Construction and renovation activities
VINCI Construction France and VINCI Immobilier played their full part in implementing the new French environmental regulation adopted in 2020 (RE 2020) as of January 2022. This legislation factors in the energy consumption and carbon impact of buildings based on life cycle analysis over 50 years. As a preliminary step towards this new regulation, the E+C– label for positive-energy and low-carbon buildings anticipates the highest standards of energy and carbon performance and goes as far as commitments to obtain environmental labels (see paragraph 3.1.3.2, “Environmental labels”, page 225).
Energy renovation for existing buildings is another growing market. To meet the need for industrial-scale thermal building renovation, VINCI Construction has implemented the Rehaskeen® solution (see paragraph 3.1.4.1, “Employee engagement around environmental solutions and actions”, page 226). Two full operations were carried out on a building in Garges-lès-Gonesse (Greater Paris Renovated housing delegation, Building France Division) along with a programme at the veterinary school in Toulouse (South-West delegation, Building France Division), where 200 panels were installed in November 2022.
Managing energy performance
An increasing number of VINCI Construction projects are covered by comprehensive performance contracts, allowing for better control of construction and operating costs. Key wins in 2022 include the comprehensive performance contract for the Dupuy-de-Lôme secondary school in Lorient on Brittany’s south coast. The design-build project is undergoing energy savings certification (CEE), with the use of bio-sourced materials. Other projects are the construction, operation and maintenance contract to refurbish and restructure the Télécom ParisTech site (located in the French capital’s 13th arrondissement) and the project under the comprehensive performance contract between Urban Dumez (Building France Division) and the Prefecture of the Haut-Rhin, for the design, construction, upkeep and maintenance of the Mulhouse administrative complex in eastern France.
VINCI Energies develops software solutions to manage the environmental performance of buildings. For example, Nooco is used to check a building’s regulatory compliance, while another, P2C, optimises maintenance to improve the energy efficiency of buildings. VINCI Energies also supports the rollout of the Wave platform, which is under way at all VINCI Energies France Division sites and at those of many customers.VINCI Energies also carries out energy transition projects for industrial customers. For example, Actemium supported the Norwegian company Vafos Pulp AS in switching from an oil-fired to an electric heating system, which will save 13,000 tonnes of CO₂ per year.
Energy transition of infrastructure
Low-carbon energy production infrastructure
VINCI Construction participates in building low-carbon energy production 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 per year.
In 2021, VINCI Autoroutes launched Solarvia, a renewable energy production subsidiary. In addition to participating in France’s energy transition, the aim is to put the Group’s land to good use by developing solar projects wherever conditions allow – depending on solar radiation levels, topography, environment, urban planning and distance from the electricity grid – along abandoned motorways, the quarries of VINCI Construction’s Road France and Networks France divisions, and even on land outside VINCI Group sites. The energy produced is then injected into the local power grid to supply electricity to consumers. In 2022, 44 projects were in progress with a total installed capacity of 341 MWp.
VINCI also develops hydrogen production infrastructure with initiatives such as the creation of Hyfinity, a business unit dedicated to low-carbon hydrogen engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) projects. Another example is VINCI’s investment in Genvia, which develops high-performance electrolysers to produce low-carbon hydrogen. Actemium supports the company in its plans to industrialise these electrolysers.
Managing energy performance
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:
