GRENKE around the globe
Climate and environment at GRENKE
We design attractive financing products for our customers, that facilitate and promote sustainable business practices. To this end, we rely on resource-conserving circular economy within our leasing portfolio, efficient digital processes - both internally and externally - and on minimizing our environmental footprint.
ESG Products and Services
Our focus is on financing solutions tailored to small and medium-sized enterprises and their investment needs. For the sustainable orientation of our company, we see it as our task to finance and offer ESG products and services in particular.
Green Economy Objects
In light of the transformation of the economy towards sustainability, we strive to make our asset portfolio more sustainable. Investing in Green Economy objects enables our customers to operate more sustainably. This category includes, for example, objects for the generation and storage of renewable energy, for the support of sustainable mobility or for waste and resource management. Specifically, these include solar energy systems, eBikes and other e-mobility as well as electric charging stations. The focus on green economy products was launched in 2022 and enables our customers to operate more sustainably themselves.
GRENKE Sustainability Index (GSI)
How sustainable is a leasing object? To make these and other aspects of our financing transparent, we are currently developing the GRENKE Sustainability Index (GSI). This index takes into account the various factors relevant to the lease contract life cycle. This takes into account the properties of the leased object, the leasing contract and our lessee. We are developing and validating the GSI in cooperation with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in order to subsequently introduce the index as a meaningful valuation metric.
Circular Economy
We are committed to returning our leasing products to the economic cycle at the end of the lease term. By far the largest proportion of all leased assets are resold to our specialist dealer partners at the end of the lease term. In our main markets Germany, France and Italy, we also have our own asset brokers. These take over leased assets at the end of the lease term, check their functionality and return them to the market.
Ressource Conservation
GRENKE is digitizing processes and procedures in order to keep our ecological footprint as small as possible. In doing so, we take measures to minimise the use of resources.
Climate protection and adaptation to climate change
We contribute to climate protection and adaptation to climate change by reducing our CO2 emissions. In 2022, we established an extensive account of our corporate carbon footprint for the first time. Scope 1 and Scope 2 resulted in emissions of 5,362 tons of CO2 equivalent, covering approximately 70 per cent of all our sites and land used.
Land use
In order to achieve our climate goals, we are continuously modernising our buildings according to the latest energy standards. As an exemplary model serves the building of our Italian subsidiary "De Castillia 23" in Milan, which was built with innovative materials, produces electricity through a PV system on the roof and offers modern space utilisation concepts inside. We are also working to obtain an increasing share of the electricity from renewable energy sources. At our site in Baden-Baden, we i.a. operate a solar power system with a maximum output of 165 kWp. Using the generated electricity ourselves results in a CO2 savings potential of approx. 1.4 million kg over the lifetime of 20 years.
Energy certificate
All buildings rented by us in Germany have an energy certificate that documents the respective energy status. At the same time, we conduct regular energy audits at our German locations, which provide us with a overview of energy efficiency in the company and serve as a basis for improvements.
Fast. Forward. Digital.
Our business model traditionally involves a high volume of records and documents. We want to minimize our ecological footprint also in this area and have set ourselves the goal of digitizing an increasing amount of our processes. Paper consumption is being continuously reduced, for example through the digital customer portal, our electronic signature solutions, but also through digital personnel files.
Digital Personel Records
With the digital personnel file, we enable our employees to access personnel documents from any location and at any time, as well as to process and manage important formalities such as pay slips or holiday applications without paper. At the same time, we ensure legally compliant handling of deletion and retention periods.
Digital Customer Platform
§Our digital customer portal makes it possible to manage contracts, invoices and data online at any time. The portal is available in 27 countries, and the introduction in further countries is planned. Invoices are sent paperless as far as possible. Invoices are already sent digitally in 26 countries.
eSignature
§Since 2015, documents at GRENKE can be sent electronically and signed with a legally valid signature. eSignature simplifies the conclusion of financing contracts, saves paper and mailing and can currently be used in 27 countries. More than 40% of all contracts throughout the Group are already signed digitally. The electronic signature is also used within the Group, for example when signing minutes or contracts between Group companies.
Climate and environment at GRENKE
We design attractive financing products for our customers, that facilitate and promote sustainable business practices. To this end, we rely on resource-conserving circular economy within our leasing portfolio, efficient digital processes - both internally and externally - and on minimizing our environmental footprint.
Minimizing our carbon footprint
GRENKE is taking numerous measures aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and the effects of climate change.
Energy Certification
Higher energy efficiency due to digital and modern building control technology: The company buildings rented by GRENKE Group in Germany always have an energy certificate documenting their respective energy status. In order to continuously reduce energy consumption at our locations, we modernize the technical systems in our buildings continuously. At the same time, we conduct regular energy audits at our German sites, which provide us with a sound overview of energy efficiency in the company and serve as a basis for improvement measures.
Renewable Energy
A solar power system was installed at the GRENKE headquarters in Baden-Baden. The electricity generated by this system is used internally. This results in a CO2 savings potential of 1.4 million kg over the next 20 years.
Electric Mobility
Mobility has a significant impact on the ecological footprint. That is why we offer our employees hybrid and electric vehicles as company cars and are striving for a completely CO2-emissions-free vehicle fleet. In this context, we will commission the construction and operation of an additional smart charging infrastructure with 30 charging points at our headquarters for our future e-fleet. Today, we already offer our employees discounted leasing contracts for e-bikes as well as subsidized wallbox charging stations for home use.
Workplace Concepts
The world of work is changing, and GRENKE is changing with it. With fresh concepts, we are designing a working environment that takes into account not only the needs of employees, but also the changing environmental and climate conditions. An example is the Italian headquarters in Milan, where new space concepts based on these factors have been implemented in a modern building. This pilot project is the template for further redesigns of working environments at GRENKE.
Business Trips
To keep the number of business trips to a minimum, we rely on video and telephone conferences as much as possible. If business trips do become necessary, we ensure that they are carried out in an environmental friendly manner. The introduction of a new travel processing tool has completely digitised travel processing at GRENKE. Employees are supported in choosing the preferred means of public transport right through to paperless billing. The tool also enables travelers to hold digital meetings as an alternative to business travel and to choose alternative means of transport for shorter distances in order to save CO2.
Resource Management at GRENKE
As a financing partner, we are not directly involved in the production of goods and commodities. Nevertheless, compliance with sustainability criteria in upstream and downstream processes is important to us. For our customers, we offer a variety of sustainable leasing objects and strive for a circular economy for leasing objects.
Circular Economy
We are committed to returning our leasing products to the economic cycle at the end of the lease term. By far the largest proportion of all leased assets are resold to our specialist dealer partners at the end of the lease term. In our main markets Germany, France and Italy, we also have our own asset brokers. These take over leased assets at the end of the lease term, check their functionality and return them to the market.
Sustainable Leasing Objects
We are continuously expanding our product portfolio to include sustainable leasing objects, such as e-bikes and green economy products along the three pillars of energy generation, energy storage and energy use.
GRENKE Sustainability Index (GSI)
How sustainable is a leasing object? To make these and other aspects of our financing transparent, we are currently developing the GRENKE Sustainability Index (GSI). This index takes into account the various factors relevant to the lease contract life cycle. This takes into account the properties of the leased object, the leasing contract and our lessee. We are developing and validating the GSI in cooperation with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in order to subsequently introduce the index as a meaningful valuation metric.
Fast. Forward. Digital.
Our business model traditionally involves a high volume of records and documents. We want to minimize our ecological footprint also in this area and have set ourselves the goal of digitizing an increasing amount of our processes. Paper consumption is being continuously reduced, for example through the digital customer portal, our electronic signature solutions, but also through digital personnel files.
Digital Personel Records
With the digital personnel file, we enable our employees to access personnel documents from any location and at any time, as well as to process and manage important formalities such as pay slips or holiday applications without paper. At the same time, we ensure legally compliant handling of deletion and retention periods.
Digital Customer Platform
§Our digital customer portal makes it possible to manage contracts, invoices and data online at any time. The portal is available in 27 countries, and the introduction in further countries is planned. Invoices are sent paperless as far as possible. Invoices are already sent digitally in 26 countries.
eSignature
§Since 2015, documents at GRENKE can be sent electronically and signed with a legally valid signature. eSignature simplifies the conclusion of financing contracts, saves paper and mailing and can currently be used in 27 countries. More than 40% of all contracts throughout the Group are already signed digitally. The electronic signature is also used within the Group, for example when signing minutes or contracts between Group companies.
