Invent sustainable buildings

Promoting sustainable construction

Raising awareness among stakeholders

In industrialized nations, the building industry alone accounts for around 40% of energy consumption and 38% of greenhouse gas emissions.

Source: UNEP-SBCI

New ways of building must be found to address the challenges created by the world’s growing population, accelerated urbanization in fast-growth economies and the construction industry’s major impact on the environment. Stepped-up efforts to build new buildings and renovate old ones are also required to resolve the issue of aging constructions in mature countries. At the same time, it has become urgent to limit energy consumption and raw materials use in the face of climate change and dwindling natural resources. No significant progress can be made without massive action in this area.

In the front lines

For many years, Saint-Gobain has been involved in local efforts to promote sustainable buildings by joining Green Building Councils (GBCs). These national associations of building market professionals and actors offer an effective forum for promoting sustainable construction. The Group belongs to more than 30 GBCs worldwide. It is also a European regional network partner, a Platinum member of the US Green Building Council and a Corporate Advisory Board Member of the World Green Building Council.

At the European level

To meet the challenges of growth, energy efficiency and environmental protection, Saint-Gobain demonstrates through tangible projects how its innovative solutions contribute to sustainable residential buildings, offices, hospitals, daycare centers, schools and other service-sector buildings. Saint-Gobain has also helped to create and develop a number of local associations to generate support for energy efficient buildings, among them Isolons la Terre contre le CO₂ in France; Spaar het klimaat in the Netherlands; and Alliance to Save Energy in the United States. 

For Saint-Gobain, sustainable buildings are energy efficient, environmentally friendly, comfortable and healthy.

Setting the example

To meet the challenges of growth, energy efficiency and environmental protection, Saint-Gobain demonstrates through tangible projects how its innovative solutions contribute to sustainable residential buildings, offices, hospitals, daycare centers, schools and other service-sector buildings. 

Multi-Comfort Program

Multi-Comfort House, Larvik, Norway.

With the Multi-Comfort program, numerous Group Activities have joined forces on residential and non-residential building and renovation projects. As a showcase of Saint-Gobain know-how, these projects comply with each country’s specific features while anticipating new regulations. Designed to minimize environmental impacts, the program focuses on five types of comfort:

• thermal, 
• acoustic, 
• visual (attractive, with optimized use of natural light), 
• air quality, 
• security and modular (to adapt to changing needs). 

The CARE:4^® Program

To set the example, Saint-Gobain’s CARE:4^® (Company Actions for the Reduction of Energy by 4) program calls for a fourfold reduction in overall energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in the Group’s own office buildings by 2040. 

Develop Sustainable Solutions 

Inventing the solutions of tomorrow 

Life Cycle Assessment

weber.col flex éco tile adhesive was developed in accordance with the principles of eco-innovation.

Metrics are needed to gauge improvement. Life Cycle Assessments (LCAs) are the main tool used by Saint-Gobain to evaluate the environmental footprint of its products and solutions. Rigorous and comprehensive, Life Cycle Assessment is the most widely used method today in the sustainable construction market. The LCA results allow the Group to understand where the main environmental impacts of a product are situated. They are also used to identify priority avenues for improvement. 

Life Cycle Assessments have been conducted for all Saint-Gobain building market product lines.

Eco-innovation

Saint-Gobain is committed to providing customers with real added value by developing and distributing innovative solutions that reduce the environmental impact of buildings and infrastructure across their full life cycle. This is the objective of the Group’s eco-innovation policy, which is supported by tools and series of training courses. With eco-innovation, Marketing and R&D teams take environmental impacts into account as they create the solutions of tomorrow.

Better Conserve Resources 

The circular economy

The building industry generates many types of waste. Saint-Gobain is responding to this situation by rolling out projects to recover construction or demolition waste, including by reducing waste at the source (notably through eco-innovation), sorting waste at worksites and recycling collected waste.

Supporting customers

Saint-Gobain informs external partners, architects, builders and craftsmen about its products’ environmental performance by sharing the results of its Life Cycle Assessments and the contribution of its solutions to buildings that have received environmental certification (HQE, LEED, BREEAM, DGNB, etc.). 

Training contractors in construction and energy renovation techniques is a strategic challenge for the Group, which devotes substantial resources to informing and educating building industry professionals. Numerous initiatives have been launched:

• roving exhibits,
• specialized counters in Building Distribution trade brands, 
• on-site support, 
• conferences, 
• cross-functional or topic-specific training centers.