Protecting our environment

In order to build a low-carbon, virtuous, responsible future for construction for the benefit of future generations, we contribute to the development of innovative and sustainable solutions in the VINCI Group’s three key priority areas: acting for the climate, optimising resources thanks to the circular economy, and preserving natural environments.

In addition to our main areas of action to limit our environmental impact, some of our business lines have a strong focus on energy and ecological transition, such as hydraulic infrastructure and sustainable mobility, or energy production and storage.

VINCI CONSTRUCTION GRANDS PROJETS IS COMMITTED TO PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT AT ITS SITES AND WORKSITES:

Our ambition is set out in a 2030 Environmental Plan, shared by all the entities of VINCI Construction’s Major Projects Division, establishing the strategy and initiatives to be implemented in order to achieve our objectives:

• limit our energy needs and carbon emissions by reducing our direct carbon emissions by 40% and our indirect carbon emissions by 30%.
• optimise our resources and achieve a 90% material recovery rate for our materials and equipment
• protect natural environments at all our sites, in particular by reducing our water consumption, preserving water resources and taking measures to promote biodiversity

In order to achieve this, our teams build their own environmental plan at each site and set their own objectives and targets, over and above the client’s requirements.

We ensure that controlling our environmental footprint is a key performance criterion. We offer our clients streamlined, more environmentally friendly solutions that are tailored to their unique needs. In line with our Environmental Plan, we have implemented the Environment in Design approach, which incorporates our environmental ambitions at the earliest possible stage of our design and site preparation process.

IN-HOUSE TOOLS AND INNOVATIONS TO MAKE OUR AMBITION A REALITY

GESTIM™: Estimating the greenhouse gas emissions of a worksite.

Identifying the sources of emissions is vital in order to limit them and to propose environmental solutions that are integrated into the design and construction of our projects.

VINCI Construction Grands Projets developed the CO2CRETE IMPACT™ tool to quantify greenhouse gas emissions in the concrete-production process. This is also a design tool to compare technical variants of concrete to reduce its impact while optimising cost-effectiveness.

GEStim™ is the result of our R&D work in environmental performance. It has been designed in compliance with the carbon footprint method of the French Environment and Energy Management Agency (ADEME) in order to calculate the overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions generated by the construction of a project, starting from the tender stage. This software helps us to propose environmentally appropriate variants.

CO2CRETE IMPACT™: ESTIMATING THE GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FOR CONCRETE

Concrete production is responsible for about 6% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Consequently, reducing concrete emissions is one of our key challenges.

CO2CRETE IMPACT™, which has also been designed in compliance with ADEME’s carbon footprint method, allows us to quantify the greenhouse gas emissions of a concrete formula or supplier and find ways to reduce its environmental impact.

Exegy: A game-changing range of ultra-low-carbon concrete

Our recognised concrete expertise is also being used to assist in environmental protection.

With Exegy, VINCI Construction’s ultra-low-carbon concrete brand, with which we are associated through the Tunnel Factory, we are putting our sense of innovation to work in improving the energy performance of our structures.

This means up to 70% fewer emissions than traditional concrete, while maintaining or improving product effectiveness!

Discover our innovations and commitments with Exegy

An environmental culture central to our strategy

When it comes to implementing our ambition, our teams are on the front line. We are committed to raising their awareness through effective initiatives that drive innovation and progress.

As part of its commitment to Act4Nature, VINCI also launched its first Environment Day in 2020. This initiative marked the start of its Environment Awards, celebrating our commitment at corporate and individual team level. With nearly one hundred initiatives submitted, they are actively involved in deploying pragmatic, modular solutions that can be transposed to our construction sites all over the world, with two world winners in particular: Exegy, and the eco-use of water at our Abdelmoumen pumped storage power plant in Morocco.

Since then, each year, Environment Day has provided an opportunity to conduct a wide-ranging campaign to raise awareness of the issues we face and spotlight the initiatives arising from our projects. It also afforded an opportunity to establish a partnership with Reforest’Action for the planting of thousands of trees in countries in which we operate (Colombia, Ivory Coast, France).

We also train our teams in environmental issues so that they can provide an appropriate response that incorporates our environmental imperatives into all their activities. To ensure they are accessible to as many people as possible, these training courses are available to employees as e-learning or in person. They raise their awareness, increase their skills and provide them with the tools they need to increasingly integrate e environmental considerations from the earliest stages of a project, in line with our “Environment in Design” approach and, ultimately, to achieve our environmental objectives.