In 2022, amid the energy crisis unfolding in Germany, 7Mind – a leading player in the German digital healthcare sector, with a focus on promoting digital mental wellbeing as part of Oakley’s Gymondo¹ investment – took a significant step towards reducing both its energy consumption and carbon footprint. As the energy crisis caused prices to soar and office attendance gradually increased post-COVID, the company sought to find ways to lower heating costs without compromising comfort for employees. By automating its office heating control system, 7Mind successfully reduced its heating usage by 7% between 2022 and 2023², maintaining near-identical heating costs despite the rising energy prices.

Corporate energy use, specifically heating, represents a major portion of an organisation’s carbon footprint, particularly in non-industrial sectors. While switching to a green electricity provider is an important first step, many businesses can overlook the considerable impact of heating, which consumes more energy globally than electricity generation³.

7Mind recognised that much of the organisation’s heating was being used inefficiently. Common scenarios, such as people turning up the heat in a cold meeting room and leaving it on long after they’d left, or neglecting to adjust the thermostat over the weekend, resulted in significant energy waste. These practices were easy to overlook, but simple interventions made a real difference.

The solution came in the form of smart thermostats – affordable devices that can be controlled via an app and are easy to install. By upgrading the office’s thermostats, 7Mind was able to set schedules that automatically adjusted heating for optimal use. Rooms would pre-heat on Monday mornings, and the system would reduce temperatures during off-hours, particularly on Fridays when the office tends to be quieter. Importantly, employees could still manually control the temperature during office hours, ensuring comfort while minimising energy waste.

To further reduce 7Mind’s environmental impact, the organisation chose to purchase more cost-effective second-hand smart thermostats. This small yet effective change has had a lasting impact on the organisation’s energy consumption and carbon footprint.

1. 7NXT owns and operates Gymondo, 7Mind and Buddyfit.

2. Invoices for 2024 are still outstanding at the time of writing, in Germany, utility invoices are sent to tenants usually with up to a year delay.

3. Heat is the greatest challenge in tackling climate change | World Economic Forum.