You can't cut it out – it's the natural by-product of a chemical reaction – but you can cut it down. Many Allianz companies had already begun to do so, when, in April this year, Allianz SE board member Joachim Faber formalized the Group's commitment to carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction by announcing that Allianz was aiming for a 20 percent CO2 reduction Group-wide by 2012.
Treading more lightly
In the work environment, CO2 comes principally from the breakdown of energy used in buildings and appliances, from business travel, and from paper and waste material. Allianz lies mid-way between the best and the worst in the financial services sector in terms of the volumes of CO2 produced per employee. Reducing the Allianz Group's carbon footprint should not be too daunting a task, given that the Group already has an Environmental Management System (EMS) in place to manage the process.
The EMS was formalized back in 2001: Twenty-three Group companies are now members and fifteen more are scheduled to join this year. The EMS is based in Munich and headed by the Allianz Group's Sustainable Development officer Astrid Zwick, who works in close collaboration with Ralf Nickel, the Group's Environmental officer. Nickel is coordinating the consolidation of Group-wide environmental data into the EMS database and is compiling precise figures on each company's emissions. When all data have been captured, Zwick and Nickel will have a picture of the emissions for 80 percent of Allianz employees world-wide – which can then be extrapolated to 100 percent. "What is as important as the data, though, is determining the source of our CO2," says Zwick. "When we know this, each company will be able to see clearly what is has to do to reach its own 2012 target."
Astrid Zwick: "As a proven environment-friendly company, our ratings will improve too"
How to reach the 20 percent reduction goal
CO2 figures for the larger Allianz companies are already available, and Zwick and her EMS colleagues are spotting trends: high energy consumption in high-rise and older buildings, and reductions in CO2 levels at companies where video and web conferencing have been substituted for corporate travel, or where building control systems have been improved.
Companies will concentrate on four activities to reach 2012 targets: avoidance, reduction, substitution and neutralization in each of the areas which produce the highest CO2 emissions: energy, travel and paper usage. To cut down on energy-derived carbon dioxide, Group companies are looking at all, or a combination of, the following: modernizing energy control panels; improving building insulation; buying energy-efficient computers and printers; cutting back on lighting buildings in evenings and at weekends when the buildings are empty; providing spot lamps over desks instead of whole floor lighting; using sensor lights in corridors, bathrooms and storage areas; and reducing the temperature of heating systems in buildings by one degree – this alone can cut from five to ten percent off the heating energy consumption.
The optimization of the building control system at Allianz's head office in Munich has brought about a saving of more than 140 kg of CO2 per employee per year. Ralf Nickel has also calculated that the use of data center heat at Allianz Deutschland AG's Unterföhring location near Munich – where heat from the mainframe computers is reused in the company's heating system – has already led to a reduction of 338 kg per employee per year.
A number of Allianz companies are already buying green energy
Flexing green muscles
On the substitution front, several Allianz companies are buying green energy: Allianz in Italy derives 73 percent of its electricity from hydro power, while Allianz Insurance in the UK gets 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources. Some Allianz buildings derive a portion of their electricity from solar energy.
For companies who have reduced and substituted as much as possible, the next stage is neutralization – offsetting CO2 emissions through reduction projects such as renewable energy projects. RCM, an Allianz Global Investors company based in the U.K., is offsetting its entire travel kilometers to become carbon neutral in business travel.
"I love my planet"
Allianz companies should use their influence with suppliers to get them to provide more energy efficient products, Zwick believes: "Using a model called 'contracting' – where costs of energy enhancements are shared – we can lobby landlords to improve the energy efficiency of the buildings we lease." The benefits will cut both ways, she explains: "The value of the building will increase for the owner, and the tenant will see a reduction in his or her operating costs."
Employees too can make significant contributions. Many already are: Allianz Insurance in the UK is running an "I love my planet" campaign aimed at improving energy-saving and recycling habits throughout the company; Allianz Belgium has reduced its plastic usage by offering employees Allianz mugs as part of its Allianz rebranding campaign; Allianz in Germany has prohibited air travel between Munich and Frankfurt – a distance of 512 kilometers – in its travel guidelines, and Allianz Seguros in Spain has removed personal printers from 80 percent of its standard workplaces, installing the remaining as shared network printers which are configured to print double-sided, thereby halving printing-related CO2 emissions. In so doing, they have also reduced the costs of printer maintenance, toner and paper.
The environment won't be the only winner when Allianz's CO2 rates decrease; the Group will also benefit. "As a proven environment-friendly company, our ratings in the sustainability indexes, such as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, will improve," says Zwick. Ralf Nickel has calculated that individual companies might also make cost savings of approximately EUR 90 per employee per annum. "The main concern for the Group at this stage, however, is our carbon footprint," says Joachim Faber. "We want to lead our industry by example: if we all manage to tread more lightly on the various resources in our business environment, our goal is achievable."
This article first appeared in the employee magazine "Allianz Journal".
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