All 193 UN countries have committed to 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). For a better climate, cleaner water and sustainable energy, among other things, companies must contribute substantially to the goals by 2030. But how do you integrate the SDGs into projects? A holistic approach can help, for example when building a soy processing plant in the desert.

Visit any website and you find that any self-respecting company gives sustainability high priority. But sustainability is a broad concept with as many as 17 goals that will define every corporate policy in the coming decades. Future-proofing business is the big challenge.

In particular, the industrial sector should focus on healthy products (number 3 in the chart), clean water and its reuse (6 in the chart), less and sustainable energy consumption (7), building design (9), sustainable materials and less waste (12), and CO2 and nitrogen reduction (13 and 15). Britt van der Linden, Consultant Industrial Sustainability: "Bilfinger Tebodin helps industry focus on the above goals using the Sustainability scan. The innovation is not only that sustainability is integrated into projects, but also the linking of KPIs per goal."

Sustainability Scan

The Sustainability scan, with a sharp focus on the above eight SDG goals, was developed specifically for the industrial sector. Van der Linden: "From a holistic vision, we look at a business plan differently. Together with the client, we focus on three or four SDGs, with which an integral team sets to work. We list all the alternatives and link KPIs to them to express the environmental gain in figures."

The projects are diverse. Consider, for example, a company that discharges too much waste into a river and wants a plan to treat the wastewater. Or a factory that wants to capture waste heat and use it in another process. "The scan also implies a roadmap and timeline. Ultimately, a report follows with recommendations and quantitative KPIs. Feedback can also be provided afterwards on whether the KPIs have been achieved," reasons Van der Linden. Bilfinger Tebodin, which operates worldwide with 1,350 consultants and engineers, assists in the consultancy and engineering phase of a project. The choices are fully in line with the SDG goals and provide insight into a sustainable and future-proof industry.

Investing in sustainability

The sustainability ambitions of industrial companies are leading the way. "If a company looks at minimum costs in the short term, then little will come of sustainability. Companies really do have to be willing to invest in reducing their own environmental impact and by raising living standards and collaborating with parties in their production chain. In the long run, the sustainability investment pays off. Costs become lower thanks to more efficient processes," motivates the enthusiastic consultant.

Future-proofing has several aspects. Being sustainable makes customers more loyal and improves the reputation of a company or brand. Various studies prove this. Marketing-wise, it is interesting if a company communicates that it has saved 30 tons of CO2, for example. Moreover, this facilitates the recruitment of personnel. Van der Linden: "Millennials, in particular, increasingly value working for a company that is actually working sustainably and contributing to a better world."

Focus on energy transition

Industry cannot and should not sit back. After all, the SDGs must be achieved by 2030. According to Van der Linden, companies are particularly focused on the energy transition and the energy savings obligation. "We think with companies and make sure they get the right documentation to meet the energy savings obligation," Van der Linden says.

The hot topics at the moment are energy savings, reduced CO2 emissions and water consumption. "For CO2 reduction, a special tool has been developed that identifies energy-saving measures that fulfill sustainability ambitions," Van der Linden explains. In addition, expertise is deployed regarding other relevant disciplines, such as the use of recycled materials, circularity, detachability of buildings, smart use of rainwater and biophilic design, where building design is attuned to the natural environment.

Soy processing plant

A recent reference project is a plant-based meat factory in an Asian desert. What were the challenges in the design of this new soy processing plant? The focus was on the SDGs of clean water and sanitation (6 in diagram), renewable energy (7), innovation and infrastructure (9) and responsible consumption and production (12).

Van der Linden: "Water is scarce in the desert, the sun is abundant and it's hot. Cooling is designed as efficiently as possible with specially insulated walls. Solar thermal is also used: generating heat by capturing solar energy through solar thermal panels. The heat is used to generate steam in the production process. The chemicals typically used to clean water are reduced through thoughtful cleaning steps."

Durable material

She continues: "Much attention has also been paid to sustainable use of materials, including recycled steel and concrete. Finally, the building design - color scheme, materials and style - has been tailored to the desert environment, and consideration has been given to minimizing heat absorption from the sun. Thus, black facades and excessively dark solar panels are avoided."

Recently, Bilfinger Tebodin's client informed us that they are very happy with the design: the suggested recommendations will be considered in the follow-up phases of the design.

What are the experiences with the scan in practice? "The biggest challenge is to make it clear to companies that sustainability is important and that business today is not just about money. The holistic approach appeals to more and more companies. After approval of the design, it turns out to be important that we stay involved in the project with specialized knowledge." Now she has helped implement the Sustainability scan, introduced in mid-2021, on several occasions. According to the consultant, the industrial sector is experiencing this self-developed scan - the only one in this form - as an innovation that promotes future-proofing and offers opportunities for value creation. "If a company is sustainability-minded, we prove successful every time," Van der Linden concludes.

This article was originally published in Dutch in VMT Magazine.