As an extension of sustainable construction, building reversibility is another key challenge that can help offset the lack of available land resources and the cost of converting buildings. In order to give buildings several lives, VINCI Construction France is already developing its construction standards by integrating and anticipating uses and lifestyles that are likely to be transformed. Reversible design was applied on the Treed It project, delivered in 2021 in Champs-sur-Marne outside Paris. Its office building was built using an innovative process whereby the offices can be converted into student housing units. Another example is the Universeine project in Saint-Denis, where the athletes’ accommodations within new buildings will be converted into office space once the sporting event has ended.
An increasing number of VINCI Construction France projects are covered by comprehensive performance contracts, allowing for better control of construction and operating costs. The partnership with the future technical operator protects construction choices and provides two viewpoints to ensure that works are carried out in compliance with the project agreement. Key wins in 2021 include the renovation and restructuring contract for four buildings at the Télécom Paris site (located in the French capital’s 13th arrondissement), a construction, operation and maintenance contract signed in March, and works on the Carreire campus of Université de Bordeaux, under a comprehensive performance contract that combines a five-year operation and maintenance agreement with an energy efficiency commitment over the same period.
VINCI Energies develops software solutions to manage the environmental performance of buildings. Nooco is an RE 2020-certified solution used to check a building’s regulatory compliance. Another solution is P2C, which optimises maintenance to improve the energy efficiency of buildings.
In its role as an integrator, VINCI Energies is helping drive the deployment of technologies to support its customers in moving forward with their energy transition and reducing their carbon footprint:
VINCI Construction participates in building low-carbon energy infrastructure, such as wind farms and their storage solutions. VINCI Construction Grands Projets is building a 350 MW pumped storage hydroelectric plant in Abdelmoumen, Morocco, to help offset any intermittency in wind power supply. Geocean has commissioned the longest seawater air-conditioning (SWAC) system for the Taoone campus of Papeete hospital in French Polynesia. By drawing cold water from a depth of 900 metres, the SWAC system delivers cool air to the buildings and reduces electricity consumption by 12 GWh, i.e. 5,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalent per year.
VINCI Autoroutes launched new renewable energy production operations in 2021. The aim is to build large photovoltaic farms wherever land conditions allow – depending on solar radiation levels, topography, environment, urban planning and distance from the electricity grid – along abandoned motorways, Eurovia quarries, and even on land outside VINCI Group sites. The energy produced will then be sold to the local power grid or directly to industrial customers. Under one of these projects, VINCI Autoroutes partnered with Tryba Energy to deploy a photovoltaic power plant along the A19 motorway, covering 5 hectares in Chantecoq in north-central France. On top of the output of its self-consumption facilities, VINCI Concessions has photovoltaic installations with a combined capacity of 11.6 MWp in 2021, which is fed into the power grid.
Net Zero Initiative guidelines specify three ways companies can contribute to carbon neutrality. In anticipation of customer requests to use carbon sinks as a complement to measures they take to reduce emissions, some VINCI companies have gotten involved in developing them. For example, in 2021 VINCI Airports began financing forest carbon sink projects. For Lyon-Saint Exupéry and Lyon Bron airports, a local reforestation programme is being implemented in partnership with the French National Forest Office (ONF). This programme already covers 3.6 hectares, and other projects are planned, for example in France with the Label Bas Carbone programme in partnership with the Group’s customers.
In 2020, VINCI conducted a comprehensive assessment of its indirect emissions via the Group’s environmental correspondents. The first area of focus in 2021 was to improve the reliability of this assessment by reviewing the data and methodology with the assistance of an outside consultant. This work was used to align methodological interpretations between Group companies and broaden the assessment scope. The second area of focus was to quantify reduction levers. The quantification was based on actions already identified by business lines in their environmental action plans as well as on an analysis of the regulatory requirements and trends resulting from changes in the emissions of Group partners throughout the value chain.
Building on this work, a target has been set to reduce the Group’s indirect emissions (Scope 3) by 20% by 2030 compared to its 2019 baseline. It involves an absolute reduction covering all emissions categories, upstream and downstream. It also goes beyond mandatory emissions, as defined by the GHG Protocol, as it covers emissions from motorway traffic. This target has been added to the target of reducing Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 40% between 2018 and 2030. Together, these two targets have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative and make the Group’s target-setting strategy consistent with a reduction well below 2°C.
The next few months will be devoted to setting up a dedicated reporting system to monitor both Scope 3 emissions and emissions reduction plans. These plans will continue on from actions already taken and the many initiatives showcased at the VINCI Environment Awards.
