook describes, among other things, the right to vacation, child´s first day of sickness etc.
The handbook and policies is evaluated ones every year. It is handed out to all new employees and can be found on our internal IT platform and external website.
Work Environment Organization
We ensure our employees' right to health and safety through the company's Work Environment Organization that annually conducts a legally based APV (Workplace assessment) and by offering health insurance to all.
Whistle-blower scheme
We have established a whistle blower scheme in form of a mailbox. There have been no submissions in 2015.
We educate all employees to make sure that they understand Human Rights and know our policies.
At the first staff meeting in 2014, all employees were informed of our CSR policy and the objectives of the UN Global Compact. In addition, our policies are described in the company's employee handbook.
Supplier evaluation
We screen all suppliers based on the information they provide, as well as through a quality / CSR questionnaire, which is sent out annually to all primary suppliers.
We have identified and listed 24 suppliers of components in our products. They are screened based on the information they make available in their communication. In addition, we have sent out a questionnaire about their CSR and quality policy. Regrettably we only received five answers. Based on some of the responses, it is our feeling that there may have been some linguistic challenges for the respondents. In addition, Gaia Solar is a relatively small company with low buying power, and that can be the reason for the low response rate. Of the five suppliers who have answered the questionnaire, all confirmed that they comply with the principles of the UN Global Compact. There is a need to adapt the questionnaire and to consider visiting some of the main suppliers. In the coming year we plan to reduce the number of suppliers and further enhance the management of these.
Acceptance testing
All products are checked on receipt, and the origin and the quality is verified. This prevents the use of unapproved products. We will continue this procedure in 2016.
In the year to come we will:
• Continue training the staff to ensure that everyone has an understanding of human rights and thus can avoid violating these.
• Continue to screen our suppliers and further develop our supplier questionnaire.

We will measure our progress in the annual APV (Workplace assessment) that will later be evaluated by the management group.
Any information given through the whistle blower will be logged, investigated and evaluated by the top management.

Our primary region of operation, Denmark, has a long tradition for respecting the freedom of association.
Gaia Solar A/S adheres to local laws on labour rights. All employees are free to join trade unions of their own choice, and we respect the right to collective bargaining.
We take responsibility for our employees by creating a healthy work environment both physically, psychologically and ethically.

Policies
We offer flexible working hours in respect of work/life balance as well as the possibility to work from home.
Employee Development Interviews
We conduct annual Employee Development Interviews (MUS) for all employees. The primary objective of the MUS is to ensure regular, systematic and strategically anchored competency development. In addition to ensuring that employees’ competencies are constantly up to date and in line with the company’s needs, another key objective of the MUS is to contribute – through dialogue – to our employees’ increased
well-being, job satisfaction and motivation.
Supplier evaluation
We have mapped our suppliers in relation to their compliance with GC 10 principles. See under Human Rights.
Health insurance
Our employees are covered by health insurance and further we have increased the support through the company pension scheme
Work Environment Organization
We have a Work Environment Organization, that monitors and work to prevent accidents at work, stress, sickness and bullying among colleagues. We conduct an annual Work Place Assessment (APV) that measures the work environment, job satisfaction, motivation and stress among our employees.
Lunch
We have established a lunch program for all employees to ensure a healthy diet during the workday.
Cooperation with our local municipality
We have frequent meetings with the mayor and the chairman of the Business Council to express our intentions
of cooperation. We have had visits from several school classes in the municipality with the purpose of teaching them about renewable energy and general business processes.
Every year we take trainees and internships from the local schools and from the universities
In 2015 we have increased the security level for all employees by implementing an emergency procedure. The procedure secures that all employees know what to do and who to contact if an accident should occur.

In the year to come we will:
We focus on communication to employees, to insure that all employees understand their value to the company and how they affect the overall results. This will be done as part of the implementation of the strategy for 2015-2018.
We will continue to cooperate with the local municipality and take trainees.
We will increase our cooperation with students and universities

We will inplement the new ISO 9001 standard, with a focus on of getting more streamlined procedures and tasks, with the aim of simplifying the work procedures and reduce the strees level amongst our staff.

Employee satisfaction will be measured in the annual APV (Workplace assessment) that will later be evaluated by the management group.
All suppliers will be evaluated based on their compliance with GC 10 principles. The result is mapped in our CRM-system.
We will have received at least one trainee from the local schools.
We will follow up actively on deviation reporte from oyr QA system.

As a manufacturer of sustainable energy solutions, a healthy and sustainable environment is of great importance for us.
In 2016 we developed new solar cell panels for building integration. The panels constitute part of the building envelope thus replacing another material and reducing the overall use of materials. The panels produce electricity, and the building envelope can actually pay for itself.

We constantly work to map and improve the company’s and our products environmental impact.

We have an environmental policy.
During the last few years we have focused on reducing our own use of materials and resources.
We have reduced the water consumption, the use of electricity, use of paper etc. We continue to monitor our own consumption, but the gains are very neglible.
From 2016 we will focus on developing integrated solutions that reduces the overall materiel consumption and reduces the CO2 footprint .
Optimization of indoor climate
In 2015 the facades were refurbished and the insulation was increased. New windows were also installed. All in all the facade refurbishment have reduced the energy consumption and we have achieved a better indoor climate.
Renewable energy
We have installed a solar energy system on top of our headquarters, which supply us with renewable energy.

In 2016 we will develop at least one more integration product, for integration in reed pantile roofs.

In 2016 we will investigate the consequences of the new European Construction Products Regulation and the CE marking requirements for multifunctional building components

Gaia Solar has a non-tolerance policy for corruption. We do not accept that our employees offer, demand or receive money, presents or other services in order to achieve personal or commercial preferential treatment.
We operate within the 10 principles of the Global Compact and expect our business partners to do the same.

Our Employee handbook clearly states that we do not tolerate that our employees engage in undeclared work and lists our policy on giving and receiving gifts.
Whistle-blower scheme
We have a whistle-blower scheme in the form of a mailbox. There has been no submissions in 2015.
Supplier evaluation
We have mapped and evaluated all suppliers in relation to their compliance with GC 10 principles.
See under Human Rights.
In the year to come we will:
•Continue to screen our suppliers and further develop our supplier questionnaire.

Any information given through the whistle-blower will be logged, investigated and evaluated by the top management