Environmental impacts monitoring
The Group's Code of Ethics and the Environmental and Energy Rules, approved by the Top Management, define the principles and guidelines relating to the Group's environmental responsibility and the control of direct and indirect impacts generated by its business.
For this reason, a responsible management of energy and natural resources is a priority for the Intesa Sanpaolo Group in order to mitigate its impact on the environment. For more insights and detailed indicators on the topic, please refer to the Consolidated Non-financial Statement and Consolidated Non-Financial Statement as at 30 June.
With regard to the direct impacts on the environment, arising from the operation of the Bank, Intesa Sanpaolo in Italy has adopted an Integrated Management System Health and Safety, Environment and Energy, implemented according to the most important international reference standards (ISO 45001, 14001 and 50001), and subject to an annual certification by a third and independent party.
In addition, in order to translate the commitment to the protection of the environment into concrete actions, the Energy Manager and the Mobility Manager roles have been established, those constantly overlook their areas of expertise.
With reference to the Energy Manager, the Italian law n.10 of 09/01/1991 envisages that companies consuming more than 1,000 tons of oil equivalent (toe) per year (roughly, in the service sector, companies with more than 500 employees) have to appoint a Responsible for the conservation and rational use of energy (Energy Manager) and to provide an annual reporting of the consumption to be sent to the Ministry of Economic Development through the FIRE (Italian federation for the rational use of energy) IT's platform.
Great attention is paid to the progressive reduction of energy consumption and the relative carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere: where possible, the use of electricity from renewable sources is preferred, but above all, energy monitoring and optimization actions are put in place, to reduce waste and its costs.
To give an idea of the importance of energy consumption, it may be useful to know that, in Italy, while a citizen consumes around 1,100 kWh of electricity per year, the per capita requirement in the banking sector is on average four times as much. Intesa Sanpaolo, one of the largest banking groups in the euro area, consumes, in Italy alone, the equivalent of electricity needed for a city of 315,000 inhabitants.
The Group's companies, which in 2022 reported a consumption of more than 1,000 tep and provided for the appointment of the Energy Manager are:
- Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A. (7,.015.57 TEP)
- Fideuram - Intesa sanpaolo Private Banking S.p.A (2,734.31 TEP)
- Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.p.A (1,490.44 TEP)
The Mobility Management function defines sustainable mobility strategies and guidelines at The Group level.
It is an important commitment made tangible by researching, promoting and implementing solutions that allow us to combine the well-being of our people with the well-being of the cities in which we live and work.
The Mobility Manager coordinates the initiatives and the best solutions to the needs of employee commuting and is supported by Territorial Mobility Contacts with the aim of detecting and interpreting the demand for mobility expressed in the territory by spreading culture and initiatives promoted by the Group.
Through the mapping of needs, direct listening and active participation of colleagues, since 2009 the Mobility Manager of the Group drafts the work-home travel plans every year.
The Employee Commuting figure, not included in the Consolidated Non-financial Statement and relating only to the Italy perimeter, amounted to 57,008.25 tons in 2022 compared to 54,275.3 tons in 2021.
A monitored and certified process
With the aim of responsibly managing the environmental and energy impacts related to its business, Intesa Sanpaolo Group has launched a process of monitoring its environmental and energy impacts, knowing that only after having analysed effective consumption data it is possible to initiate actions for optimization and energy efficiency with long-lasting results and constant improvements.
Thanks to these monitoring actions, consistent with its Environmental and Energy Policy, the Intesa Sanpaolo Group has acquired important environmental certifications.
Environmental and Energy management system
In Italy Intesa Sanpaolo adopted an Environmental Management System (in accordance with UNI EN ISO 14001) and, as of June 2010, became the first Italian bank to integrate it with an Energy Management System (certified since April 2012 UNI CEI EN ISO 50001).
The certification perimeter has expanded over the years to include – starting with the 2019 renewal check that will end in autumn – all branches and Gallerie d'Italia.
The sites are subject to a constant monitoring process of environmental and energy performance and to cycles of internal audits carried out with the aim of assessing the degree of adherence to the practices adopted compared to the expected; corrective actions are implemented when necessary to bring performance back within a defined range.
The Management System also provides a specialized training course for all employees involved.
Annually, the headquarters and a fair number of subsidiaries and buildings are subject to the verification of maintenance or renewal of certification by a third international body.
The coordination Headquarters of the system is the New Directional Centre in Turin that, equipped with the most advanced technological and plant solutions, is considered one of the most eco-friendly buildings in the world, as attested by the highest (Platinum) of the international LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, obtained for both the construction of the building in 2015 and for the performance achieved in its conduct in 2019 (Existing Buildings Operations & Maintenance sector).
With regard to foreign banks, the first subsidiary to have implemented an Energy Management System (pursuant to UNI CEI EN ISO 50001) is the Hungarian CIB Bank. The Bank passed the audit process, focused on employee training, compliance with regulations, internal processes and energy management in the branches, thus obtaining the renewal of the certification.
Headquarters - Turin
The New Headquarters was designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop. It is 166 meters high and has 38 floors above ground, including 27 intended for the Bank operating offices. On the lower ground floors 338 parking spaces are available.
A multipurpose room, that can host up to 364 spectators (in auditorium set-up) is situated on the ground floor.
In October 2015, the Intesa Sanpaolo Tower was awarded the LEED Platinum certification, the highest given by the Green Building Council, the most authoritative international body for eco-assessment of buildings. In November 2015, the building received the "Award for Commercial or Retail Structures" for the Expedition Engineering and Studio Ossola structural design, award promoted by the Institution of Structural Engineers of London (https://www.istructe.org/structuralawards/home).
In 2016, the skyscraper won the "Building of the Year" award in the "Offices" category, promoted by archdaily website (http://www.archdaily.com), the most visited architecture website in the world, and was finally ranked among the European finalists of the CTBUH Awards in Chicago (read more).
Since September 2019, the Executive Centre in Turin is the only one in Europe to have obtained the Leed Platinum certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) in both the "new construction" category and in the category "sustainable management" building." The Green Building Council, the most authoritative international body for the eco-evaluation of buildings, has given the skyscraper the second recognition for continuity given to the solutions and good practices adopted in the construction. The tower designed by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop scored 85 points, thus exceeding the threshold needed to reach the most prestigious level. This is thanks to effective actions taken for energy efficiency, sustainable water consumption, material and resource management, employee habits in home-work travel and indoor environmental conditions, such as lighting and air quality.
In 2021 it obtained the maintenance of the LEED certification level "Platinum" in the category "sustainable management of the building".
Characteristics
- Night-time free-cooling system: free cooling thanks to the use of natural ventilation of the double celling of each floor of the tower through the exploitation of the pressure difference between the east and west façades
- Attention to reducing consumption of drinking water by using a system of collection and reuse of rainwater and groundwater for toilet flushing
- Installation on the southwest façade of a photovoltaic system in an area of 2.000 sq. m.
- LED lighting extended to 80% of the lighting fixtures
- Presence of a bioclimatic multi-function greenhouse on the roof top and a full height conservatory on the south façade
- The east and west façades are made of two glass walls separated by about 2.5mt, defined “Double Skin” and designed for improved interaction with the outside climatic conditions
- Intesa Sanpaolo obtained an environmental sustainability certification “Leed Platinum” thanks to the focus on recycling, monitoring and containing total energy consumption and on the sustainability of the building
- The installation serving the air-conditioning of the building has been designed to obtain an energy high-performance system using, both for the production of hot and cooled fluid, ground water from wells located at the edge of the park close to the building. The ground water, once used for energy purposes, is returned to the ground.
2021-2022 Efficiency measures
Below are outlined a number of most relevant efficiency interventions realized in 2021 and 2022.
- New uninterruptible power supply (UPS) system
- Replacement of existing refrigeration units
- New plant regulation and monitoring system
The Settimo Torinese building hostes one of Intesa Sanpaolo's 3 Data Centers.
Over time, various interventions have been carried out aimed at saving energy and producing renewable energy, such as a 180 kW photovoltaic system on the roof.
During 2022 it was agreed to carry out further energy efficiency measures which involved the plant regulation systems (Building Management System), the UPS (uninterruptible power supply) electrical continuity systems and the air conditioning systems.
Specifically, the previous systems of electrical continuity serving the servers and IT loads were replaced with new systems that guarantee the Bank's operations with improved energy efficiency. Furthermore, the air conditioning system was affected by the replacement of the refrigerating units, allowing the use of more efficient machines than the previous ones and containing refrigerant gas with reduced environmental impact.
As regards the BMS regulation systems that manage the electrical and air conditioning systems, an update was made to the system which made it possible to optimize the management of the systems serving the computer rooms. Furthermore, new activation logics for the refrigerating units have been implemented, guaranteeing further energy savings.
Overall, the interventions carried out will generate energy savings of 2,500 MWh/year.
- New air conditioning system to support continuous loads
- New plant regulation and monitoring system
The Montebelluna building hostes an Intesa Sanpaolo headquarters, formerly the headquarters of Veneto Banca.
During 2021, energy efficiency measures were carried out aimed at optimizing consumption for the air conditioning of the operational offices and continuous users (servers and IT rooms) serving the building. Specifically, an air conditioning system was installed to serve continuous loads only, allowing the centralized system serving the entire building to be switched off during the night.
As regards the regulation systems, a revamping of the BMS (Building Management System) was carried out which involved the replacement of the regulators in the field and the implementation of new conditioning management logics which allow optimization of consumption.
Overall, the interventions completed in 2021 generated energy savings of 1,500 MWh/year.
- New air conditioning system serving the building
- New plant regulation and monitoring system
The building in Turin via Monte di Pietà is a historic building located in the historic centre, which hostes the executive offices of the Intesa Sanpaolo Group as well as a bank branch and the Museum of Savings.
During the years 2021 and 2022, energy efficiency measures were carried out aimed at optimizing consumption for the air conditioning of the entire building as well as implementing a new regulation and monitoring system. Specifically, a new air conditioning system was installed equipped with high-performance refrigeration units containing refrigerant gas with reduced environmental impact.
As regards the regulation of the plants, a new management system for the refrigeration plant was implemented and the energy monitoring and control of the terminals in the field improved.
Overall, the measures taken in 2021 and 2022 will generate energy savings of 200,000 MWh/year when fully adopted.
As part of its commitment to sustainability, Intesa Sanpaolo has introduced a programme to improve the performances of its real estate assets: occupancy, energy, facilities and comfort are the main action areas. The Smart Building programme is based on a multi-year plan that began in 2020 with the first three buildings (piazza della Scala in Milan, via Montebello in Milan and Montebelluna), reducing their annual energy consumption by 15%, or 2.5 GWh a year. In 2021 the programme was extended to six more buildings with an overall reduction in the Group’s energy footprint of around 10 GWh.
For an effective extension of the program to the entire asset of large properties (60 properties by 2025), Intesa Sanpaolo has created an internal dedicated team with two important technological partners, Microsoft and Iconics. The team integrates, collects and analyzes building data through the use of machine learning and machine teaching technology in order to proactively identify optimized solutions to reduce breakdowns, increase comfort, decrease energy consumption and optimize spaces.
The solution also consists in analyzing the operating data of the HVAC systems and other information in real time, allowing to switch from a reactive management of real estate assets to a predictive and proactive approach based on increasingly in-depth knowledge of buildings. In addition to implementing technological solutions using IoT and AI, the program foresees continuous innovation of building management processes by increasing internal competences, as well as AI skills.
The Power Bi dashboards allow you to easily view aggregated data from any source providing a general overview of energy use (heating and cooling) and business continuity. Maintenance workers receive automatic reports of all anomalies found in their building, while managers receive Power BI reports containing the most important data.
Despite the complicated situation caused by the war, in 2022 Ukrainian subsidiary Pravex Bank continued to pay close attention to its sustainability and consumption.
In three major branches, in Černivci, Kropyvnyc’kyj and Poltava, the lighting fixtures were completely replaced with new LED lights in 2022. This measure will generate savings of around 8,000 kWh/year and has proven very popular with both customers and colleagues.
Last updated 9 May 2023 at 14:57:58