A new look at travel

‘In the past, the whole team boarded an airplane to build a stand somewhere in the world,’ begins Sidney. ‘That was how we did things, and had done for many years.’ But times have changed. These days, Gielissen looks critically at how and who needs to travel. Through the deployment of local construction teams, the number of travelled kilometers has dropped drastically. ‘Not everyone in our team needs to be in situ,’ explains Sidney. ‘We determine who is really needed on location for each project.’

From air to train travel

In addition to working with local teams, we increasingly often travel by train. ‘An example of this is Berlin,’ relates Sidney. ‘We used to fly to Berlin in an hour, but if you add up the trip to Schiphol, parking, checking in and waiting for your luggage, you have been travelling for six or seven hours before you know it. By train, you are on your way more quickly and you can work or relax on the journey. Even with a first-class train ticket, the trip is often just as economic as flying, especially when you add the cost of parking.’

Even so, the transition to more sustainable travel is not as obvious for everyone. ‘Our contractors, who regularly travel to locations are slowly getting used to the new approach,’ says Sidney. ‘We support them actively through organizing transport to the railway station. This makes the transition to using the railways easier.’

Greener choices with the help of a decision tree

To help our employees in taking sustainable decisions and through giving them better insights, Anouk Arts - sustainability officer at Gielissen - developed a ‘mobility decision tree,’ that she fine-tuned with Sidney. ‘Employing these guidelines, we can determine in advance who needs to travel for a project and using which form of transport, resulting in a more sustainable approach to work,’ says Sidney. This idea sprang from a cooperation with the Green Label, in which the environmental and monetary cost for various scenarios was calculated.

The decision tree helps us in reaching decisions based on travel duration, costs, emissions, and the need to physically be on site. ‘With this tool we can reach greener decisions, without concessions being required of quality or efficiency.’

Sustainability dilemmas

Although the decision tree helps us to get things moving, there are always situations in which sustainability and service sometimes clash. Working with local teams is a good example of this. It saves on a lot of kilometers travelled, but it throws up challenges too. ‘In Paris, for example, we struggle to find teams that meet our high-quality requirements,’ explains Sidney. ‘This is why we will sometimes bring in a team from Berlin. It is always a question of balancing the costs, quality and emissions.’

In addition, there are dilemmas in which sustainability and service clash. Sidney remembers a project in which every aspect was sustainable, but an error in a banner still led to a last-minute decision to engage a courier. ‘These are the kinds of dilemmas that we sometimes have to deal with, but we always try to find the most sustainable solution.’

Staying on track for a greener future

Gielissen is taking clear steps to reduce the impact on the environment and continues to actively participate in this. ‘We operate in an industry that, by its nature, has a large carbon footprint,’ concludes Sidney. ‘Which is why we are always on the lookout for smarter, greener solutions. Every step in the right direction counts.’

Would you like to learn more about our sustainable approach and how we could make your project more sustainable? Please contact us!