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 2023 reported a consumption of more than 1,000 tep and provided for the appointment of the Energy Manager are:
- Intesa Sanpaolo S.p.A. (64,361.45 TEP)
- Fideuram - Intesa sanpaolo Private Banking S.p.A (2,425.49 TEP)
- Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.p.A (1,368.86 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 58,018.46 tons in 2023 compared to 57,008.25 tons in 2022.
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.
Intesa Sanpaolo's sustainable skyscrapers
The tower is powered by renewable energy, one-of-a-kind project that combines innovative architecture, environmental sustainability, and an integration of spaces for work and for the public.
The Turin's 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 2023 the Turin Skyscraper obtained confirmation of the LEED Platinum–Existing Buildings Operations & Maintenance certification from the Green Building Council in the sustainable management category, achieved in 2019. Previously the Skyscraper had already received the LEED Platinum–New Construction certification, for construction of the building, thanks to the design characteristics and technological solutions adopted.
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.
The Gioia 22 Skyscraper in Milan, opened in 2023 and headquarters of a number of Group companies, also acquired LEED Platinum–Core and Shell certification for the design and construction of its mechanical, electrical, hydraulic and fire-fighting systems. It is the first Milanese skyscraper to be awarded NZEB–Nearly Zero Energy Building status with 65% of its energy requirements self-produced on site using photovoltaic and geothermal energy. The installation of 150 EV charging columns for cars owned by Intesa Sanpaolo Group employees inside the building was also completed in 2023, the first step of a broader project that involves the installation of EV charging stations in Group properties all over Italy.
2023 Efficiency measures
Below are outlined a number of most relevant efficiency interventions realized in 2023.
- New Building Management System (BMS) for the regulation and monitoring of systems
- Replacement of uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) with high-performance machines
Overall, the measures adopted in Florence in 2023 will generate energy savings of 300 MWh/year.
- Work was carried out to optimise the processes of Intesa Sanpaolo Group Data Centres in 2023
- At the same time, the process of disposing of and optimising the systems of the buildings containing the data processing centres formerly owned by UBI Banca of Brescia and Bergamo was launched
All in all, the actions taken in the Data Centres generated over 10 GWh of energy savings in 2023.
Following the complete redevelopment of one of the 3 buildings in Cairo, as well as replacing obsolete and energy-intensive systems, the Bank also completely refurbished the facade, creating a double “skin” that will produce notable energy savings, drastically reducing the consumption connected with the air conditioning of the sites. The measures adopted will lead to estimated annual energy savings of around 245,000 kWh.
In line with the Bank’s commitment to energy efficiency – it is the only subsidiary with a certified energy management system – obsolete refrigeration units were replaced with next-generation heat pumps in the Petrezselyem building in Budapest. This measure is expected to produce annual energy savings of around 60,000 m3 in natural gas.
With the launch of emissions reduction plan, Intesa Sanpaolo Romania decided to reduce its gas consumption by installing remote controls for its heating system in its buildings. This simple but effective solution makes it possible to manage the heating system remotely using an app. Between 2022 and 2023 the estimated energy savings in the Bank’s buildings came to 8,850 m3 of natural gas.
In regard to large buildings, which have lots of complex data, in 2023 the Intesa Sanpaolo Smart Building project made important progress, extending the solution to 30 major properties and introducing an energy monitoring platform in collaboration with Microsoft and Iconics. The data-driven approach that has been adopted not only reduces the energy consumption anomalies that can’t be identified with traditional monitoring systems, it also makes it possible to optimise the use of spaces and improve the operating margin and spending. The integration with Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning solutions has also opened the way to predictive and prescriptive analytics which will make it possible to further improve the management of the buildings and workspaces, promoting a more efficient and sustainable future.
Last updated 12 April 2024 at 17:13:42
