Reducing our environmental footprint

The actions we are taking align with our 3 commitments

• a 3% reduction in energy consumption in 2020;
• a 5% reduction in the volume of waste generated by 2023;
• 100% of new buildings “High Environmental Quality” certified, or equivalent, from 2020.

Commitment 1: A 3% reduction in energy consumption in 2020

Anabelle Billy, Group Real Estate Technical Director

“Reducing our consumption while ensuring optimal comfort represents a challenge. We want to go further and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Reducing energy consumption in our existing buildings is essential to this, as they represent 34% of our carbon footprint.”

We are investing in platforms for collecting consumption data via our bills, which enable us to identify over-consumption and adjust the settings on our equipment. We’ve put energy performance contracts in place: a partner supplier finances a more efficient boiler or insulation for us and is paid according to the energy saved. Every facility is ramping up its commitment to the cause, with regional and national support to identify gaps and generalise good practices.

This annual target of a 3% reduction across all our sites will be part of the low-carbon strategy that we are currently defining for the six countries, incorporating each one’s national regulations. With this in mind, we’ve recently drawn up an inventory of all our energy expenditure in all our buildings. We’re in the process of setting achievable reduction targets each year for the next five to ten years and deciding on the best approaches. This strategy will be finalised in the last quarter of 2020, and should make a crucial contribution to reducing our carbon emissions significantly in the long term, along with the other major CO2 emissions: food (26% of our carbon footprint), our teams' travel (10%), and purchases (16%).

Commitment 1: A 5% reduction in the volume of waste generated by 2023

Alexis Lemeillet, co-founder of start-up Take a Waste

“To improve the management of waste in all its facilities, Korian is working both to reduce the quantities generated and to improve sorting and recycling. Its global approach is being rolled out gradually and systematically.”

In France in 2018, and in Germany in 2019, our French start-up Take a Waste conducted a study to analyse the costs and volumes of waste generated by the facilities and to understand the teams’ sorting practices. Nearly 50 sites have been audited and concrete avenues for optimisation have been identified.
This diagnostic is being replicated in the other European countries during 2020. It allows dashboards to be created to monitor performance in the facilities, prioritise actions and provide bespoke support for all sites by the end of 2023. The financial savings made mean that recovery of bio-waste can be gradually introduced in France, as is already the case at 100% of the sites in Germany.

Commitment 1: 100% of new buildings HEQ* certified or equivalent by 2020

Alessandro Bartucci, Real Estate Director, Korian Italy

“Some of Korian’s buildings have already been certified, as required, by independent bodies. To speed up this process, the decision was taken in 2019 to certify all new buildings constructed in 2020.”

In Italy, this led us, at the end of 2018, to move towards a new strategy that pays special attention to the use of renewable energies and low-impact materials, especially wood. This strategy was tested for our building in Sondrio, which was built with prefabricated wooden structures, and we’ve decided to adopt it for all new projects.

This decision enables us to respond positively to the issue of eco-sustainability, and, thanks to the passive properties of the building envelope, to guarantee optimal thermal comfort. For systems and equipment, we’ve also investigated and approved the use of a micro-cogeneration system which produces both electricity and heat from a single plant.

For some of our new construction projects we are adopting the innovative concept we’re currently developing: combining a nursing home and serviced apartments in the same facility, plus shared accommodation on two sites.