As some companies slowly bring employees back into their office space, one solar tech start-up eliminated its office space altogether, even as the numbers on its team have doubled.

As the second wave of Covid-19 hits, and as some companies slowly bring employees back into their office space, one solar tech start-up is eliminating its office space altogether, even as the numbers on its team have doubled.

Boxbrite Technologies was launched in Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada. The company develops software solutions for renewable energy, particularly in the solar energy industry, to help our energy systems transition to a sustainable future.
Owner Leon Kehl says the company's team has been working in home offices since March, when the pandemic hit. At the time, Boxbrite had seven team members. On the heels of Energy Efficiency Day, Kehl pledged to change the way the company fundamentally functions, from the standpoint of reducing its energy footprint, keeping employees safe and reducing overhead costs.
"Since the start of the pandemic and the lockdown, Boxbrite has already doubled in size without using a bricks-and-mortar office building," he says, noting the company's latest addition works out of Turkey, bringing the total on the team to 14. "As good stewards of the environment, we will no longer have traditional office space until we determine how and why we need it."
The pandemic forced the Boxbrite team to find new ways to work collaboratively with its customers and together as a team, without the use of traditional offices. A permanent change to a home office environment will have an impact for individual team members.
"We don't know what that impact will be yet, but I think, generally, it will be positive," says Kehl. "But there's also a positive impact on the environment, and that's hard to quantify, but it's the right thing to do."
Boxbrite employees will be provided with a $500 stipend to make the permanent transition to a home office, and existing whiteboards, monitors and office chairs will be distributed to provide employees with the tools they need to work effectively in their new office environment.

About Boxbrite

Trusted relationships are at the core of Boxbrite's business. Through a solid partnership with VCT Group of Waterloo, Boxbrite's team monitors the solar panels at evolv1, Canada's first zero-carbon building.
Seventy per cent of its employees are highly educated and skilled newcomers to Canada. Some members of the team have sought refuge here, and other team members live with neurodiversity. Boxbrite wants to help its employees thrive. The unique challenges and benefits of a diverse workforce drives the company forward; this approach has proven to turn highly educated and skilled people into trusted long-term employees.

For more information, please contact Lori-Ann Livingston, marketing and business development, Boxbrite Technologies, at loriann.l@boxbrite.com