ECT assesses the environmental and societal footprint of projects with a new tool
As part of its environmental approach, ECT uses an indicator for the design and construction of its sites. This indicator makes it possible to assess the environmental and societal impacts of its non-built development projects carried out with soil from construction sites.
The construction of the evaluation methodology was built through the involvement of all the company’s departments. And with the help of experts (sociologist, ecologist, farmer, acoustician, etc.) to guarantee a high level of robustness of the method.
An evaluation in 15 indicators
The15 indicators cover a wide range of ESG issues. Environmental issues such as the protection of biodiversity or the reuse of excavated materials. And societal issues range from the well-being of populations to the support of local agriculture or the integration of the site into its environment.
They are divided into 5 categories:
- the preservation of ecosystems
- the fight against climate change
- improving people’s well-being
- support for the local and circular economy
- the integration of the site into its environment
Each indicator has a specific assessment. The whole is aggregated and consolidated according to the project’s use typology.
These 15 indicators are operational, and ECT teams use them to assess the added value and impact of the project. This tool makes it possible to optimise design and management choices. It is also a means of providing the various stakeholders with a map of the value generated.
Preserving ecosystems
- Surface Biodiversity: Measures the functionality of the habitats, the coherence with the surrounding environment and the contribution to the ecological functionality of the site’s surroundings. If a 4-season survey is carried out, measures the protection of threatened species on the site.
- Infiltration & water retention: Compares the capacity of the soil to infiltrate stormwater before and after the development of the site and assesses the potential creation of additional water and flood management facilities.
Tackling climate change
- Greenhouse gases: Measures the amount of GHG emitted/amount of soil reused on-site (or hosted), as well as the difference in sequestration between the initial and final state.
- Freshness island: Evaluates the contribution of the site in terms of albedo, permeability and ground vegetation cover for cooling the surrounding urban areas.
Improving people’s well-being
- Green spaces: Validate ECT projects that increase the ratio of green space. A green space is a space with plants in the open air, except for agricultural spaces.
- Recreational equipment: Evaluate the provision of facilities per individual, the quality of these facilities and the accessibility and complementarity of the offer about that of the municipality
- Landscape insertion: Evaluate the integration of the site into its surrounding environment and the wider landscape, the diversity of planting and the work done on the external boundaries of the site
Supporting the local and circular economy
- Job creation: Estimate the number of jobs created for the operation and development of ECT sites, as well as the external jobs needed to manage the development once it is completed.
- Land reuse: Assesses the site’s volume of reclaimed land per unit area, and the maximum land holding capacity of the site in absolute terms.
- Local agriculture: Evaluate the project’s contribution to the increase in agricultural land and the eco-friendly or non-compatible production method used.
- Renewable energy: Evaluate the renewable energy production capacity installed on the site (photovoltaic, wind, methane) and their contribution to local energy needs.
Integrating the site into its environment
- Noise pollution: Evaluate the level of risk of noise pollution linked to the activity on-site (arrival and departure of trucks, operation of machinery.)
- Impact on roads: Evaluate the impact of heavy goods vehicle (HGV) traffic generated by ECT’s activity on roads that have not been designed to support such traffic and integrate the measures taken by ECT to improve the condition of the road (repairing, cleaning, etc.)
- Accessibility of the site: Assess the accessibility of the site by truck and the associated level of inconvenience to residents in terms of noise pollution and traffic congestion.
- Dusting: Measures the contribution of on-site ECT operations to the local fine particle concentration.
