INDUSTRY
Energy
HEADQUARTERS
France
COMPANY SIZE
100,000
Since 2019, Green Standards’ work with ENGIE North America has diverted 668 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.
LANDFILL DIVERSION RATE (667.7 TONS)
0%
IN-KIND DONATIONS
$0
NON-PROFIT BENEFICIARIES
0
EMPLOYEES WORTH OF FURNITURE
0+
SQUARE FEET OF OFFICES
0+
METRIC TONS OF CO2e EMISSIONS AVOIDED
0
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 lifecycle extension while supporting those in need locally.
They teamed up 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.
“We were excited to work with Green Standards on 10 different projects to make a positive impact to local communities across the country. Working together allowed us to provide in-kind donations of office equipment and furniture to 24 non-profit agencies in different regions to help those in need while enabling us to meet our sustainability goals.”
Marissa Miller
Real Estate Manager
ENGIE N.A
Result
After the successful execution of the Green Standards program at ENGIE’s former North American headquarters in Houston, the company’s leadership expanded this work 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 avoiding 1,594 metric tons of CO2e emissions through this work.
Asset Distribution
Resale
Donation
Recycling
Landfill
Beneficiary Spotlight
Seattle’s Explorer West Middle School upgrades shared spaces
“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
“ENGIE’s mission for decarbonization extends well beyond our customers with our own goal to achieve Net Zero Carbon by 2045. In North America, we are proud to partner with Green Standards, an organization with sustainability ingrained throughout, to divert over 97% of our office equipment and furniture from landfills by being responsibly recycled or repurposed.”
Timothy Lee
Corporate Social Responsibility Manager
ENGIE N.A
