Responsible Real Estate**
Objective :
- Keep the energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of the buildings to a strict minimum.
- Apply Société Générale's Responsible Buildings Reference Framework (RBR) to all building construction and renovation projects,
- Continue to improve energy consumption in the Group's different buildings.
- Opening of the Granite tower which has been built according to High Environmental Quality standards (HQE),
- Société Générale's Head of Real Estate elected "Real Estate Director of the Year" for the whole of France in 2009,
- Drafting of the Group's Responsible Buildings Reference Framework,
- Signing of the WBCSD Manifesto for Energy Efficiency in Buildings. whitespacer
Société Générale's Granite tower clearly reflects the Group's goal to develop more environmentally-friendly buildings. The bank's new office tower in La Défense (Paris) was inaugurated on December 15, 2008, a few days after it won the Grand Prix de l'immeuble neuf (Best New Building Award) for the year awarded by the jury of the SIMI (Salon de l'Immobilier d'entreprise - corporate property trade fair) whose members include real estate directors from France's leading corporations. Société Générale's Granite tower is the first high-rise building in France to be HQE certified. In December 2009, Jean-Marc Castaignon, Real Estate Director for Société Générale, was also named Real Estate Director of the Year by the same jury in recognition of his work and the work of his teams. A number of best practices to optimise energy consumption are already in place within Société Générale's different buildings and real estate. In June 2008, a working group was set up to examine and define a Responsible Buildings Reference Framework 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 create a shared, coherent culture of responsible building management for all Group entities worldwide, and to constantly find new ways to limit energy consumption. Issued at the end of 2009, the framework comes with its own diagnostics tool. In line with the Group's environmental policy and Carbon Neutrality Project, Société Générale's business lines have embarked on a series of construction and renovation projects to improve the environmental and energy performance of their buildings. Crédit du Nord has refurbished its main branch at Saint Lazare with a "vertical garden" that acts as a natural filter to improve the quality of the air within its premises. In the same way, the Group's Real Estate Department has made technical improvements to the head office buildings in order to limit their energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions, as well as contributing to technical documentation on the best practices that apply within the Group. The Group's French Retail Banking division is working on a prototype for a new eco-branch, whilst the building renovations policy of its Retail Banking Outside France business arm is firmly focused on improving the energy efficiency of its branches and the use of renewable energies. Backed by these initiatives, Société Générale Group has signed the Manifesto for Energy Efficiency in Buildings of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) which imposes a certain number of obligations and constraints. Measures are in place to encourage the eco-friendly behaviour of staff, particularly when it comes to consumables, sorting waste and water and electricity consumption. Each member of staff is systematically given a welcome pack when they are relocated to the Granite tower or move to a new office. The aim is to ensure each individual takes responsibility for their own environmental footprint. Throughout the year, articles and messages on "eco-gestures" are published on the Group's intranets and on posters and leaflets: "réflexe off", sorting waste, "sustainable printing", etc.