Home Reno
Hypothetical Case
M. Valente
Home Reno is a large do-it-yourself lumber and hardware retail company. Our main business is
providing customers with thousands of hardware and lumber products that assist in their home projects.
We also provide retail support for independent contractors. Our products range from lumber to electrical
and plumbing products to kitchen and bath ware, gardening, storage, and power tools.
Here at Home Reno, we have a strong commitment to sustainability. We believe that it is integral to our
business and we make every effort to ensure that issues of sustainability are integrated into everything
that we do. We have been reporting on our sustainability performance since 2013, and we represent a
leader in reporting practices within our industry. At Home Reno we report according to the metrics laid
out by the Sustainable Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and the Global Reporting Initiative. The
following is meant to provide you with a summary of our commitment.
Energy and Carbon Emissions
100% of the electricity that powers our corporate headquarters come from renewable sources. At the retail
store level, we have achieved a 24% reduction in stores’ electricity consumption since 2015. We have
committed to reaching net zero (in terms of carbon emissions) by 2040 for all scope 1 (emissions we
control) and scope 2 (emissions generated from the electricity to power our operations) emissions.
Although scope 3 emissions (those coming from suppliers in the making of products, product use, and
customer disposal) represent 96% of our total emissions, we have yet to fully measure our emissions from
this source. That said, we are extremely committed to working with suppliers to reduce these emissions.
For instance, we have partnered with lumber companies as part of an international movement to eliminate
the destruction of old growth forests. We can also report that 10% of our suppliers have reduced their
emissions by 15% in the last two years. Climate change is indeed a major concern for society and we’re
doing our part to respond and to be part of the solution. In fact, our reporting practices on Scopes 1 and 2
adhere directly to requirements of the Securities Exchange Commission recently imposed on all public
companies.
Waste
To Home Reno, waste is an issue that we take very seriously. At
corporate headquarters, we have reduced our waste by 85% and
increased the recycling of waste by 100%. Home Reno also launched
the Bluesky Waste Initiative which, so far, has led to a 25% reduction
in waste at the retail store level, far surpassing our goal of 18% set in
2018. Our retail associates are very proud of the efforts to reduce
waste in individual stores. This has been a major achievement. In terms of recycling, we are proud of our
very popular tool rental facilities that encourages customers to consider renting tools that they might not
need for long periods rather than purchasing and then eventually disposing of those products. We are also
working to reduce the packaging intensity of our products. Several of our major suppliers have removed
all single use plastic containers in response to recent Canadian legislation. Finally, we are very proud
about our “Recycle First – Waste Second” program, which accepts old appliances if and when consumers
purchase new appliances with us. Thus far, we have diverted over 1308 appliances from landfills in
Canada since 2018.
Material Use
Material use refers to raw materials that are used to make up the thousands of products on our store
shelves in addition to any materials used in the operations of our stores. We pride ourselves on the
quality and safety of the products we sell in our stores. By ensuring that our products are tested and
certified (where possible) by the highest standards, we keep our customers safe. All cleaning products
used in our stores are environmentally safe. At corporate headquarters, we are very proud of the fact that
our building is LEED certified, meaning that our building conforms with the leading international
standard in sustainability. The decision of what materials to use in the construction of our retail stores
very much incorporates sustainability. For instance, many of our retail stores have solar panels on the
roof and use steel roofing technology that is recyclable. We no longer use paper where possible and have
digitized all customer transactions.
Commitment to Community
In 2022, we donated $13.4 million to various charity groups and foundations in local communities in
which our retail stores are located in Canada. Although our employees
are not directly involved in the above three issues, they are very
committed to engaging with their communities. For instance, 77% of our
employees participated in the annual Home Reno 10km race to raise
awareness for deforestation in the forestry industry while 82% of our
employees contributed a small sum of money (which we matched as a
company) to support various landfill diversion projects in multiple
municipalities across Canada. We do this because consumer packaged
goods account for up to 60% of landfill waste. Many experts have remarked that upwards of 99% of
products consumers purchase end up in a landfill within 6 months. We believe that it is our responsibility
to engage in this issue by supporting those organizations working to combat this very dangerous trend.
The above captures the major initiatives we now undertake at Home Reno. We also present our material
Matrix in Appendix 1. Sustainability is very important to us just like it is important to our stakeholders.
Appendix 1
Materiality Matrix – Home Reno
Climate Change
Supply Chain
practices
Waste
Importance to
Stakeholders/
Society
Ethical
decisions
Poverty
Unsustainable
forestry
Community
Wellbeing
Product Quality
and Safety
Relevance to Firm Business Model
Employee
Wellbeing