Responsible Real Estate / Environmental policy / Our human and social responsibility / Home page / RSE Société Générale - Sustainable development at Societe Generale, Corporate an social responsibility (CSR) at SG

Responsible Real Estate**

Objective:

keep the energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of the buildings to a strict minimum.

Priority for 2009:

define a body of Group environmental standards for the construction and renovation of buildings.

Highlights in 2008:

completion of the Granite tower in December 2008,
evaluation of the environmental profile of retail branches in France.

Building construction methods and materials must comply with applicable environmental and health and safety standards in order to minimise any impact on the environment without for as much compromising the comfort and quality of life of occupants.

Société Générale's Granite tower clearly reflects the Group's goal to develop more environmentally-friendly buildings. The bank's new office block in La Défense (Paris) was inaugurated on December 15, 2008, a few days after it won the Grand prix de l'immeuble neuf (New Building of the Year Award). The prize is awarded by the jury of the SIMI (corporate property trade fair), which is made up of the real estate managers of France's leading corporations.

The Granite tower was the first high-rise building in France to be awarded HQE certification.
In 2008, a study into the environmental impact of the current design of Société Générale's branches in France was carried out prior to the launch of its "eco-construction" project. In concrete terms, the 2009 new branches program will include the creation of a pilot "eco-construction" branch in accordance with the technical specifications of Grenelle I (a forum of French environmentalists, business representatives and trade unions) and the new thermal regulations applying to new buildings (RT 2005 & 2012). Once they have been validated, these "eco-construction" specifications can be extended to all new branches in France and to any renovations or refurbishments.

A number of best practices to optimise energy consumption are already in place within the Group's existing real estate park. In June 2008, a working group was set up to examine and define a body of environmental standards specific to Société Générale to be integrated within the Group's real estate policy, so as to give its real estate managers a single, coherent and practical reference tool. The purpose of this reference framework is to develop a shared, coherent culture of responsible real estate management for all Group entities worldwide, and to constantly find new ways to limit energy consumption.

The working group is also investigating measures to encourage the eco-friendly behaviour of staff, particularly when it comes to consumables, sorting waste and water and electricity consumption. The aim is to ensure each individual takes responsibility for their own environmental footprint. Accordingly, each member of staff in those Group departments that are relocated to the new Granite tower during the first half of 2009, will be given a welcome pack with a brochure on the different environmentally-friendly actions to take in their new work space.

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** As per our commitment under the Global Compact