ENGIE Expands ESG Impact through Sustainable Reuse Program

PLANET

97%

Landfill Diversion

DONATIONS

$93,131

In-Kind Donations

Since 2019, Green Standards’ partnership with ENGIE North America has diverted 665+ tons of surplus furniture from landfill while making in-kind donations to 24 non-profits. In alignment with ENGIE’s net zero goals, we sustainably decommissioned its former North American headquarters in Houston and regional offices across the United States.

Non-Profit Beneficiaries

3,000+

Employees Worth of Furniture

600,000+

Square Feet of Offices

1,594

Metric Tons of GHG Offset

Challenge

In 2019, ENGIE North America made the strategic decision to relocate its Houston corporate headquarters to a facility that better reflected the company’s sustainability priorities. Before moving to their new headquarters, ENGIE needed to find a solution for all the furniture, fixtures, and equipment that would no longer be needed at the new location. ENGIE’s leadership was looking for a program that would ensure environmental responsibility and life cycle extension, while supporting those in need locally.

They partnered with Green Standards to capture value in this workplace change by repurposing thousands of useable workplace items and finding the best end users for all surplus inventory.

Solution

Green Standards managed the entire process, including the dismantling, removal, and relocation of each item and coordinating between the movers, buyers, local non-profits, and specialized recyclers. Through a combination of resale, in-kind donations, and strategic recycling, Green Standards empowered ENGIE to surpass its landfill diversion goal of 95%. Green Standards also provided documentation and in-depth environmental and social impact reporting to help ENGIE capture and report the outcome of the sustainable office decommission projects.

Result

After the successful execution of the Green Standards program at ENGIE’s former North American headquarters in Houston, the company’s leadership expanded the partnership to other regional offices across North America in 2020.

To date, ENGIE and Green Standards have completed projects in Houston, Seattle, Spokane, Wash., St. Paul, Minn, and Norwell, Mass., to ensure the same ESG standards were met across the company’s real estate portfolio. Across 10 projects in multiple regions, ENGIE has maintained a landfill diversion rate of 97.4% while reducing CO2e emissions by 1,594 tonnes through this work.

13.4%

Donations (91.1 tons)

42.1%

Recycle (288.7 tons)

41.8%

Resale (286.9 tons)

2.6%

Landfill (18 tons)

Seattle’s Explorer West Middle School upgrades shared spaces

Beneficiary Spotlight

“We value the donated furniture for use in our classrooms, hallways, and gym. We have been re-envisioning some of our spaces as we focus on keeping students safe and healthy and have set up new work and play spaces throughout our building.”

Carol LaMotte, Director of Finance and Operations