Holding & Services segment

Energie AG carries out active building benchmarking in Austria. The Group headquarters, the PowerTower in Linz, is one of the first high-rise office buildings in the world designed to Passive House standard. The 74 m-high office tower in Linz’s Bahnhofsviertel copes without being connected to the district heating network and does not require any fossil fuel use. It emits around 300 tonnes less CO₂ a year than other high-rises. Power is supplied to the building via a complex system, making innovative use of traditional technologies. The power for heating, cooling, ventilation and lighting is obtained from the earth, ground water and sun. There is a photovoltaic system integrated into the façade on the southwest side of the PowerTower. In addition to the PowerTower, ongoing improvements and optimisation efforts help to ensure that energy use is low in the operations of all the other buildings of the Energie AG Group.

Energie AG takes its responsibility as an operator under ÖNORM B1301 (property and building safety) very seriously, focusing on ensuring employee welfare in a safe and highly suitable environment.

146,936 fresh meals were prepared for staff in the kitchens at our Austrian locations in Linz and Gmunden in the 2018/2019 fiscal year. A particular effort is made to ensure the use of seasonal and regional food products, focusing on healthy cuisine for a healthy workforce.

In purchasing processes, some environmentally relevant criteria are set as mandatory requirements in the text of requests for proposal. The Group takes CO₂ emissions into account when placing orders via transport tenders. During the 2018/2019 fiscal year, Energie AG added an environmental component to the supplier rating system in the Group Procurement Handbook.

Orders worth a total of EUR 208 million were placed with 2,177 suppliers in the 2018/2019 fiscal year. 84.1% of our suppliers were headquartered in Austria, while 15.8% were based in other European countries.

During the 2018/2019 fiscal year, the Group launched an initiative aimed at increasing the proportion of electric cars used – to the extent that this is technically and commercially possible. The percentage of electric cars used in the Energie AG Group in Austria is currently higher than the national average.

Starting in the 2019/2020 fiscal year, a revised vehicle policy in the Czech Republic segment will take into account operating costs and the use of alternative drive systems for motor vehicles in the context of new purchases and reinvestments.

EU Directive 2007/46/EC, which establishes a framework for the approval of motor vehicles subject to the Euro 6 emission standard, applies to the Waste Management segment for subsequent truck purchases. The introduction of this emission standard significantly tightens exhaust emission limits. In addition, drive systems such as gas engines and electric motors will be compared for new purchases.

Energie AG’s charging card is the key to Austria’s largest charging network, giving customers a convenient way to charge their electric cars. Energie AG has established a dense charging network in Upper Austria to provide public and fast charging facilities for electric cars. These charging stations are available for all electric car drivers to use. All public charging stations operated by Energie AG provide electricity 100% sourced from hydroelectric, wind and solar power. There are 3,500 charging points available across Austria. For more information, see the Electric Vehicles section of the Management Report.