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Our sustainability focus in building the world of tomorrow
Program
Our sustainability program is divided into the six important focus areas Compliance, Working Environment, Supply Chain, Sustainable Products and Services, Climate and Resource Protection and Corporate Citizenship.
On this page
Sustainable Development Goals
Our contributions to the Sustainable Development Goals
We support the Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Development and the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Here, in connection with our construction business activities, the following goals and indicators are particularly relevant for the HOCHTIEF Group.
The most important are the three SDGs
"Industry, innovation and infrastructure",
"Sustainable cities and communities" and
"Climate action".
You will receive a list of our exact measures by clicking the Mission Statements.
Sustainability in the construction process and value chain
Construction of flood protection projects and resilient infrastructure
Involvement in associations and industry initiatives
These three SDGs were rated as the most important for HOCHTIEF overall in a survey conducted by YouGov Deutschland in November/December 2018 among 1,655 participants in the following groups: general populace, decision makers, employees, subcontractors, and CR experts.
HOCHTIEF also makes specific contributions for sustainable development:
Involvement in associations and industry initiatives
Active participation in the “Wirtschaft macht Klimaschutz” initiative
HOCHTIEF achieves these goals through its sustainability program, which is divided into the following six focus areas.
Focus Area Compliance
We aim to set compliance standards
The requirements for ethically correct behavior in conformity with the law represent both an aspiration and challenge for HOCHTIEF. With our HOCHTIEF Codes of Conduct, we clearly define regulations for both subcontractors and partners.
Our Compliance system is aimed at prevention—we want to avoid violations through providing trainings and information. Complaint mechanisms are established, and notifications can be made through external and internal systems.
We provide more information on this focus area on our Compliance page.
HOCHTIEF projects are evolving all over the world. Here we are successful thanks to our well-trained and committed employees. Our teams create solutions every day: for the everyday major and minor challenges and beyond the construction sites. They provide their know-how, ensure efficient project work and also take care of the areas surrounding their construction sites.
Occupational safety and health
In particular, we are concerned with the safety and health of our employees and all participants in our projects. Against this background, we have introduced the “Lost Time Injury Frequency Rate” (LTIFR), which designates the frequency of work-related accidents, as a non-financial performance indicator.
HOCHTIEF Group Directive Occupational Safety, Health, Environmental and Climate Protection
Accountability, responsibility, integrity and fairness, variety and innovation—all this goes hand in hand. We already promote talents at schools and universities and inspire interest in working at HOCHTIEF. In order to tie employees to our company, we offer them fair remuneration, targeted qualification and promotion. Our further training offers comprise specialized and cross-discipline seminars for all employees, from subjects such as occupational safety and health, via executive staff training and Compliance, through to construction physics and risk management.
Together we create a working environment for motivated and satisfied employees, who identify with HOCHTIEF.
The most important points of the strategic personnel work:
Recruiting and searching for talents
Personnel development
Employee loyalty
Diversity
Employee rights and
Occupational safety and health
You will find further information about HOCHTIEF as an employer in the HOCHTIEF Career portal.
Focus Area Supply Chain
We represent fair, transparent procurement processes
The procurement volume at HOCHTIEF amounts to more than 70 percent of Group work done—it is hence important that the issues of sustainability and transparency are taken into consideration when procuring materials and services. We regard ourselves as responsible for clear awarding processes in supplier management and for procurement of sustainable materials.
We are registered with the Silver status at the international procurement platform EcoVadis, and hence belong to the most sustainable 30 percent of evaluated companies.
HOCHTIEF places high standards on the choice of business partners: We only cooperate with partners who comply with these requirements and who, for their own part, enforce and encourage compliance amongst their own subcontractors and suppliers.
Suppliers and subcontractors can register in the HOCHTIEF supplier portal and have the opportunity to present their company and hence their services and products. By registering, suppliers and subcontractors become part of the HOCHTIEF network. They receive information about bid invitations and can make applications for these if they are interested.
You will find more information on our page for business partners.
We want to construct sustainably and create lasting structures for tomorrow. To achieve this, foresight is worthwhile right from the first project phase: In processes based on partnership we look for the best long-term solutions for our clients’ projects.
The green office complex "Business Garden" in Warsaw
Green building
We have already built more than 800 certified green buildings and infrastructure projects on behalf of our clients. They are characterized by a resource-conserving construction method and a particularly efficient operation. HOCHTIEF is regarded as one of the most experienced suppliers in this segment.
Innovation during construction
Innovations make the construction process and the projects more sustainable. Digital processes or methods, such as Building Information Modeling (BIM) conserve resources—for instance, if precise time scheduling improves construction site management, delivery times are optimally coordinated with each other and empty runs are avoided.
Blockchain technology, the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence will continue to optimize our processes in future. We are actively shaping this development in our industry.
The image of the classic site manager will considerably change.
Stephan Tilner, Managing Director Nexplore Germany
Our company has direct and indirect impacts on sensitive systems which are worthy of protection in our environment. We want to conserve these as best as possible: Consequently, our project teams prepare a customized environmental protection program for every project. In this way, we contribute towards conserving resources and habitats and minimizing greenhouse gas emissions.
The measures we have developed range from using efficient machines and recycling construction materials, right through to fitting innovative technology, such as combined heat and power stations or ice storage technology. Our focus is on certified sustainable buildings and infrastructure projects, which are also characterized by their efficient operation.
We have analyzed opportunities and risks for our business, which arise from climate change. This analysis is based on the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
HOCHTIEF: Climate-related Risks and Opportunities Analysis
In our project work, we are always in contact with the people whom we work with and for. Our self-conception as a corporate citizen is to assume social responsibility in every place where we operate and realize projects—through cash donations and donations in kind, transfer of know-how or personal commitment of our employees. We are also committed to providing aid projects in countries where we have no business operations.
With our donations and sponsoring activities in the Group, we concentrate on two prime issues which are in a special relationship to our company and our operating activities: Education and the promotion of young talent and design and preservation of living spaces.
Bridges to Prosperity
Our focus is on supporting the NGO Bridges to Prosperity, with which our employees have built numerous pedestrian bridges in remote regions of the world—in Rwanda and Central America. The bridges enable inhabitants to reach schools, markets and hospitals even in the rainy season.
Bridges to Prosperity 2019: Rufuha Bridge in Rwanda — Vibrantly painted in Rwanda’s national colors—the new, 34-meter-long Rufuha Bridge is widely visible. The bridge was completed in 2019 and the inauguration was a huge celebration. The team included employees from HOCHTIEF, ACS, and CIMIC.
Rwanda 2016: Mariba — It is schoolchildren in particular who benefit from the new Mariba Bridge which was completed in November 2016. The over 40-meter-long structure allows them to get to school faster and far more safely.
Nicaragua 2015: El Pueblito and Jocote Arriba — In 2015 employees of the HOCHTIEF Americas division built two footbridges in Nicaragua—working closely at all times with Bridges to Prosperity (B2P) and the local communities.
Rwanda 2015: Muguba — The over 70-meter-long suspension bridge made of steel cables with wooden planking is ready. Ten HOCHTIEF employees from Germany, the UK and the Czech Republic built it in conjunction with representatives of the non-profit organization, Bridges to Prosperity (B2P)—under the most basic conditions.
Rwanda 2014: Ngorero — Ten HOCHTIEF employees completed the Ngorero project together with local helpers and the non-profit organization, Bridges to Prosperity (B2P) in 2014. 85 kilometers west of the Rwandan capital Kigali, they built a footbridge with a span of 54 meters across the Kiromozi River.
Rwanda 2013: Bakokwe — The structure across the Bakokwe River is 68 meters long and is west of the Rwandan capital, Kigali. While building with local helpers and B2P representatives, the HOCHTIEF team had to overcome various hurdles. For one, the timber was transported to the wrong side of the river, and the team had to carry the consignment—80 beams, each weighing 35 kilograms—through the river.
Bridges to Prosperity Rwanda 2012 — Can a bridge be built in just two weeks? Yes, it can—even if the HOCHTIEF employees initially thought it was impossible. Naturally, it can’t be compared with the bridge across the Great Belt. It was a footbridge that they built in Rwanda in 2012.
With our commitment we would like to also improve the infrastructure in poorer regions—and at the same time convey knowledge about constructing bridges. The internal further recommendation rate for participation in the bridge projects is a constant 100 percent.
A study commissioned by Bridges to Prosperity shows that pedestrian bridges have a long-term impact in helping on average …
more women to find work.
more to be produced in farming.
higher incomes to be achieved.
Hence, with each bridge construction HOCHTIEF contributes to the overall development of the country.
HOCHTIEF pledges to respect and observe human rights as well as to actively prevent human rights violations. We have set this forth in our internal standards in a clear and binding fashion. Thus, just as the HOCHTIEF Code of Conduct commits our employees to upholding human rights standards, our partners enter into the same commitment with the HOCHTIEF Code of Conduct for Business Partners. The overriding goal is to take preventive action and rule out human rights violations at HOCHTIEF as far as possible.
Our understanding of human rights is shaped largely by the UN Global Compact, the ILO conventions, and the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Human rights is an interdisciplinary topic worked on in various focus areas and functions.
Position Paper: Approach to human rights at HOCHTIEF
"Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation"
"Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable"
"Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts"
"Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages"
"Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all"
"Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all"
"Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable, and modern energy for all"
"Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns"
"Protect, restore, and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems"
"Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development"
"Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development"
