CO2

Reducing Carbon footprint

Energy optimisation is on the priority list of UCB’s site managers worldwide, supported by company-wide energy awareness campaigns. In addition to reducing energy consumption, we are exploring and moving towards renewable energy alternatives.

Optimising energy consumption

At our manufacturing sites in Bulle (Switzerland) and Shannon (Ireland), major efforts have been made to reduce energy consumption. Thanks to improvements in the heating and steam equipment, together with a switch from fuel oil to natural gas, our Bulle site reduced its energy consumption by 30% in 2010, equivalent to an annual reduction of 1 700 tonnes of CO2. In Ireland, our manufacturing site cut its energy consumption by optimising its steam production and streamlining its waste-water treatment processes.

Greener information technology

Our global information and technology (IT) team is introducing a Green IT strategy, focusing primarily on energy consumption reduction, floor-space optimisation, and energy-efficient IT technologies. Initiatives such as streamlining the IT infrastructure, enhancing IT equipment and using external low-temperature air to chill the water for the Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems have improved Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) by 20% at UCB’s Global Data Center in Belgium (2008: PUE = 2.5 and 2010: PUE = 2.0). In addition, we regularly run internal awareness campaigns to encourage more responsible use of our servers’ memory capacity.

Reducing travel

UCB has established a strict travel policy, underpinned by a “think twice before travelling” philosophy. To support this approach initiated in 2009, alternative meeting options are being offered, including high-tech videoconferencing rooms using tele-presence, on-line collaboration sites and integrated office communicator tools such as webcams. More generally, UCB’s goal is to transform frequent travellers into environment-conscious travellers.