The PARKGEST Group is concerned with considerations connected with durable development through the treatment of waste, its acquisition of facilities and its energy consumption model.
A. Waste management
At a time of global warming and the announced shortage of non-renewable resources, enterprises have to incorporate waste management into their production process. Nevertheless, the rational treatment of waste is a highly demanding activity that requires the participation of qualified specialists as well as infrastructure heavy with leading-edge facilities and installations. The processes, which are sometimes complex, have to satisfy very strict laws on safety and environmental protection. A partnership agreement has been signed with the company Papirec SA, of the BAREC Group, ensuring the takeover and ecological management of a very large variety of materials, devices and objects including paper and cardboard. This is a reliable partnership, well-organized, well-equipped and holding all the official security and quality certifications.
Since 2011, all Parkgest workers have been required to sort their paper waste.
Scrap iron and metals, light sources, miscellaneous devices, particularly IT devices, consigned to the scrap heap are also sorted.
B. Purchasing policy
The PARKGEST Group has acquired two electric internal patrol vehicles for the Pont du Mont-Blanc car park, one Segway and one John Deere Gator, a first in the car park world. It has also chosen electric maintenance machines (tractor-drawn car washes) for the Pont du Mont-Blanc, Villereuse, Arcades, Rayes and Vandœuvres car parks.
C. Customer service
At the beginning of the 2000s, the Pont du Mont-Blanc car park had installed electric recharging terminals which had very limited success. Having become obsolete, these terminals were removed but we are currently studying the possibility of making a new attempt in this direction, based on customer demand.
A Greenmotion “Network two” network recharging terminal was installed in the renovated Vandœuvres car park on 1 November 2013. This terminal allows all electric vehicles currently existing on the market to be recharged via 3 types of power points. Recharging may be paid for by SMS directly at the terminal or with an evpass subscription. The Greenmotion network recharging terminals for electric vehicles are the result of collaboration with HEIG-VD and EPFL. They are produced locally and have obtained EC certification.
In order to tackle sustainable development issues head-on and modernise our equipment, we have installed charging stations for electric vehicles in 3 of our car parks: Mont-Blanc, Rayes and Vandœuvres.
These devices supply energy to all electric vehicles currently available on the market, via 3 kinds of power points.
PARKGEST has chosen to work alongside the Lausanne company Green Motion on this project, as it is the Swiss leader in the field of charging systems for electric vehicles.
Learn more about our electric stations
D. Energy saving
Through its partnership with the company Swisselectricity since 1999, the PARKGEST Group aims to reduce electricity consumption as much as possible and has regularly invested in modern lighting both in the Pont du Mont-Blanc car park and in the Villereuse car park.
The Arcades car park has just renovated its lights.
The changes in the energy law voted by the people in 2011 impose several obligations on large consumers, including an energy audit. This aims to find energy-efficient solutions with a return time of less than three years, a limit imposing the execution of works. The energy audit performed on the Pont du Mont-Blanc car park concerned the following aspects:
- Ventilation
- Lighting of media spaces (advertising media)
- Lighting of parking spaces
- Lighting of circulation routes
- Lifts
- Escalators
- Sewage pumps
- Premises (heating)
- Control room (surveillance screens).
The return on investment ratios are between 5.6 years and 24.2 years, far higher than the minimum ratios imposed by law, which demonstrates the point to which the company is concerned about its energy consumption.
Nevertheless, within the scope of the ECO21 Industrial Services Programme in Geneva, parking has budgeted for a new renovation in even more energy-saving lighting solutions using LED sources. The final aim is to reduce consumption by 230,000 kWh per annum.
The IT investments made in virtualized solutions, which have resulted in the non-renewal of computers and the introduction of work stations connected directly to the server terminal, are not only without comparison with regard to energy consumption but also less problematic in terms of waste.
