Climate Action

Reducing current carbon emissions

We've reduced our carbon emissions by 56% since 2020.

We follow EPA Guidelines to calculate our carbon footprint. As a work solutions company, we don’t generate Scope 1 emissions from manufacturing goods, operating heavy machinery, or driving vehicles as part of our business. Historically, we have indirectly generated Scope 2 and 3 carbon emissions through office utilities, employee commutes, business travel, and the power used for our cloud-based services.

Here’s how we’ve reduced these emissions by over 50%:

Working remote

In 2020, our workforce transitioned from working in offices to a virtual-first workplace. This has had a dramatic impact on our carbon footprint by cutting approximately 3,380 tons of CO₂ annually from commuting and office utilities.

Scaling back business travel

Since 2020, our teams have embraced a remote collaboration strategy that has proven to be just as effective as traveling to meet in person. From our reporting, this reduction in business travel removes several hundred tons of CO₂ each year.

Moving data storage

We migrated hosting for our proprietary recruiting software from a data center in Virginia to a facility in Oregon powered by renewable hydroelectric energy. This saves approximately two tons of carbon emissions annually.

Erasing our historic footprint

We've increased our carbon offsets by 5x with investments in solar.

Our CEO, John H. Chuang, has set an ambitious goal to offset our historic footprint since our founding in 1986. While we considered simply buying carbon credits to achieve this, we decided that a more active approach of investing in clean energy projects was more in line with our values. In 2022 and 2023, we rolled out six solar arrays, with construction underway for several more in 2024. This represents a 5x increase in our carbon offsets, putting us on the path to erase our entire historical carbon footprint.

Fred Abel

Indianapolis, IN

Year Online:

2022

Size:

693 Panels

Lifetime Output:

500,008 kWh

Aquent partnered with Indianapolis property management company Fred Abel Group to develop solar projects that mitigated escalating energy costs for tenants Ball State University College of Architecture and Planning and Circle Bev Kombucha.

Fortville Town Hall and Community Center

Fortville, IN

Year Online:

2022

Size:

163 Panels

Lifetime Output:

137,978 kWh

The Town of Fortville, Indiana partnered with HSI Solar and Aquent on a solar project for its Town Hall and Community Center buildings. The project not only saves energy costs but also demonstrates the town's commitment to future generations.

Mt. Sterling Dairy

Mt. Sterling, OH

Year Online:

2023

Size:

528 Panels

Lifetime Output:

136,874 kWh

Mt. Sterling Dairy is a family-owned farm that prioritizes sustainability. The dairy worked with Aquent on a project that uses an innovative “ice bank” system to store solar energy and use it when it's needed most.

Gathyr Apartments

Indianapolis, IN

Year Online:

2023

Size:

172 Panels

Lifetime Output:

23,564 kWh

Built in 2023, Gathyr is a modern apartment building in downtown Indianapolis, IN. HSI Solar and Aquent worked with the developer to add rooftop solar to the project, which powers most common areas in the complex.

Nixon Farm Lane

Baltimore, MD

Year Online:

2024 (Projected)

Size:

13,302 Panels

Lifetime Output:

n/a

Nixon Farm Lane is a 4.4 Megawatt (MW) “grid-scale” solar facility. The project supplies clean energy for the Baltimore Public School System as well as Christ Church Harbor Apartments.

KTH Parts Industries

St. Paris, OH

Year Online:

2025 (Projected)

Size:

5,910 Panels

Lifetime Output:

n/a

KTH Parts Industries is a Tier-1 OEM supplier specializing in precision stamped sheet metal. To address peak energy demand charges, HSI Solar and Aquent are developing a 2.8MW solar array at its St. Paris, OH plant, covering 7% of its energy needs.

Measuring our impact

We built a Solar Twin to track the holistic impact of our emissions and offsetting efforts.

To ensure continuous improvement, we've built a Solar Twin that visualizes our emissions and our progress toward becoming carbon negative and erasing our historic carbon footprint. This digital model also factors in the clean energy output of our solar arrays, offering a holistic view of our environmental impact. By consistently monitoring the data, we can identify areas for optimization and celebrate progress towards our ambitious sustainability goals.

Tracking carbon and our progress

Our Solar Twin includes a historical record of emissions that provides a clear picture of our environmental journey and forecasts our future emissions to guide future carbon-reduction efforts. Each solar array installation is also represented with a digital model and real-time data. We can track the kilowatt-hours (kWh) of clean energy our solar projects generate as well as the carbon emissions offset by this production. This continuous stream of data helps us monitor progress and see the impact of our efforts.

Validating the Data

To foster accountability and transparency with our stakeholders, we partner with Apex, CDP, and EcoVadis. These third-party experts verify our measurement methodology and emissions data so you can feel confident in our actions and progress.