Waste and Materials CASE STUDY: Oikos Group When Goldman Sachs acquired a majority stake in Oikos, Germany’s second-largest provider of high-quality prefabricated homes in May 2021, we embarked on a journey seeking to further accelerate the decarbonization of the housing industry – an industry with a traditionally considerable carbon footprint. According to the World Green Building Council, the traditional building sector accounts for 36% of all emissions, 40% of energy consumption, and 50% of raw material extraction in the EU 1. While traditional brick and mortar homes can cause significant environmental emissions and is targeting a reduction of 15% Scope 1 and 2 cost and greenhouse gas emissions during production of carbon emissions per delivered house by 2025 (vs. 2020). the required input factors, Oikos’ homes’ walls and ceiling The company is also committed to maintaining its current structures are made from environmentally friendly wood and level of 100% renewable energy sourcing. Additionally, enjoy around 99% lower CO₂/sqm emissions over traditional Oikos is now actively tracking and reporting production houses and around 80-90% environmental cost advantage. waste per delivered house and is working on initiatives, including a boost in photovoltaic panels adoption within its Within the prefabricated housing industry, Oikos has long customer base, to further reduce life cycle CO2 emissions been positioned as one of the leaders not just in terms of after handing over completed houses to customers. We a state-of-the-art, high-quality modular product range, but believe that this continuous improvement on ESG metrics also for its sustainability focus along the entire value chain. will continue to help differentiate Oikos’ sustainable offering 1 versus its competitors. Starting with the company’s structured assessment of its already high baseline performance in each subcategory of ESG, we identified numerous other initiatives that we believe fully align the company with the emissions reduction goals of the Paris Agreement. For example, by phasing out diesel-powered production vehicles, investing in new heating systems, installing solar photovoltaic systems on its plants, and extending the environmental commitment along the supply chain through purchasing Forestry Stewardship Council / Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification-certified timber from responsibly ¹ World Green Building Council: "A sustainable built environment at the heart managed forests, Oikos could further reduce its carbon of Europe's future," June 2019. Sustainability Report 2021 Sustainability Issuance Report | Featured Investments 128