Driving sustainable distribution at Saint Gobain Distribution Norway

With the construction sector being responsible for 23% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, Saint Gobain Distribution Norway has been working actively to play their part in creating a greener world.

Personal Background

Ingrid Kalstad’s journey into sustainability was driven by a mix of serendipity and passion. With a master’s degree in chemical engineering, she was drawn to the construction industry, working heavily with compliance, documentation and product management before finding her true calling in sustainability. “This topic is important to me because it’s where I can make the most impact for a better future,” Ingrid explains. The need to constantly adapt and evolve and the opportunity to make a difference keep her motivated.

Company History

Previously Dahl Optimera Norway, Saint Gobain Distribution Norway is made up of five leading names in building materials: Brødrene Dahl, Optimera, Ventistål, Flisekompaniet and Hywer. Saint Gobain initially acquired Brødrene Dahl in 2004 and Optimera shortly after in 2005. In 2022 the group renamed from Dahl Optimera Norway to Saint Gobain Distribution Norway (SGDN), further strengthening their ties with the holding company.

Sustainability in Building and Construction

Saint Gobain Distribution Norway (SGDN), an early mover in green initiatives within the construction sector, has had sustainability in the spotlight long before Ingrid joined the company three and a half years ago. “We have ambitious targets,” Ingrid notes, “like being carbon neutral in our own operations by 2030.” This includes Scope 1, 2, and parts of Scope 3 emissions, covering waste management, packaging, and transportation.
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With the construction sector being responsible for 23% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions [1], the Saint Gobain group has been working actively to play their part in creating a greener world. SGDN has been doing their part to not only contribute to the group’s global mission, but also to meet new regulatory requirements, and of course, customer demands.

Team Structure

SGDN’s sustainability initiatives are driven by a dedicated team. The sustainability team includes a sustainability leader from each of the five companies within the group, along with several additionalmembers focused on customer reporting. Recently, SGDN restructured its transport operations into a shared logistics centre. This change has enhanced efficiency and improved data accessibility for customers through the Kinver portal.

Preparation for Group Annual Reports

Preparing for annual sustainability reports involves a meticulous process. When preparing the reports, the business splits emissions into the categories of transport and traded goods I1378438 categories according to GHG protocol. Traded goods and transport account for the largest emissions. The transport activities are then split into four categories: inbound transport organized by SGDN, inbound by suppliers, inter-site transportation, and outbound transport.

With multiple companies under the umbrella and a wide range of emissions categories to report on, Kalstad’s team relies heavily on digitization to streamline the emissions reporting process.

“Having a solid master data strategy and data management system that can handle all of our data sources and carriers is critical for our annual reporting process,” Ingrid affirms.

“For the inbound transport by suppliers, we don’t always have good data due to the nature of the contracts. This can be quite difficult and can leave us resorting to best estimates,” Ingrid admits. “But for all other categories, we have everything we need available through the data management and analytics system provided by Kinver. We have been very intentional with our setup to ensure the process is as streamlined as possible come reporting time.”

While SGDN has robust calculation standards, they often require additional data from producers and suppliers, which can complicate the reporting process. With the help of Kinver, SGDN strives to provide accurate and comprehensive emissions data to meet the evolving needs of their customers.

Customer reporting requests on the rise

Over the past two years, SGDN has seen a dramatic increase in the number of reporting requests from customers.

“Three years ago, customers didn’t need any emissions data. Today, they are particularly interested in last-mile reporting and, increasingly, the entire journey from the supplier to the construction site,” Ingrid notes.

In the building and construction industry today, the ability to provide accurate and on-demand emissions reports has become business-critical. With the increase in regulations, independent sustainability targets, and certifications requirements in the building sector, reporting is not only essential for their own organization, but also for their customers.

“For our customers today, building certifications alongside the ability to report and measure their own emissions figures are the two major drivers for reporting requests,” Ingrid discusses. Certifications such as BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) and eco-labelling (Svanen) in Norway necessitate detailed CO2 data for projects to achieve certification.

“The most typical requests from customers up until recently has been the overall CO2 number for a given project or quarter,” notes Ingrid. The requests, however, are becoming more frequent and complex.

“We now have customers requesting data per article or product which creates a lot of complexities to report, as one product might be transported through multiple modes and routes,” Ingrid notes.

SGDN leverages the Kinver Engine system to meet these requirements. “This is where our data management and analytics system comes into play. We need to have all the data normalized and captured in the same solution to be able to report across the entire journey of a product or article,” Ingrid continues.

Reducing emissions

Outside of reporting, Kalstad and her team understands that reducing emissions and working actively towards greener operations is the real ‘why’ at the core of her role in sustainability.

Saint Gobain Distribution Norway has made substantial improvements throughout their logistics setup to support the group’s global mission. These improvements include: significant structural changes to their logistics setup; roll-out of a master data and digital strategy to manage their transport data; and conduct ongoing monitoring and optimizations to everyday transport routines.

The group recently restructured its transport operations into a shared logistics centre to improve efficiency. “We were seeing that there was a large opportunity for consolidation on deliveries to the same building sites from our different companies,” Ingrid reflects.

When it comes to data management, transport is commonly the most complex due to the large number of external sources, methodologies, and data quality. “If you have multiple transport providers and need to manage complexity when it comes to external data sources, you need a system like Kinver that specializes in that kind of source management,” Ingrid suggests. SGDN has adapted a strategy to manage their own data to create a foundation for measuring and optimizing emissions. Through their use of the Kinver Engine platform, capabilities in managing transport emissions data include streamlining and optimizing transportation. This involves efficient loading, vehicle use, and route planning to minimize environmental impact and operational costs. Scenario planning and efficiency components within Kinver help SGDN make informed decisions and set up for success in reducing emissions.

Staying up to date

In the fast-evolving world of sustainability, staying updated is vital. Ingrid follows various organizations on LinkedIn, attends industry meetings, and reads extensively. She also keeps track of EU regulations and trends through resources like KPMG and Virke, an organization supporting trade in Norway.

Future roadmap

Looking ahead, SGDN plans to enhance its data management capabilities to handle the vast amounts of sustainability data effectively. “Sustainability and IT are closely linked,” Ingrid says. “There is an enormous amount of data both externally and internally that needs to be managed effectively to not only streamline our reporting work, but also to create a clear roadmap to reduce our emissions footprint,” Ingrid adds. The goal is to create a comprehensive database that can manage not just transport emissions but also product certifications and documentation as that becomes more important overtime. As a part of this body of work, SGDN is exploring both ESG and in-house solutions to further their digitization strategy across the group.

Advice for the sustainability community

Ingrid shares valuable advice for those looking to improve their sustainability efforts: “Map out the structure of your organization, identify key emissions areas, and find suitable IT tools to maximize your data management.” Kalstad recommends balancing satisfying short term needs with taking a longer-term approach. “Today, customers are particularly interested in last-mile reporting so we need to satisfy those needs first, but also ensure we are not just responding to one-off requests but have invested in a data management and reporting system that can handle increased frequency, complexity and granularity over time.”

Conclusion

Saint Gobain Distribution Norway’s journey with Kinver highlights the power of data intelligence in achieving sustainability goals. By leveraging technology to drive a customer centric approach, SGDN is setting new standards in the construction industry. Their ambitious targets and strategic initiatives demonstrate that with the right tools and mindset, significant progress in sustainability is achievable.
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Interested in learning more about how Kinver Green can support your sustainability agenda? Read about the Kinver Green solution here.

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[1] Reference: Bellona Europe 2019 Zero Emission Construction Sites: Status 2019