2016 CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY REPORT (CSR)
4
ENVIRONMENTAL INFORMATION: ASSYSTEM’S COMMITMENT TO PRESERVING RESOURCES
4.4.2.2
Energy performance and environmental
management
The Group is committed to dynamically managing its energy performance
and all decisions about working space are measured against financial,
social and environmental yardsticks.
ISO 14001-certification is obtained for the environmental management
systems at Group sites where this is required due to the nature of their
activities. This is the case for example at the Preston site in the United
Kingdom and at Silver Atena in Germany. All of these sites are subject
to regular independent energy audits (annually in Germany and in
the United Kingdom under the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme
– ESOS).
Action to improve energy performance mainly concerns the following
two areas:
●
energy and paper use
A certain number of initiatives have been launched at various sites
to reduce energy and paper use, particularly in the United Kingdom.
Objectives are set for each site, and performance in relation to the
objectives is measured. Examples of these initiatives include installing
low-energy lighting and energy-efficient air-conditioning systems that
switch off automatically at certain times of day, regularly maintaining
air-conditioning and heating systems to improve their efficiency,
displaying reminders to avoid documents being printed unnecessarily,
installing movement sensors and remote computer shutdown systems.
These measures have led to a significant reduction in energy use in
the United Kingdom.
●
energy efficient buildings
The Group also takes specific measures to improve the energy
performance of its infrastructure, in particular by renting office space
in energy-efficient buildings and reducing office space per employee.
In Romania, the Group decided to rent space in an old building
that had been renovated and restructured in accordance with high
environmental and sustainability standards (with the installation of a
heat pump, double-glazing, etc.).
Teleworking also helps to reduce the Group’s carbon footprint, mainly
by reducing the need for office space (see Section 4.3.1.4 of this
Registration Document).
4.4.2.3
The circular economy - preventing
and managing waste
The Group does not have an overall waste management, reduction
and recycling policy. However, action is taken at many sites to raise
employee awareness of the necessary routine gestures in this regard:
●
in France, used ink cartridges are collected and recycled, at Saint-
Quentin-en-Yvelines individual wastepaper bins were removed and
a selective sorting system was trialled in 2016 (with the aim of
continuing the trial in 2017), directors desk paperless boardroom
software was introduced for meetings of the Board of Directors and
the Executive Committee;
●
in the United Kingdom, a waste reduction target is set each year,
supported by incentives to reduce paper use (for example, recto-verso
printing as the default printer setting), posters reminding staff of the
importance of preventing and managing waste, and the recycling
and sale of metal waste from the workshops;
●
in Romania, obsolete computer equipment is kept so that re-usable
parts can be recycled.
4.4.3
ASSYSTEM’S PARTICIPATION
IN ENERGY TRANSITION
The Group recognises that clients are increasingly sensitive to
environmental issues and has set the following objectives:
●
develop the skills that will be needed in the future, through an ambitious
training plan (see Section 4.3.5.2 of this Registration Document);
●
encourage employee initiatives in this direction, notably through
the Assystem Innovation Factory, an experimental laboratory that
develops innovative projects and brings them to fruition. Priority is
given to developing creative, durable and resource-efficient solutions
for clients.
The Group also works on many projects that have an impact on the
environment, supporting clients in their energy transition and helping
them to reduce their overall carbon footprint.
The following are just some of the projects the Group participated in
during 2016:
●
Energy & Infrastructure division
Assystem and Distech Controls won a contract to provide turnkey
systems integration services for the Building Technical Management
(BTM) system of the new Paris High Court (TGI) building, which has
set new standards in terms of energy efficiency in high-rise buildings,
with automatically controlled heating, ventilation, air-conditioning,
lighting and window-blind systems.
The Momentum joint venture set up between UK-based Amec Foster
Wheeler, AEOS and South Korea’s Kepco E&C was chosen to be the
construction management-as-agent contractor for the ITER project in
Cadarache (France), responsible for managing the assembly of more
than one million components for the world’s largest nuclear fusion
reactor with a tokamak at its core. A tokamak is an experimental
machine designed to harness the energy of fusion, the nuclear
reaction that powers the sun. Momentum will therefore play a key
role in the international effort to make fusion a viable source of almost
limitless carbon-free energy.
The Proxemys consortium led by Assystem and also comprising Louis
Berger and Antea Group won a contract to assist Société du Grand
Paris in developing the Grand Paris Express low carbon automatic
metro system for inhabitants of the Greater Paris area. The aim of the
ASSYSTEM
REGISTRATION DOCUMENT
2016
60