Cortal Consors Germany completed its first Carbon Assessment in July 2008, based on the activity of 2007. Carbon Assessment is a method of measuring greenhouse gas emissions, whether directly or induced by economical or administrative activities. Cortal Consors France and Germany carried out a precise evaluation of these emissions connected to their buildings, energy consumption and employee travels. Both B2PI units used a local company to carry out the measurement. In Germany, ImpleaPlus was chosen to calculate the emissions.

In France, there have been two Carbon Assessments so far realised with a local company: GoodPlanet *. Since both companies used different methods, the results can not be compared one to one. For example, the CO2 emissions in France are much less than in Germany resulting from the huge amount of C02 neutral nuclear power that is delivered in France.

At the headquarters in Nuremberg,Cortal Consors Germany emits a total of 3.102 tons of CO2 emissions per year. The most important part of CO2 emission results from the consumption of electricity. This is why developing new ways to save electricity is the most important factor at Cortal Consors Germany for being able to reduce carbon emissions.

Some potential is in the business traveling sector, too. For example, the use of video conferences can be increased as well as the train rides for short distances or the ICE (Inter City Express, German high speed train) instead of the airplane. Another possibility would be a more intensive use of local public transportation or bikes for the employees to go to work.

Various efforts had been implemented in the second half of 2008:

- Using recycling paper:a further improvement since June 2008 is that by using recycled paper for all prints and copies, a reduction of about 6 tons per year can be achieved.

- carpooling: another potential to be more ecological lies in the carpool. A decision has been taken that new cars should have a maximum emission of 140 g of CO2 per kilometer

- Copiers and coffee machines,which are not turned off at night, have caused unjustified energy consumption. Therefore, time switches have been installed in the coffee machines and in some high-consuming copiers.

- Optimising lighting without losing lightning quality: the number of fluorescent light bulbs per lighting system has been reduced from three to two in the whole building.

- In order to get employees involved, messages are posted on the Intranet and in the local newsletter reminding them of shutting down PCs and other hardware before going home.

- adding of Social and Environmental Responsibility clause in theprofessional evaluation of employees

- organising ecology-oriented events for the employees

- installation of water saving adaptors

- protecting the environment does also mean to separate waste. Therefore a disposal system for paper and non-recyclable waste has been implemented replacing the one-basket-for-all solution.

- a box for the collection of old batteries has been installed at the front desk in Nuremberg, since the beginning of December 2008.The first load of 30 kg of old batteries has already been recycled.

- A further problem is the improper recycling of private and business cell phones. To solve this problem, an agreement with Greener Solution has been signed, a company which deals with the recycling of old cell phones. The first load of old business cell phones from Cortal Consors has already been sent out in February of 2009 and the returns of €476 have been donated to GoodPlanet*.

- “Go Green” stands for the CO2-neutral transportation of letter post through the Deutsche Post. Cortal Consors is the first company in Nuremberg to have subscribed to this service, in October 2008

Various efforts had been implemented in the second half of 2008. These resulted in a reduction of 6.3% of carbon emissions (-64 tons CO2) in Q4 compared to the three first quarters of 2008!

In order to ensure continuous impact of these operations and consistent reduction of CO2, Cortal Consors France and Germany will continue to asses their Carbon emissions in 2010.

* GoodPlanet : Association created by Yann Arthus-Bertrand which is active in supporting corporations in their efforts to go green and respect the ecological norms of sustainable development. More precisely, it helps them reduce their CO2 emissions and supports eco-friendly projects.