Rewarding employees for green behaviour
NOK 40 million rewarded to employees for reducing environmental footprint.For the seventh year running, DNV GL has implemented an environmental programme, “WE do”. The programme helps to define expectations for employees and reward them for their positive contributions to reducing their personal environmental impact. Permanent employees can select a project from an approved list and apply for a reimbursement of 2/3 of the project cost – up to a maximum amount of NOK 10 000 before taxes. In 2014 DNV set aside NOK 40 million for the programme, and over 5 500 applications were made. The most popular project is the “Low energy appliance” initiative with 2 210 applications.
IT and environmental impact
Information Technology (IT), is an important tool for reducing the environmental footprint, and DNV GL concentrates on two main areas :
- Further optimising of power consumption in computing.
The main contribution to reduce the power consumption in the VerIT infrastructure comes from increased virtualization of servers, continuous focus to reduce the energy in the Global Data Centres and the increased use of flash disks. During 2014 we have reached close to 80% virtualization of servers in the Data Centres and terminated a significant number of physical servers. For the Global Data Centres (Oslo, Houston, and Singapore) we have been able to further reduce the Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE=Total facility Power/IT Equipment Power) with 5%. Another important step has been the implementation of flash disks in the large disk arrays launched as part of the merger.
- Video conferencing facilities and collaboration enables DNV GL employees to collaborate effectively across geographical distances.
The IT programme, launched in 2011, to enable effective collaboration across the global organisation is continued. The programme delivers collaborative tools such as search technologies, collaboration spaces, video streaming facilities and an internal social media solution that enables employees to share knowledge and access the global pool of expertise.
This valuable asset is already enabling the merged organization to operate as one company and will be essential for DNV GL utilization of shared competence across geographies – while at the same time reducing the need to travel.
High-end video conferencing surpassed 40,000 meeting hours in 2014, and shows a steady increase from 34 000 hours in 2013. DNV GL currently possesses 200 high-end video conferencing systems in more than 80 different locations worldwide.
Moving into Leeds certified buildings in Russia and Italy
In June DNV GL Maritime St. Petersburg moved to their new office at the Renaissance Pravda office building. The Pravda project building is one of the first instances of green building design and construction approaches in Russia and is the first LEED certified commercial office building in the country. In October, DNV GL Milan moved into new offices in the Vimercate Energy Park. The Energy Park stands out for having been constructed according to the highest architectural principles and the latest technology in the field of environmental sustainability and rationalization of energy consumption, and obtained for the first time in Italy, PLATINUM Level LEED certification by the Green Building Council. Optimization of water resources, use of wood from certified sources, enhanced flexibility in the management of the thermal control system, and optimization of natural light, are just some design characteristics applied to the offices in order to guarantee employees a comfortable and environmental friendly working environment.
LEED or Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design
http://www.usgbc.org/leed
