1. In an effort to minimise the environmental impact and sound pollution during the upgrade works on the London Underground, Soletanche Bachy (VINCI) replaced the diesel-powered crane with an electric crane connected to the mains, which also helped drive down costs. This initiative builds on the Group's commitment to achieve a 40% reduction in its CO2 emissions by 2030, which implies investments running into several hundreds of millions of euros, especially to replace its traditional vehicles with electric, hybrid and hydrogen-powered vehicles.
2. Arthur Baur set up an association called Graine en Main to provide an employability scheme for refugees while offering all workers an insight into other practices and cultures.
Every year, VINCI guides 4,000 people back into the working world and is committed to providing internships for 5,000 young people from underprivileged areas as part of the Give Me Five programme and the VINCI Insertion Emploi entity.
Élise is a disability-positive company that specialises in sorting and destroying office paper. People with disabilities and employability problems account for 80% of its workforce. Social enterprise Les Alchimistes collects and recycles organic waste from professionals and private individuals. Ever since its creation, the company has been supported by two employability associations (Études & Chantiers and Halage).
3. Soletanche Bachy (VINCI) is harnessing its engineers' expertise to do more with less.As part of its client consulting activities, the company is using its resistance of materials method to design circular parts, especially with inverted domes, which leverage the strength of the soil to save materials by reducing the amount of reinforcements needed. Ingénova is also working alongside INSA's laboratory to revise how concrete is used, with the prospect of replacing concrete (with topsoil waste) and prioritising a combination of materials (woodconcrete, wood-metal, etc.).
4. VINCI Construction is mainstreaming lowcarbon concrete at its worksites with its new Exegy range. How do you produce low-carbon concrete? Traditional concrete is made from cement (12%), water (6%), and sand and aggregate (82%). Cement alone accounts for nearly 85% of greenhouse gas emissions. Clinker, the main component of cement, is obtained by heating a mixture of limestone and clay to 1,500°C. This process is responsible for approximately 60% of the cement's total emissions. Replacing clinker with a compound of alternative mineral binders produces low-carbon concrete!
5. Architectural firm Seuil Architecture carries out resource audits on old buildings and analyses the building deconstruction process with the aim of maximising the amount of materials reused or resold. In particular, the company is working with the Recyclo'Bat association (which recycles and resells used building materials for professionals and private individuals) and recovers materials that can be upcycled in interior joinery. VINCI's demolition subsidiaries have transformed into deconstruction subsidiaries for the purpose of giving a second lease of life to as many used materials as possible. Therefore, actual quarries are being replaced with virtual quarries. When it comes to upcycling used concrete into aggregate, the company dynamites the concrete posts, extracts the rebar using special machinery, and grinds the remaining material in mobile crushing units.
6. Startup Carbo is combining engineering with cognitive science to change consumer behaviour by providing individuals with a solution for calculating their carbon emissions.
It galvanises users into action by creating a gamified experience and encouraging individuals to copy one another.
IE is a federation of engaged students that fosters dialogue between engineers, students, lecturers, sociologists and economists. The federation was created in 2017 by undergraduates at INSA Lyon in the wake of the documentary entitled Tomorrow's engineers and is committed to networking inspirational, engaged people and bringing a sense of meaning to the engineering world.
