Area 2
Active Climate
Protection
- Ambitious energy saving targets at all HOCHTIEF companies
- Renewable energy as growth driver
- International examples from our capabilities portfolio
Energy efficiency in its many facets is increasingly a major focus for HOCHTIEF, not least in connection with climate change. In many of our corporate units, we offer specific services based around sustainable construction, improving the energy efficiency of buildings* and resource-saving ways of doing business. We will continue to step up these efforts to actively protect the climate.
Clear commitment to climate protection
The Chairman of the HOCHTIEF Executive Board joined ranks in July 2008 with counterparts representing over 80 other leading international companies to sign the CEO Climate Policy Recommendations to G8 Leaders. As endorsers of the CEO Recommendations, we are actively committed to help fight climate change. Our Australian subsidiary Leighton has also endorsed the Recommendations. One of HOCHTIEF’s priorities is to cut carbon emissions from its vehicle fleet. In the first quarter, average carbon emissions across the fleet of 2,244 company cars in Germany stood at 154 g/km. We aim to cut this figure a lot further by incentivizing the choice of company cars with low emissions. We also encourage staff to use public transportation. Nearly a quarter of the workforce make use of the HOCHTIEF public transportation ticket plan in the region around our Essen headquarters alone. Additionally, we cover the cost of using local public transportation for shareholders traveling to our General Shareholders’ Meeting.
In the USA, Turner was the first national company in the construction industry to take part in the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Climate Leaders Program in 2006. Turner aims to cut its carbon emissions by
five percent by 2011, and three years ago adopted targets to become more eco-friendly in its own operations. One Turner office building already has LEED Gold certification.
Climate protection is a similarly high priority for companies in the Leighton business portfolio—for example, Leighton Contractors and Thiess. Both of these have signed up to the Greenhouse Challenge Plus program launched by the Australian government. In 2008, Leighton Holdings was singled out for acclaim by the Investor Group on Climate Change. In the context of the Carbon Disclosure Project 6 Report the company played a leading part in reporting to investors on a wide range of climate change topics relevant to investment. Thiess also participates in the Australian government’s Energy Efficiency Opportunities program .
The Leighton Contractors Energy Efficiency Opportunities Report 2008 describes various measures to trim the company’s ecological footprint. One target area is information technology: Leighton Contractors has adopted a Green IT Initiative, elements of which include establishing a baseline for current IT energy consumption. On the basis of this initiative, a partnership has been established with Hewlett-Packard to implement green office equipment and services. For example, Leighton Contractors exclusively uses laser printers that produce less heat and consume half as much electricity as standard printers. The company also partners with e3k to benchmark the energy efficiency of haul trucks and further lower carbon emissions. e3k performs research and development on innovative engineering products and prototypes.