Reducing energy, mitigating climate change
As part of our Group-wide sustainability objective to progressively increase the efficiency of our own operations, we have set ourselves the target to reduce the energy intensity of our business by 20 percent by 2020 from a 2013 baseline.
The management of our worldwide real estate portfolio also plays a key role in ABB's energy efficiency performance. Our internal charter, The ABB Green Building Policy goes hand-in-hand with the Green Corporate Real Estate Management (Green CREM) strategy. This latter initiative, developed in Germany, is being implemented across Europe and will ultimately roll-out worldwide, safeguarding the global sustainability of our office sites and buildings.
We also seek to reduce the carbon intensity of our energy sources. Around the world, ABB operations increasingly choose to purchase certified “green” electricity and our facilities are installing on-site photovoltaic (PV) power plants to reduce environmental impacts and demonstrate ABB’s solar capabilities.
Other key areas of focus relate to our direct greenhouse gas emissions, which are mainly from fuel used in our operations as well as from SF6 emissions during production processes and gas handling on site. Elsewhere, programs to optimize logistics and packaging result in cost savings, improved quality and reduced emissions.