The building is also certified to ISO 14001 and HQE Exploitation green building standards

Schneider Electric has obtained HQE Exploitation, ISO 14001 and NF EN 16001 certification for its headquarters (known as the Hive¹) in Rueil-Malmaison, France.

Schneider Electric, the global specialist in energy management, has deployed a continuous improvement programme to optimise the equipment and operation of both its manufacturing facilities and its non-manufacturing sites, including head offices, sales agencies and R&D centres. The Group’s triple goal is to make these buildings energy efficient and comfortable for users while reducing their environmental footprint. As part of this programme, Schneider Electric decided to take active measures to obtain environmental certification for the Hive.

 “Certification isn’t an end in itself, but rather a means to achieving our priority objective of improving our buildings’ environmental performance,”explains Frédéric Abbal, President of Schneider Electric France. “By applying Schneider Electric energy efficiency solutions to obtain certification, we have been able to compile the feedback into an extraordinary database that our teams will mine to devise even better solutions for our customers.”

The 35,000 square-metre Hive, which houses more than 1,700 employees, uses the main Schneider Electric solutions and services designed to optimise energy consumption and maintain top-level building performance. By leveraging this unique expertise, the Hive has become the first building in France to obtain NF EN 16001 certification. This European standard issued in 2009 defines the requirements for an energy efficient building management system and provides recommendations for implementation. The ISO 14001 and HQE Exploitation standards officially recognise a building’s operating performance with regard to environmental impact. The HQE label also takes occupant comfort and safety into account.

Schneider Electric tracks its major sustainable development commitments and communicates with stakeholders about the progress made through its action plans in a scorecard called the Planet & Society Barometer, created four years ago. One of the targets for 2009-2011 is to ensure that at least two-thirds of employees work in ISO 14001 certified sites. This target was met in the first half of 2010, as 68% of Schneider Electric employees currently work in one of the Group’s 244 certified sites.

¹ French acronym for “The Hall of Innovation and Energy Showcase”

About Schneider Electric
As a global specialist in energy management with operations in more than 100 countries, Schneider Electric offers integrated solutions across multiple market segments, including leadership positions in energy and infrastructure, industrial processes, building automation, and data centres/networks, as well as a broad presence in residential applications. Focused on making energy safe, reliable, and efficient, the company's 100,000 plus employees achieved sales of more than 15.8 billion euros in 2009, through an active commitment to help individuals and organisations “Make the most of their energy”.