Tag: 3BL

Northern Trust has released its latest Sustainability Report, highlighting efforts to create better and more sustainable futures for our employees, clients, shareholders, communities and the world we live in.

“Ethical business practices, risk identification and mitigation and caring for our communities are fundamental to our core strategy as a responsible business,” Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Michael O’Grady and Kimberly Evans, Head of Corporate Sustainability, Inclusion and Social Impact, said in a joint message to stakeholders.

“As we have for the past 135 years, we continue to invest in the well-being of our employees and surrounding communities by helping them meet their needs and respecting their human rights,”

Northern Trust made significant progress in 2023, including:

Maintaining an outstanding Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) rating for the 28th consecutive year, reflecting a community development and investments portfolio that exceeded $4.6 billion.Supporting more than 900 charities worldwide and mobilizing employees around the globe to support their desired causes through more than 106,000 hours of volunteerism.Joining the United Nations Global Compact and its Ten Principles focusing on human rights, labor, environment and anticorruption.Increasing its diverse supplier spend from 6 to 10 percent of the total dollar amount spent for the procurement of products, goods and services in the organization.Enhancing climate risk management capabilities, including reducing our energy consumption by 27 percent and started implementing Energy and Environmental Management Systems (EMS), beginning with our offices in Europe and the Middle East.Continuing to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion, as a material sustainability topic for the firm, with a focus on our inclusion strategy and future outcomes.

“Looking to the future, we will continue to find opportunities to make a positive impact and contribute to a more sustainable future for all by working together with our stakeholders,” O’Grady and Evans said in their opening message to stakeholders.

Media Contact:
Doug Holt
(312) 557-1571

Read More

Flooding, one of the most dangerous natural disasters, is becoming increasingly prevalent due to climate change. Millions of people around the world are impacted by floods and the effects stretch far beyond the physical destruction. This episode features interviews with experts Andreas Deckelmann, Senior Consultant for Hydrogeology and Environment at HPC; Jon Rix, Principal Flood Risk Consultant at Tonkin + Taylor; and Agenor Freitas, Field Technician at Antea Brasil. They share their harrowing experiences during devastating floods in Germany, New Zealand, and Brazil. They also discuss the innovative solutions and strategies they are developing to help communities mitigate the effects of disasters like floods. Despite adversity, their stories of courage and community support offer not only hope and inspiration, but also invaluable insights for a more climate resilient future.

Listen Now:

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/be/podcast/rethinking-ehs-global-goals-local-delivery/id1741016993

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2OveBn2Pk5N2ytHdtpVvOe

By Yan Tai

When you meet Judit Sánchez González, you realize quickly how both her passion and expertise have helped shape her journey in sustainability. Based in the vibrant city of Madrid, Judit is a senior sustainability consultant at Savills Spain, where she merges her training in architecture and engineering with a keen understanding of the Spanish real estate market. Her work is often focused on guiding clients on their own journeys to become leaders in health and well-being by using the WELL Building Standard to improve occupant health and boost ESG performance. Her career is a testament to her dedication and adaptability, consistently delivering her best in every project she undertakes.

“My passion is sustainability,” says Judit, and it’s evident in all facets of her work. As a key member of Savills property management team, she works directly with clients and other project agents to conduct market analysis, craft strategic plans and ultimately help them achieve better working environments. For Judit, helping clients advance healthy building best practices through WELL is all about fostering a culture of health leadership and environmental stewardship in Spain’s real estate sector.

Recently, we had a chance to sit down with Judit to discuss her journey, insights and innovative projects that she’s spearheaded in the Spanish market.

Q: What kind of trends are you seeing in the wider real estate market in Spain, in regard to the healthy building movement?

At Savills, I have been able to work on all kinds of projects that have allowed me to understand the current trends in the Spanish market, as well as emerging ones. At the asset level, organizations have a long history of looking to maximize cost savings through efficiency and environmental leadership, which creates great value. But increasingly organizations realize they need efficiency and a focus on health and well-being , so that not only is the workplace efficient, it’s also people-centered. At the corporate level, organizations are increasingly demanding this type of space where they can align their ESG strategies with the type of workspaces they are delivering. At this point, it’s difficult for office buildings located in the prime area of Madrid to be competitive without WELL Certification, so when they require renovation or other interior work, many of these properties use that opportunity to pursue the certification.

Another trend in business parks on the outskirts of the Madrid city center, as is the case of NEOS20, is having health features, ample nearby services and public transportation, which is strongly aligned with aspects of WELL Certification. As they are outside the urban core of Madrid and are large spaces, they prioritize the use of common areas, which promote health and sustainability. And notably, it’s tenants that value WELL Certification and are the ones who continue to drive demand, which will make more and more assets want to adopt these characteristics.

Q: As a quick follow up, how are organizations in the Spanish market responding to a rapidly evolving workplace landscape?

The challenge of this era is to develop offices that attract employees where they can work comfortably, be healthy and happy, and have their needs within reach. By achieving that, the company is helping support increased productivity and therefore profitability and a strong return on investment. In addition, it helps them attract top talent by showing, often through WELL, that they value the health of their employees.

Q: Why did Aríma, a major real estate company in Spain, choose to pursue WELL across various project types?

Arima is striving to be a market leader, in sustainability, health and connectivity. They have pursued leading certifications in the market, such as WELL, LEED, BREEAM and WIREDSCORE. Through investment and commitment, they seek to obtain the highest possible level of certification. They want what’s best for occupants and their tenants, while also meeting their strong commitment to ESG objectives. WELL helps them do all of those and is reflected in how they approach their real estate decisions.

Q: What makes Arima’s HABANA Building a unique project in the Spanish market?

Habana Building project achieved Platinum level WELL Certification, demonstrating its world-class commitment to health and well-being. By prioritizing health, the project really set itself apart. As an existing building that underwent a complete renovation, the project was carried out in a way that health and sustainability certifications were integrated from the beginning. There are so many standout features. One is the biophilia, which is a very present throughout the project, from wood elements in all the common areas, to the use of plants and wood in other parts the building. But most of all, it is clear that the people inside were the organization’s priority at the time of strategy development and it shows in the final product and through the WELL achievement.

Q: How is the role of improving ESG performance affecting the market?

The companies that occupy office buildings are the ones who are increasingly demanding spaces that are attuned to health and well-being. We also see the clear evolution of the office building market where, in addition to energy certifications, and health leadership, like WELL Certification, can help support the social aspects of ESG. And that helps companies align their corporate ESG strategies with how their buildings are positioned to support their most valuable asset, their people. I believe Spanish companies as well as any company with operations in the EU will find the alignment even more important when they start reporting in 2025 under the newly-enacted European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS) framework. Achieved WELL features can help support many topical areas required for ESRS disclosure, especially within the Social pillar.

Q: What are some successes you’ve seen as they relate to the WELL process?

For me a great success of the WELL Certification is the pre-certification phase, obtaining this seems to me fundamental for all projects. It gives us a vision of where the project is and if there are other strategies to attain more features in the final phase. From SAVILLS, we encourage all our clients to pursue this milestone and find ways to achieve even higher levels of certification. This phase also establishes a moment of collaboration between all the agents of the project at a very early stage. This is a very important milestone for the commercialization of the assets and implies a commitment from the property to meet the proposed objectives.

Another important area to highlight is the Performance Verification, where much of the work culminates through evaluation and testing. This is an exhaustive evaluation that gives value to the certification and is what the future occupants of the buildings demand.

Q: What future projects will emerge in the Spanish market?

More future WELL projects will be residential, senior living and hotel projects. If we are looking for offices focused on people, the logical trend is that in the same way users will look for homes with these features. Every day we are more aware of the time we spend inside buildings and how our indoor environments affect our health.

I would like to highlight a segment that I think is very important to have WELL certification, and this is the residences for the elderly. These are places where our elders spend most of their time, and these spaces should show leadership in health. The hotel sector is another big opportunity for this certification. For holiday tourists looking for a place to rest and the many business travelers, it’s important that these facilities are attuned to well-being.

View original content here. 

Download the Schneider Electric™ Sustainability Research Institute report

Buildings are today responsible for 37% of emissions when considering both direct and indirect emissions (United Nations Environment Programme, 2022), and should be at the core of decarbonization policies worldwide. Still, we remain in a deadlock as highlighted in our previous research (Petit V. , 2022).

Decarbonizing buildings is possible

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change clearly highlighted however that solutions are readily available (IPCC, 2022). Net-zero buildings are emerging as a solution to tackle climate change and reduce energy demand. These buildings, while not yet mainstream, strive to achieve a balance between the energy they produce on-site, often through renewable sources, and the energy they consume (Figure 1). This balance is achieved through maximizing energy efficiency measures and electrifying building systems like heating and cooling. Any remaining energy needs are then typically met through a low-carbon electricity grid.

A first of its kind analysis

The aim of this new report is to propose a close to real life analysis of the combined deployment of a heat pump, a building (or home) management system1, a rooftop PV and a stationary storage solution on a broad set of buildings, across different segments and regions.

Academic research has been traditionally focusing on either one or two technologies (and their varied impact across multiple geographies), or a larger combination of technologies within a given building asset. None has really combined both (Keiner, 2019), (Revathy, 2022), (Kun, 2022), (Kleinebrahm, 2023), (RMI, 2022), (Forero-Quintero, 2023).

This study is thus to our knowledge the first one encompassing such a wide combination of assets, building segments, geographies, taking into account real-life dynamic tariff structures, weather and CO2 data, as well as regional capital and operational expenditures of the deployed assets.

Optimization strategy options (peak management can apply with any of them) – Table #1.

 Energy BillCO2 emissionsPaybackBill reduction strategy (this study)OptimalNot optimal as not selecting electricity at time of lowest CO2Not optimal as selecting oversize PV/batteryCO2 reduction strategyNot optimal as not selecting the lowest grid priceOptimalNot optimal as selecting oversize PV/batteryPayback reduction strategyNot optimal as selecting smaller PV/battery associationNot optimal as selecting smaller PV/battery associationOptimal

We combine 3 original aspects:

A fine segmentation: We consider specific building archetypes with their individual load, rooftop solar potential, and regional factors like weather patterns, local technology performance and costs, and dynamic electricity tariffs.A sequential optimization: Dispatch optimization simulation: We simulate building energy consumption on a 15min basis for a complete year. This incorporates a pre-defined microgrid management strategy using a model predictive control approach.Design optimization process: We select the best PV/battery combination among different tested options to achieve the optimization goal.A grid impact analysis: The simulation not only provides overall carbon emissions and energy consumption and costs, but also the complete annual load profile which helps assess the resulting impact of these measures on the power grid.

Focusing on a bill reduction strategy

From an optimization perspective, the strategic goal focused on here is to minimize the customer’s energy bill, as this is typically a key concern. Different strategies exist however such as reducing CO2 emissions, shortening payback period, managing peak load (maximum grid import), or a mix of all of them. Different optimization strategies would lead to different sizing for photovoltaic and battery systems, and different results.

Table #1 summarizes the key differences between different optimization approaches:

Bill optimization: This strategy aims to directly use or store (using the battery) as much PV energy as possible while minimizing grid imports, purchasing electricity only when it is most affordable. This approach leads to larger PV and battery sizes, as investment cost isn’t prioritized, potentially resulting in a longer payback period.CO2 optimization: Like bill optimization, CO2 optimization prioritizes minimizing grid imports given its dynamic carbon intensity, regardless of cost.Payback optimization: This strategy focuses on achieving a specific payback target (either through maximizing internal rate of return or minimizing net present cost). It balances capital expenditure (capex) and operating expenditure (Opex) to find the optimal PV/battery combination2.Peak management: This strategy focuses on capping the maximum amount of power that is either drawn from the grid or supplied to it (when excess PV is available). While we speak of an optimization strategy, this peak management is applied as a constraint in our simulation in one of the 3 previous ones.

To access the rest of the findings and the full report, click here.

1. The focus of this study was on selecting energy conservation measures with reasonable paybacks, so discarding insulation in retrofits. Efficient insulation is taken de facto for new constructions through standards upgrades.
2. The size of the PV and especially the battery will generally be reduced

Download the Schneider Electric™ Sustainability Research Institute report

Buildings are today responsible for 37% of emissions when considering both direct and indirect emissions (United Nations Environment Programme, 2022), and should be at the core of decarbonization policies worldwide. Still, we remain in a deadlock as highlighted in our previous research (Petit V. , 2022).

Decarbonizing buildings is possible

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change clearly highlighted however that solutions are readily available (IPCC, 2022). Net-zero buildings are emerging as a solution to tackle climate change and reduce energy demand. These buildings, while not yet mainstream, strive to achieve a balance between the energy they produce on-site, often through renewable sources, and the energy they consume (Figure 1). This balance is achieved through maximizing energy efficiency measures and electrifying building systems like heating and cooling. Any remaining energy needs are then typically met through a low-carbon electricity grid.

A first of its kind analysis

The aim of this new report is to propose a close to real life analysis of the combined deployment of a heat pump, a building (or home) management system1, a rooftop PV and a stationary storage solution on a broad set of buildings, across different segments and regions.

Academic research has been traditionally focusing on either one or two technologies (and their varied impact across multiple geographies), or a larger combination of technologies within a given building asset. None has really combined both (Keiner, 2019), (Revathy, 2022), (Kun, 2022), (Kleinebrahm, 2023), (RMI, 2022), (Forero-Quintero, 2023).

This study is thus to our knowledge the first one encompassing such a wide combination of assets, building segments, geographies, taking into account real-life dynamic tariff structures, weather and CO2 data, as well as regional capital and operational expenditures of the deployed assets.

Optimization strategy options (peak management can apply with any of them) – Table #1.

 Energy BillCO2 emissionsPaybackBill reduction strategy (this study)OptimalNot optimal as not selecting electricity at time of lowest CO2Not optimal as selecting oversize PV/batteryCO2 reduction strategyNot optimal as not selecting the lowest grid priceOptimalNot optimal as selecting oversize PV/batteryPayback reduction strategyNot optimal as selecting smaller PV/battery associationNot optimal as selecting smaller PV/battery associationOptimal

We combine 3 original aspects:

A fine segmentation: We consider specific building archetypes with their individual load, rooftop solar potential, and regional factors like weather patterns, local technology performance and costs, and dynamic electricity tariffs.A sequential optimization: Dispatch optimization simulation: We simulate building energy consumption on a 15min basis for a complete year. This incorporates a pre-defined microgrid management strategy using a model predictive control approach.Design optimization process: We select the best PV/battery combination among different tested options to achieve the optimization goal.A grid impact analysis: The simulation not only provides overall carbon emissions and energy consumption and costs, but also the complete annual load profile which helps assess the resulting impact of these measures on the power grid.

Focusing on a bill reduction strategy

From an optimization perspective, the strategic goal focused on here is to minimize the customer’s energy bill, as this is typically a key concern. Different strategies exist however such as reducing CO2 emissions, shortening payback period, managing peak load (maximum grid import), or a mix of all of them. Different optimization strategies would lead to different sizing for photovoltaic and battery systems, and different results.

Table #1 summarizes the key differences between different optimization approaches:

Bill optimization: This strategy aims to directly use or store (using the battery) as much PV energy as possible while minimizing grid imports, purchasing electricity only when it is most affordable. This approach leads to larger PV and battery sizes, as investment cost isn’t prioritized, potentially resulting in a longer payback period.CO2 optimization: Like bill optimization, CO2 optimization prioritizes minimizing grid imports given its dynamic carbon intensity, regardless of cost.Payback optimization: This strategy focuses on achieving a specific payback target (either through maximizing internal rate of return or minimizing net present cost). It balances capital expenditure (capex) and operating expenditure (Opex) to find the optimal PV/battery combination2.Peak management: This strategy focuses on capping the maximum amount of power that is either drawn from the grid or supplied to it (when excess PV is available). While we speak of an optimization strategy, this peak management is applied as a constraint in our simulation in one of the 3 previous ones.

To access the rest of the findings and the full report, click here.

1. The focus of this study was on selecting energy conservation measures with reasonable paybacks, so discarding insulation in retrofits. Efficient insulation is taken de facto for new constructions through standards upgrades.
2. The size of the PV and especially the battery will generally be reduced

Read the 2024 Wesco Sustainability Report here

Ensuring Continuous Improvement

Wesco is dedicated to improving our environmental management through setting, achieving, and striving toward new goals. Strong environmental management is an advantage for our business as we implement new practices to reduce our impacts, benefiting our customers and the communities in which we operate. More information on our sustainable client offerings is included in the Sustainable Products and Supply Chain section of this report.

Our Global Environmental, Health, Safety and Sustainability Policy sets the foundation for our efforts. Elements of the policy are aligned with key provisions of the ISO 14001:2015 environmental management standards.

The policy outlines accountability, direct program responsibilities, key performance indicators and other metrics to track progress and is conducted by the sustainability and environmental compliance team, who report progress to senior management monthly. We implement the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle to ensure continuous improvement in our energy and environmental management efforts.

Environmental Goals

Target: Reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 green house gas emissions 30% for our U.S., Canada, and U.K. operations from a 2021 baseline by 2030.

Progress: Wesco has reduced scope 1 and 2 emissions by 1% or 896 total MTCO2e from our 2021 baseline for our U.S., Canada and U.K operations.

Target: Reduce landfilled waste intensity by 15% across our U.S. and Canadian locations from a 2020 baseline by 2030.

Progress: Wesco has reduced total waste generated by 3%, waste to landfill by 11%, and increased waste recycled by 15%.

UN Sustainable Development Goals:

SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy

Completed 2800+ energy management projects with customers covering 74M sq. ft. with the potential to avoid 53,612 MTCO2e.

SDG 12: Responsible Production and Consumption

Improved truck fleet efficiency by 11.2% from 2022 to 2023 by increased use of routing software, awareness training and policy.

Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions

This report marks a significant expansion in the reporting coverage of our scopes 1 and 2 green house gas emissions inventory globally. We expanded our 2023 green house gas accounting efforts to include scope 1 and 2 emissions from global facilities adding primary data for 120 additional facilities and 36 new countries, bringing the total to 733 facilities across 39 countries to cover 94% of Wesco’s global locations. Our previous data focused on our U.S., Canada, and U.K. operations, which encompasses 79% of the Wesco footprint and is the boundary for our current 30% emissions reduction target. Moving forward, we will continue to track emissions reductions against national and regional baselines.

U.S., Canada and U.K. data:

Electricity:

2021: 31,0512022: 29,1582023*: 36,719

Building Fuels:

2021: 28,8462022: 24,8922023*: 22,101

Leased Fleet**

2021: 24,3562022: 26,5202023*: 28,593

*Please note that the 2023 data now reflects our global totals. 2022 data reflects just the U.S., Canada and U.K. businesses.

**Leased fleet data includes combined emission for all car and truck fleet. The 2023 Leased fleet data reflects our updated goal and 2021 baseline as described on page 20.

Scopes and Categories

Since we expanded our scope 1 and 2 data to add emissions from 733 facilities across 39 countries, our total reported global scope 1 and 2 emissions increased by 4% in 2023 from our 2021 baseline for our U.S., Canada, and U.K. facilities. However, the green house gas emissions associated with the baseline countries in fact decreased by 1% from 2022 to 2023, despite a 7% increase in total facility square footage to support business growth.

Our scope 1 and 2 emissions are generated by three primary sources: electricity use, building fuels and our transportation fleet – both owned and leased. Among these, the largest source of these green house gas emissions is the electricity and natural gas used by our facilities, which accounts for approximately 67% of our combined scope 1 and 2 emissions. As such, building energy efficiency initiatives and process improvements are a key focus of our emissions-reduction activities.

In addition to expanding our inventory to account for global emissions, we continue to make strides towards enhancing data accuracy with increasing the use of primary data. Where primary data is not available, estimates are made using data from the Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) for global sites to have a more complete view of our emissions. We’ve improved data accuracy for our fleet emissions calculations by replacing distance data with fuel data.

To improve our scope 2 emissions calculation, we continued our transition to market-based data collection. Our scope 2 emissions now include 58 custom emissions factors which span coverage for over 300 North American Wesco locations. Transitioning to a market-based approach allows Wesco to capture utility provider-specific emissions factors which account for their individual energy mix. As data quality improves globally, we intend to expand the use of custom emissions factors to continually improve the accuracy of our scope 2 calculations.

Energy

Identifying new energy-efficient practices is at the core of our business strategy. Most of the energy we use comes from electricity and natural gas for lighting, heating and cooling our nearly 800 branches, warehouses and sales offices in more than 50 countries around the world. Our fleet of approximately 1,300 trucks and 1,700 cars used in our distribution and sales activities consume fuel that further contributes to our total energy consumption.

Facilities

Approximately 92% of our facility portfolio is leased, which reduces our control over facility energy consumption and adds complexity to meeting our emissions reduction goal. Where possible, we engage with the owners and agents of the buildings we lease to improve energy efficiency. Our greatest opportunity to make an impact is during lease negotiations. We now include energy-efficiency requirements in new building leases. For the buildings we own, we implement various initiatives to improve our energy efficiency.

In Our Facilities:

In 2021, we launched a lighting retrofit project, replacing lighting equipment in 21 facilities with more efficient technology (completed in 2022). We were able to track electricity use at 19 of these facilities in 2023. Based on these changes, we achieved a significant reduction of over 20% in both electricity use and associated green house gas emissions compared to the baseline before the project.Energy audits began in 2023 at several sites with plans to expand to additional sites in 2024.

Overall Energy Use:

U.S., Canada and U.K. data 

2021: 1,197,207 (-)2022: 1,126,053 (-5.9%)2023*: 1,181,904 (5.0%)

Intensity 

2021: 57,464 (-)2022: 50,624 (-11.9%)2023*: 44,859 (-11.4%)

Facility Energy Use 

2021: 849,900 (-)2022: 738,231 (-13.1%)2023*: 778,842 (5.5%)

Intensity 

2021: 40,974 (-)2022: 33,189 (-19.0%)2023*: 29,561 (-10.9%)

*Please note that the 2023 data now reflects our global totals. 2022 data reflects just the U.S., Canada and U.K. businesses.

Transportation Fleet

A secondary source of green house gas emissions is from our truck and car fleet. Our Fleet Efficiency Policy includes the use of fuel-efficient vehicles, determining efficient routes and idling restrictions. The policy also provides our teams guidance on driving practices that can reduce fuel use within their truck and car fleets. When purchasing new vehicles, we require an evaluation of the most fuel- efficient models available. Locations are urged to retire the least-efficient vehicles first and take steps to improve the efficiency of the remaining vehicles. Future actions are planned to investigate opportunities to upgrade existing fleet vehicles with available technologies to improve fuel efficiencies.

As of 2023, 198 of our distribution centers and branches were using industry-leading route planning software to meet customer delivery dates and eliminate wasteful mileage. For employees who drive either a company truck or car, we provide training on ways to increase vehicle fuel efficiency. This includes accelerating gradually, maintaining proper tire pressure, conducting timely preventative maintenance and using more efficient routes.

Our idling policy requires an engine to be turned off unless necessary for work. Exceptions include engine warmup and during periods of extreme cold weather. Anti-idling technology is part of base vehicle specifications for our full fleet. We anticipate continued green house gas reductions since this increased visibility will allow us to implement targeted training at locations where idling performance is poorest.

To reduce energy use and emissions in our car fleet, we are continuing a three-year transition plan to move from employee-owned to company-leased vehicles. Employees in the U.S. and Canada who log more than 7,500 miles in business travel annually can optionally use a leased vehicle rather than their personal cars. Leased vehicles give us more control over our fuel use. We continue to explore more efficient vehicles, including electric and alternative fuel cars, for this program.

In 2023, we continued pilot testing of electric vehicles. We introduced six trucks into our fleet vehicles across three locations and analyzed their utilization. In 2024, we will continue monitoring this program and evaluate future expansion.

To learn more, download the 2024 Wesco Sustainability Report here.

About This Report

Unless otherwise stated, this report covers activities, data and initiatives from our fiscal year 2023.

ESG Disclosure and Framework Alignment

The topics covered in this report include those that we have determined to be material for our business and stakeholders as noted on page 12. Wesco aligns with several ESG frameworks and disclosures in support of our commitment to transparency and our fulfillment of stakeholder needs and expectations. We leverage the following frameworks and standards to provide robust ESG information disclosure:

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI): GRI offers a list of global standards and guidelines around sustainability reporting.Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB): SASB provides a comprehensive set of industry-specific disclosure topics and guidelines.Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD): TCFD provides disclosure recommendations on thematic ESG topics such as governance, strategy, risk management, metrics and targets to provide stakeholders with fuller information surrounding climate risks.CDP: Formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project, CDP is an international organization that helps companies and cities measure and disclose important environmental impact information through an annual questionnaire and rating system.United Nations Global Compact (UNGC): UNGC is an initiative that aims to help businesses align their strategies and work toward the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals.United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (U.N. SDGs): U.N. SDGs provide a shared set of 17 toward peace and prosperity for people and planet goals and create a call to action by all countries in a global partnership.

We also regularly engage with our investors, employees, customers, regulators, ratings agencies and others on ESG and business issues. Additional information about Wesco can be found in our public financial filings—including our annual report and proxy filings—as well as on the Security and Exchange Commission’s website at www.sec.gov or on the Investors page of our website at Wesco.com.

Wesco plans to continue to report annually as we monitor, measure, and deepen our ESG initiatives and disclosures.

Wesco endorses the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are a call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity.

More information about our SDG aligned initiatives is included throughout this report.

Assurance 
We did not seek third-party assurance for this report; however, we will consider doing so for future reporting. The information and data contained in this report was vetted by internal subject matter experts on the various ESG topics included in this report.

Contact Us 
We appreciate and welcome feedback on our ESG initiatives and reporting and invite you to contact us directly via email at Sustainability@Wesco.com.

Read the 2024 Wesco Sustainability Report here

Ensuring Continuous Improvement

Wesco is dedicated to improving our environmental management through setting, achieving, and striving toward new goals. Strong environmental management is an advantage for our business as we implement new practices to reduce our impacts, benefiting our customers and the communities in which we operate. More information on our sustainable client offerings is included in the Sustainable Products and Supply Chain section of this report.

Our Global Environmental, Health, Safety and Sustainability Policy sets the foundation for our efforts. Elements of the policy are aligned with key provisions of the ISO 14001:2015 environmental management standards.

The policy outlines accountability, direct program responsibilities, key performance indicators and other metrics to track progress and is conducted by the sustainability and environmental compliance team, who report progress to senior management monthly. We implement the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle to ensure continuous improvement in our energy and environmental management efforts.

Environmental Goals

Target: Reduce absolute Scope 1 and 2 green house gas emissions 30% for our U.S., Canada, and U.K. operations from a 2021 baseline by 2030.

Progress: Wesco has reduced scope 1 and 2 emissions by 1% or 896 total MTCO2e from our 2021 baseline for our U.S., Canada and U.K operations.

Target: Reduce landfilled waste intensity by 15% across our U.S. and Canadian locations from a 2020 baseline by 2030.

Progress: Wesco has reduced total waste generated by 3%, waste to landfill by 11%, and increased waste recycled by 15%.

UN Sustainable Development Goals:

SDG 7: Affordable and Clean Energy

Completed 2800+ energy management projects with customers covering 74M sq. ft. with the potential to avoid 53,612 MTCO2e.

SDG 12: Responsible Production and Consumption

Improved truck fleet efficiency by 11.2% from 2022 to 2023 by increased use of routing software, awareness training and policy.

Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Emissions

This report marks a significant expansion in the reporting coverage of our scopes 1 and 2 green house gas emissions inventory globally. We expanded our 2023 green house gas accounting efforts to include scope 1 and 2 emissions from global facilities adding primary data for 120 additional facilities and 36 new countries, bringing the total to 733 facilities across 39 countries to cover 94% of Wesco’s global locations. Our previous data focused on our U.S., Canada, and U.K. operations, which encompasses 79% of the Wesco footprint and is the boundary for our current 30% emissions reduction target. Moving forward, we will continue to track emissions reductions against national and regional baselines.

U.S., Canada and U.K. data:

Electricity:

2021: 31,0512022: 29,1582023*: 36,719

Building Fuels:

2021: 28,8462022: 24,8922023*: 22,101

Leased Fleet**

2021: 24,3562022: 26,5202023*: 28,593

*Please note that the 2023 data now reflects our global totals. 2022 data reflects just the U.S., Canada and U.K. businesses.

**Leased fleet data includes combined emission for all car and truck fleet. The 2023 Leased fleet data reflects our updated goal and 2021 baseline as described on page 20.

Scopes and Categories

Since we expanded our scope 1 and 2 data to add emissions from 733 facilities across 39 countries, our total reported global scope 1 and 2 emissions increased by 4% in 2023 from our 2021 baseline for our U.S., Canada, and U.K. facilities. However, the green house gas emissions associated with the baseline countries in fact decreased by 1% from 2022 to 2023, despite a 7% increase in total facility square footage to support business growth.

Our scope 1 and 2 emissions are generated by three primary sources: electricity use, building fuels and our transportation fleet – both owned and leased. Among these, the largest source of these green house gas emissions is the electricity and natural gas used by our facilities, which accounts for approximately 67% of our combined scope 1 and 2 emissions. As such, building energy efficiency initiatives and process improvements are a key focus of our emissions-reduction activities.

In addition to expanding our inventory to account for global emissions, we continue to make strides towards enhancing data accuracy with increasing the use of primary data. Where primary data is not available, estimates are made using data from the Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) for global sites to have a more complete view of our emissions. We’ve improved data accuracy for our fleet emissions calculations by replacing distance data with fuel data.

To improve our scope 2 emissions calculation, we continued our transition to market-based data collection. Our scope 2 emissions now include 58 custom emissions factors which span coverage for over 300 North American Wesco locations. Transitioning to a market-based approach allows Wesco to capture utility provider-specific emissions factors which account for their individual energy mix. As data quality improves globally, we intend to expand the use of custom emissions factors to continually improve the accuracy of our scope 2 calculations.

Energy

Identifying new energy-efficient practices is at the core of our business strategy. Most of the energy we use comes from electricity and natural gas for lighting, heating and cooling our nearly 800 branches, warehouses and sales offices in more than 50 countries around the world. Our fleet of approximately 1,300 trucks and 1,700 cars used in our distribution and sales activities consume fuel that further contributes to our total energy consumption.

Facilities

Approximately 92% of our facility portfolio is leased, which reduces our control over facility energy consumption and adds complexity to meeting our emissions reduction goal. Where possible, we engage with the owners and agents of the buildings we lease to improve energy efficiency. Our greatest opportunity to make an impact is during lease negotiations. We now include energy-efficiency requirements in new building leases. For the buildings we own, we implement various initiatives to improve our energy efficiency.

In Our Facilities:

In 2021, we launched a lighting retrofit project, replacing lighting equipment in 21 facilities with more efficient technology (completed in 2022). We were able to track electricity use at 19 of these facilities in 2023. Based on these changes, we achieved a significant reduction of over 20% in both electricity use and associated green house gas emissions compared to the baseline before the project.Energy audits began in 2023 at several sites with plans to expand to additional sites in 2024.

Overall Energy Use:

U.S., Canada and U.K. data 

2021: 1,197,207 (-)2022: 1,126,053 (-5.9%)2023*: 1,181,904 (5.0%)

Intensity 

2021: 57,464 (-)2022: 50,624 (-11.9%)2023*: 44,859 (-11.4%)

Facility Energy Use 

2021: 849,900 (-)2022: 738,231 (-13.1%)2023*: 778,842 (5.5%)

Intensity 

2021: 40,974 (-)2022: 33,189 (-19.0%)2023*: 29,561 (-10.9%)

*Please note that the 2023 data now reflects our global totals. 2022 data reflects just the U.S., Canada and U.K. businesses.

Transportation Fleet

A secondary source of green house gas emissions is from our truck and car fleet. Our Fleet Efficiency Policy includes the use of fuel-efficient vehicles, determining efficient routes and idling restrictions. The policy also provides our teams guidance on driving practices that can reduce fuel use within their truck and car fleets. When purchasing new vehicles, we require an evaluation of the most fuel- efficient models available. Locations are urged to retire the least-efficient vehicles first and take steps to improve the efficiency of the remaining vehicles. Future actions are planned to investigate opportunities to upgrade existing fleet vehicles with available technologies to improve fuel efficiencies.

As of 2023, 198 of our distribution centers and branches were using industry-leading route planning software to meet customer delivery dates and eliminate wasteful mileage. For employees who drive either a company truck or car, we provide training on ways to increase vehicle fuel efficiency. This includes accelerating gradually, maintaining proper tire pressure, conducting timely preventative maintenance and using more efficient routes.

Our idling policy requires an engine to be turned off unless necessary for work. Exceptions include engine warmup and during periods of extreme cold weather. Anti-idling technology is part of base vehicle specifications for our full fleet. We anticipate continued green house gas reductions since this increased visibility will allow us to implement targeted training at locations where idling performance is poorest.

To reduce energy use and emissions in our car fleet, we are continuing a three-year transition plan to move from employee-owned to company-leased vehicles. Employees in the U.S. and Canada who log more than 7,500 miles in business travel annually can optionally use a leased vehicle rather than their personal cars. Leased vehicles give us more control over our fuel use. We continue to explore more efficient vehicles, including electric and alternative fuel cars, for this program.

In 2023, we continued pilot testing of electric vehicles. We introduced six trucks into our fleet vehicles across three locations and analyzed their utilization. In 2024, we will continue monitoring this program and evaluate future expansion.

To learn more, download the 2024 Wesco Sustainability Report here.

About This Report

Unless otherwise stated, this report covers activities, data and initiatives from our fiscal year 2023.

ESG Disclosure and Framework Alignment

The topics covered in this report include those that we have determined to be material for our business and stakeholders as noted on page 12. Wesco aligns with several ESG frameworks and disclosures in support of our commitment to transparency and our fulfillment of stakeholder needs and expectations. We leverage the following frameworks and standards to provide robust ESG information disclosure:

Global Reporting Initiative (GRI): GRI offers a list of global standards and guidelines around sustainability reporting.Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB): SASB provides a comprehensive set of industry-specific disclosure topics and guidelines.Task Force on Climate-Related Financial Disclosures (TCFD): TCFD provides disclosure recommendations on thematic ESG topics such as governance, strategy, risk management, metrics and targets to provide stakeholders with fuller information surrounding climate risks.CDP: Formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project, CDP is an international organization that helps companies and cities measure and disclose important environmental impact information through an annual questionnaire and rating system.United Nations Global Compact (UNGC): UNGC is an initiative that aims to help businesses align their strategies and work toward the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals.United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (U.N. SDGs): U.N. SDGs provide a shared set of 17 toward peace and prosperity for people and planet goals and create a call to action by all countries in a global partnership.

We also regularly engage with our investors, employees, customers, regulators, ratings agencies and others on ESG and business issues. Additional information about Wesco can be found in our public financial filings—including our annual report and proxy filings—as well as on the Security and Exchange Commission’s website at www.sec.gov or on the Investors page of our website at Wesco.com.

Wesco plans to continue to report annually as we monitor, measure, and deepen our ESG initiatives and disclosures.

Wesco endorses the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are a call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that all people enjoy peace and prosperity.

More information about our SDG aligned initiatives is included throughout this report.

Assurance 
We did not seek third-party assurance for this report; however, we will consider doing so for future reporting. The information and data contained in this report was vetted by internal subject matter experts on the various ESG topics included in this report.

Contact Us 
We appreciate and welcome feedback on our ESG initiatives and reporting and invite you to contact us directly via email at Sustainability@Wesco.com.

Originally Published in Webster Bank’s 2023 Corporate Responsibility Report

In the past year, Webster has earned more than 50 recognitions for our performance, our focus on excellence and serving our clients and communities. Our accomplishments over the years are due to the dedication, teamwork and commitment to values demonstrated by our colleagues every day. Webster is making meaningful progress toward becoming one of the highest performing commercial banks in the country. Along the way, we are pleased to have been recognized for our overall accomplishments as a bank, as well as for the individual achievements of our colleagues. The recognition we receive builds on our momentum and confidence as we focus on our strategic priorities.

Webster Bank was recognized as a Corporate Citizen of the Year by Long Island Business News in the publication’s 2023 Corporate Citizenship Awards.

Long Island Business News annually publishes this list to showcase companies that promote and prioritize giving back to the Long Island community. Corporate Citizenship honorees are recognized for their impact on multiple nonprofit organizations through financial contributions, fundraising and volunteer efforts.

Webster Bank was again named a Top Corporate Contributor honoree by the Boston Business Journal in its annual 2023 Corporate Citizenship Awards, a recognition of the region’s top corporate charitable contributors.

The Business Journal annually publishes this list to showcase companies that promote and prioritize giving back to their communities. This year, 100 companies have qualified for the distinction by reporting at least $100,000 in cash contributions to Massachusetts-based charities last year. The honorees this year include companies from such industry sectors as financial and professional services, health care, technology, retail and professional sports.

Newsweek Most Trusted Companies Newsweek recognized Webster Bank for the second consecutive year as one of its Most Trusted Companies in the United States.

Connecticut Green Bank Annual Awards The Connecticut Green Bank honored Webster for its outstanding partnership and support of Green Bank initiatives, including residential and commercial solar PV, Green Liberty Bonds and C-PACE.

Women’s Enterprise Development Center (WEDC) presented Webster with its Corporate Partnership Award for its many years of support for WEDC’s services and training programs for underserved women and minority small business owners in Westchester and the Hudson Valley (NY).

Yonkers Partners in Education (YPIE) recognized Webster as the YPIE Corporate Honoree, for its continued generous support of the YPIEWebster Finance Lab, providing students with access to financial empowerment and exposure to careers in the financial industry.

Sun River Health honored Webster for their support and commitment to the health of communities in the Hudson Valley, New York City and Long Island.

Women’s Housing and Economic Development Corporation (WHEDco) honored Webster with their 2023 Corporate Leadership Award for the important role they play in supporting WHEDco’s broader efforts to improve Bronx residents’ access to financial products.

Learn more about Webster Bank’s achievements, and commitment to continue to make progress with purpose.

Originally Published in Webster Bank’s 2023 Corporate Responsibility Report

In the past year, Webster has earned more than 50 recognitions for our performance, our focus on excellence and serving our clients and communities. Our accomplishments over the years are due to the dedication, teamwork and commitment to values demonstrated by our colleagues every day. Webster is making meaningful progress toward becoming one of the highest performing commercial banks in the country. Along the way, we are pleased to have been recognized for our overall accomplishments as a bank, as well as for the individual achievements of our colleagues. The recognition we receive builds on our momentum and confidence as we focus on our strategic priorities.

Webster Bank was recognized as a Corporate Citizen of the Year by Long Island Business News in the publication’s 2023 Corporate Citizenship Awards.

Long Island Business News annually publishes this list to showcase companies that promote and prioritize giving back to the Long Island community. Corporate Citizenship honorees are recognized for their impact on multiple nonprofit organizations through financial contributions, fundraising and volunteer efforts.

Webster Bank was again named a Top Corporate Contributor honoree by the Boston Business Journal in its annual 2023 Corporate Citizenship Awards, a recognition of the region’s top corporate charitable contributors.

The Business Journal annually publishes this list to showcase companies that promote and prioritize giving back to their communities. This year, 100 companies have qualified for the distinction by reporting at least $100,000 in cash contributions to Massachusetts-based charities last year. The honorees this year include companies from such industry sectors as financial and professional services, health care, technology, retail and professional sports.

Newsweek Most Trusted Companies Newsweek recognized Webster Bank for the second consecutive year as one of its Most Trusted Companies in the United States.

Connecticut Green Bank Annual Awards The Connecticut Green Bank honored Webster for its outstanding partnership and support of Green Bank initiatives, including residential and commercial solar PV, Green Liberty Bonds and C-PACE.

Women’s Enterprise Development Center (WEDC) presented Webster with its Corporate Partnership Award for its many years of support for WEDC’s services and training programs for underserved women and minority small business owners in Westchester and the Hudson Valley (NY).

Yonkers Partners in Education (YPIE) recognized Webster as the YPIE Corporate Honoree, for its continued generous support of the YPIEWebster Finance Lab, providing students with access to financial empowerment and exposure to careers in the financial industry.

Sun River Health honored Webster for their support and commitment to the health of communities in the Hudson Valley, New York City and Long Island.

Women’s Housing and Economic Development Corporation (WHEDco) honored Webster with their 2023 Corporate Leadership Award for the important role they play in supporting WHEDco’s broader efforts to improve Bronx residents’ access to financial products.

Learn more about Webster Bank’s achievements, and commitment to continue to make progress with purpose.

Did you know that even today, more than half of the people on Earth wash their clothes by hand? That’s more than 6 billion people, often women and girls, who sacrifice up to 20 hours a week that could have been spent furthering their education, employment, and wellbeing.

Earlier this year, our team at Carol Cone ON PURPOSE (CCOP) helped launch a new collaboration between the Whirlpool Foundation and The Washing Machine Project (TWMP) to address this little-known social issue. Together, they will deliver thousands of manual washing machines worldwide over the next five years, impacting an estimated 150,000 people who rely on washing clothes by hand. In addition to Whirlpool Foundation’s philanthropic donation, the foundation will support TWMP through its distribution channels and with manufacturing, using the expertise of Whirlpool’s engineers.

Nav Sawhney, founder and CEO of The Washing Machine Project, brought this innovation to life. His story is moving: After quitting his job as a Dyson engineer, Nav moved to India to innovate and build affordable cookstoves for families. While living there, Nav met a woman named Divya and learned of the arduous nature of hand-washing clothes and how much time—the equivalent of a part-time job—she devoted to the chore. He promised to create a hand-crank washing machine to lessen the physical burden on her while reclaiming the time she was losing—time that she could have been utilizing to pursue an education or career to support her family’s future.

Named the Divya in her honor, Nav’s invention is the world’s first flat-packable, electricity-free machine. It reduces wash time by 75% and halves water usage. Click here to watch a video about the initiative.

Nav is not alone in this endeavor. This groundbreaking initiative pairs NGO solutions with aligned corporate giving, employee engagement, and operational resources to create impact at scale. Over the last two years, Nav’s team has worked hands-on with the Whirlpool Foundation to refine and manufacture the Divya and architect the entire initiative, from strategy to rollout. The Whirlpool Foundation is standing beside him in this significant collaboration, and we are so proud to be their partner.

When the team touched down in Puducherry, India, last April to help Nav fulfill his promise to Divvya, there wasn’t a dry eye among the team. As transformational as this investment and relationship will certainly be for those who will receive the machine and reclaim an estimated collective 17 million hours, it has been equally life-changing for all those involved.

This collaboration is a testament to what can be achieved when compassion meets technology. Together, they’re set to revolutionize laundry practices globally, paving the way for a more equitable and prosperous future. Learn more about the Divya and what’s next for The Washing Machine Project here.