Prologis expands scope of its ISO 14001 certification across European Operation
Being able to demonstrate to our clients our commitment to minimise our overall environmental impact. DNV’s global presence has allowed us to work with local auditors throughout Europe to ensure the certification seamless rollout.
Requirement Prologis clients are always involved in mass handling of goods and transportation on a significant scale, so Prologis warehouse building projects always involve big sites. Showing our commitment to the environment is key to our business.
Solution DNV GL global presence and industry leading ISO 14001:2004 certification.
Result Being able to demonstrate to our clients our commitment to minimise our overall environmental impact. DNV GL’s global presence has allowed us to work with local auditors throughout Europe to ensure the certification seamless rollout.
Prologis is the leading global provider of industrial real estate, offering customers approximately 600 million square feet of distribution space in markets across the Americas, Europe and Asia. The company’s 3,500 industrial facilities in 22 countries are leased to manufacturers, retailers, transportation companies, third-party logistics providers and other enterprises with large-scale distribution needs. In the UK, Prologis owns and manages around 20 million square feet of industrial and distribution space in prime locations across the country. Customers include Sainsburys, Tesco, Ocado, Marks and Spencer, Bosch, and Superdrug. Recent UK projects include the 1.1 million square foot distribution centre for Marks and Spencer in Bradford, the 457,000 square foot BMW warehouse in Northampton, and the 817,000 square foot rail-connected distribution facility for Tesco at the Daventry International Rail Freight Terminal (DIRFT).
Environment stewardship
Prologis clients are always involved in mass handling of goods and transportation on a significant scale, so Prologis warehouse building projects always involve big sites. Sustainable development is a key factor; ensuring that environmental impact is minimised at every step of the building process. With its own tried and tested environmental management system in place, the organisation gained certification to ISO 14001 in 2008 ieun order to validate its approach against the internationally recognised standard. This was the first stage in an international roll-out programme for certification across the group; starting with the UK, then extending the scope across Europe with a view to eventually gaining certification in the company’s Asian operations and North and South America. Simon Cox, UK Sustainability Officer for Prologis, explains: “It was critical to us that ISO 14001:2004 certification, initially for our UK project management activities, would complement our commitment to environmental stewardship. Working with DNV GL we became convinced that that was the case. The standard is not about paperwork and form-filling, it’s about driving a corporate goal to manage any environmental impact arising from our activities. Having proven the value of certification to the business we decided to expand the scope across Europe, in 2009.”
European expansion of scope The expansion involved Prologis writing an Environmental Management System for each of its three European hubs. When this stage was completed DNV GL worked alongside Prologis senior management to confirm compliance against the standard and to gain certification. The locations covered were Dusseldorf (for Northern Europe), Warsaw (for Central Europe) and Paris (for Southern Europe). “ DNV GL offers the local expertise essential within each of our markets. Legislation, definitions of good practice requirements and energy efficiency regulations - to name a few - can vary considerably from territory to territory across Europe”. Simon Cox, UK Sustainability Officer - Prologis. Each territory, however, presented its own context of rules and regulations. Despite their similarities, the challenge arose from their differences; DNV GL’s country networks offered a coordinated approach.
Global expertise addresses local challenges
On a global basis Prologis faces three key issues:
• Assessing the environmental implications when land is purchased for development • Procuring construction contracts for the developments • Monitoring the progress and quality of construction works through to completion Peter Potter, Lead Auditor - DNV GL, says: “With every development Prologis undertakes, it sets out to minimise its overall environmental impact. DNV GL’s core values mirror this commitment, so the collaboration between our two companies has been driven by shared goals. The DNV GL UK support team coordinated the certification through our offices in Germany, Poland and France. The bureaucratic divergences between these countries can present perceived barriers to some organisations. DNV GL was able to handle the complexities through our well-developed local networks, so across thousands of miles and dozens of protocols we basically spoke with one voice.”
Different countries, same voice
Energy efficiency regulations differ by market; building control regulations differ; there are variances in legislation and, ultimately, the way in which good practice is interpreted. In each case, DNV GL local offices were familiar with the nuances - the demands of the individual market. The organisation spoke with one voice; driving environmental certification.
Risk-based Certification™ adds value
“DNV GL looked very closely at our business and helped us identify where the key areas of focus should be in our environmental management programme. As we go through each re-certification process the emphasis we have given to these areas is checked and new areas are identified. This is a process that drives continuous improvement and now that it is in place across Europe, it drives consistency in every market. DNV GL’s local auditing teams have made that possible and its global experience will be particularly valuable as we start considering the roll-out into America and Asia.” Simon Cox, UK Sustainability Officer - Prologis.
