Full speed towards portfolio decarbonization: an ambition with actual result
In 2023, ARGAN published an ambitious decarbonization strategy on all three scopes of its carbon footprint with a priority effort on CO2 emissions linked to the use of its warehouses. Our target: reduce our emissions by 50% from 25,000 T in 2022 down to 12,500 T in 2030. An ambitious path with already actual results two years after the start of our program…
Where did we stand at the end of 2024?
- In 2024, our emissions represented 19,000 T of CO₂, i.e., a reduction of 6,000 T vs. 2022 (-24%):
- 11,000 T generated by electric consumptions that come from lighting and needs related to on-site operations. This figure has been relatively stable since 2022;
- 8,000 T generated by gas heating, compared with 14,000 T in 2022, which represents a decrease of 6,000 T, i.e., 43%.
- This performance, achieved in less than two years, is the result of a voluntary action plan shared with our tenant clients.
What are the means that have been implemented?
- Measuring.
We have implemented a thorough measuring of energy consumptions (electricity + gas) on all our portfolio of warehouses working with our clients. This multi-year database helps us target the warehouses that pollute the most and that we prioritize for our actions. - Monitoring.
Thanks to our deployed BMS equipment, it is now possible to precisely identify consumptions linked to different usage categories (heating, lighting, processes and more), and to act accordingly. - Investing.
A heat pumps plan for the existing portfolio: this plan aims at replacing gas boilers with air / water heat pumps. This action has immediate measurable effects: heating a standard warehouse with gas leads to emissions of around 6 kg of CO₂/sq.m, while heating the same warehouse with an electric heat pump represents 1 kg of CO₂/sq.m in terms of emissions. - Innovating.
Aut0nom® for new developments: This is a warehouse equipped with a photovoltaic power plant and batteries for storage. Its energy production is exclusively dedicated to the self-consumption of the tenant client, with heating and cooling coming from heat pumps. - An Aut0nom® warehouse leads to around 1 kg of CO₂/sq.m of emissions with all energy needs covered; residual emissions are compensated for, starting from 2025, with a reforestation plan labelled as ‘low carbon’ and currently deployed in Cestas, in the French department of Gironde.
- At the same time, self-consumed photovoltaic energy production helped avoid 500 T of CO₂ emissions in 2024.
- Aut0nom®, the first ‘in-use’ carbon zero warehouse, thus clearly represents the solution to make logistics real estate sustainable for the future.
