360 years of building change to make the world a better home!

This year marks Saint-Gobain’s 360th anniversary. Throughout our history, we have evolved alongside a changing world, supporting transformations in society, the economy, and everyday life. This milestone is an opportunity to reflect on how we’ve driven change for our clients, our industry, and beyond—taking a true 360-degree view, if you will!

• At a time when we spend 90% of our days indoors, ensuring access to public and private spaces where people can live, learn, work, and receive care in optimal conditions is fundamental. At Saint-Gobain, we embrace this responsibility globally, across all 79 countries where we operate. This translates, among other priorities, into accelerating thermal renovation, particularly in housing. Poorly insulated homes often shelter low-income families, making thermal comfort, clean air, and natural light a matter of social justice. Addressing this challenge also supports a major societal goal: reducing CO? emissions. As a key player in a highly emissive industry, Saint-Gobain must lead the way.
• This begins with ensuring our clients have access to a wide range of low-carbon solutions to meet their needs and reduce their Scope 3 emissions. In Val-de-Cognac, PLACO? plant now recovers heat emitted by its facilities—an initiative that has reduced CO? emissions by 14% compared to 2019 and lowered energy consumption by 10.6%.
• Leading change also means empowering our clients to make more informed decisions. Saint-Gobain Glass France recently launched an Environmental and Health Declaration Sheet configurator, enabling customers to assess the carbon impact of the glazing used in their projects. Similarly, PUM - SGDB France now allows customers to calculate the carbon impact of their orders based on product weight, materials, and delivery emissions.
• As an industry leader, we also have a responsibility to push for a rapid and lasting transition towards more sustainable construction. This has led us to launch the Sustainable Construction Observatory, the Sustainable Talks, as well as our magazine, Constructing a Sustainable Future. These initiatives help ideas, innovations, and practices circulate within the construction industry, inspiring key stakeholders to change. On the business side, our venture arm NOVA supports startups working to decarbonize construction and manufacturing, such as zero CO2 cement manufacturer Fortera .?
• Of course, we've also had to change our own ways to accompany these transformations, for instance by actively promoting circularity and recycling. In Buenos Aires, Saint-Gobain Argentina has begun collecting used materials directly from a major residential construction site – an innovative approach for Argentina, where no regulations exist in this area.
• Changing with our times also means meeting evolving societal expectations. Because our employees aspire to contribute to the green transition, we’ve offered 80,000 of them Climate Fresk training and aim to have trained 80% of our workforce by late 2025. We are also working to increase female representation in our teams; women currently make up 28% of our execs, and we aim to reach 30% this year by focusing on hiring and career development. And thanks to these efforts and more, we’ve just received the “Top Employer Global” certification for the 10th consecutive year!
• We’ll be celebrating our journey throughout the year with our “360 years young” campaign, highlighting our commitment to make the world a better home. Don’t miss our upcoming 9-episode series, showcasing the Saint-Gobain teams, clients, and partners working to create more resilient housing and smarter cities, encourage circularity, and protect natural resources, in the US, Brazil, South Africa, China, and more. Stay tuned!

Innovation station

With over 50 startups in its portfolio and €100 million under management, our venture arm, NOVA by Saint-Gobain , is a powerhouse of sustainable construction investment. In 2024, the 15-strong team helped elevate innovation in the sector to new heights.

• 2024 was an impactful year, with NOVA cultivating meaningful partnerships with leading players of the construction innovation ecosystem, such as the Construction Startup Competition 2024.
• Last year, NOVA also ramped up its innovative investments by adding Fortera, PLANTICS B.V. , Renovate Robotics , and TimberHP to its portfolio and supporting existing partners through follow-on financing rounds with several startups. Head here for the full recap of a memorable year!

?

Window to the future

Whether it be economic, energy-, or CO2-related, efficiency is crucial for industrial sites, but not always easy to achieve. That is where proper industrial insulation comes in.

• Improved industrial insulation (i.e., the insulation of technical and mechanical plants and structures) is a strategic choice for construction companies looking to decrease their energy bills and carbon emissions.
• But in July 2024, the EiiF found that the energy efficiency of industrial plant insulation systems remained poor and that there was significant savings potential “across all regions, sectors, equipment and operating temperatures”. In fact, modernizing industrial insulation systems could save up to 14 Mtoe across Europe, equivalent to the annual energy consumption of 10 million households!
• Read on to learn how industrial sites can benefit from better insulation and to discover one Dutch plant’s inspiring success story!

Can you guess?

Glass production, while traditionally energy-intensive and a significant user of sand, is evolving. Solutions to reduce the glass industry’s footprint exist, and one of them is recycling: SAINT-GOBAIN GLASS FACADE explains it all!

• Float glass products by Saint-Gobain Glass currently contain approximately a third of cullet, aligning with our goal to incorporate 40% of cullet in our glass production by 2030. Find out more?here!

?

Pioneers

Saint-Gobain takes a major step toward decarbonizing its industry with the inauguration of the world’s first hybrid furnace!

“It’s fascinating to see this hybrid furnace in action after an intense development phase. The Etten-Leur factory has long been a global leader in innovation, making it the perfect location for this groundbreaking implementation. I have no doubt that other plants in the Saint-Gobain network will soon follow our lead.”– Frank te Poel , CEO for Gypsum and Insulation in the Benelux countries.

• On October 31, the mayor of Etten-Leur (Netherlands) officially inaugurated Saint-Gobain’s groundbreaking hybrid glass furnace at Saint-Gobain Isover ’s local site. This innovative furnace, which combines electricity and natural gas, features electrodes at the bottom that supply up to half of the required heat.
• A result of years of R&D, this breakthrough technology cuts CO? emissions by 55% and reduces energy consumption by 26%, marking a major step forward in Saint-Gobain’s commitment to sustainable glass wool production worldwide.

Building bridges

Inspiring innovation through daily contact with art—that’s the vision behind the Saint-Gobain Tower, brought to life by a stunning work of art.

• Wave, a masterpiece by Cat Loray, now graces the heart of the Saint-Gobain Tower lobby in Paris. Crafted from 1,800 handcrafted ceramic rings, this dynamic structure blends transparency and movement, seamlessly harmonizing with its surroundings. Playing with light and perspective, it offers a unique visual experience for employees and visitors alike—sparking imagination and fueling innovation.

Expanding our horizon

Buckle up for a whirlwind tour of our 2024 milestones!

• From being recognized as a Top Global Employer to launching our revolutionary new glass wool, from our partnership with UN-Habitat (United Nations Human Settlements Programme) to the 19th Architecture Student Contest in Helsinki—dive into our recap and see how, true to our promise, our teams worked all year to make the world a better home.