Preserving Natural Resources
F CUS The photovoltaic installation on the rooftop of one of our office
buildings in Vienna created the city’s largest private solar power
plant, operating at 90 kW peak capacity and generating roughly
UniCredit turns off the lights for WWF 87,000 kWh each year.
Earth Hour
UniCredit took part in the global WWF Earth Hour on UniCredit’s renewable energy
Saturday, March 23, 2013, by switching off the lights portfolio has been growing in
from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at 73 of its buildings
in 13 countries. This event was designed to send a
recent years, with its exposure
strong message to governments around the world, reaching a record €8.3 billion
inviting them to take action against climate change. by the end of 2012
Our Group participated in this annual event for the
sixth consecutive year to confirm our commitment to
environmental sustainability. Along similar lines, UniCredit’s renewable energy portfolio has
been growing in recent years, with its exposure reaching a record
€8.3 billion by the end of 2012. That same year, we were ranked
Over the years, the WWF Earth Hour has engaged people
third in Bloomberg’s list of World’s Greenest Banks for environmental
from around the world in special events that spotlight
performance, due primarily to our leadership role among
the urgent need to address the climate-change challenge international banks in financing renewable energy technologies.
and to change our collective behavior.
We have made strides on this front by creating our environmental
energy services company, Officinae Verdi, which began operations
decentralization; and the application of a new approach to at the end of 2011. It promotes distributed generation and energy
space utilization. Once completed, this will reduce our office efficiency by offering green technology solutions that meet both
space by 650,000 square meters by 2015, or the equivalent of households’ and SMEs’ energy needs, which will help to reduce
120 soccer fields. their CO2 emissions.
As a result of the City Plans project, we have decommissioned By providing access to both financing and innovative technology,
50 buildings containing 230,000 square meters. In 2013, 4,000 Officinae Verdi offers one-stop shopping to customers seeking
employees will begin moving into the UniCredit Tower, our solutions involving photovoltaic modules, solar thermal energy,
Group’s new Milan headquarters, which will reduce the number of
buildings occupied in the city from 26 to five and result in a net
F CUS
savings of 55,000 square meters. The UniCredit Tower is part of
the larger Porta Nuova redevelopment project, the largest urban
reconstruction initiative ever undertaken in the center of Milan.
The three buildings that comprise the UniCredit Tower received
a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold
certification from the U.S. Green Building Council, and achieved UniCredit supports renewable energy sources
such environmentally significant milestones as:
• 100 percent rainwater reuse UniCredit is the current owner of Bard Offshore 1, also
• 20.5 percent recycled materials used in construction known as Ocean Breeze Energy, a 400-megawatt offshore
• 93 percent of the leftover construction materials were recycled wind park situated in the German North Sea. The facility has
• 41 percent of the construction materials were locally sourced
been connected to the grid since 2010 and will be complete
by the end of 2013. At full capacity, the wind turbines are
Moreover, we are retrofitting the HVB Tower in Munich, upgrading
its infrastructure and changing the windows to allow for natural expected to generate 1,600 GWh of electricity per year
ventilation in a way that will reduce total energy consumption – roughly one-third of the production of a nuclear power
and significantly cut its CO2 emissions. In redesigning the façade, plant – to power some 400,000 households. Currently,
the architects have faced major challenges in light of the need to the amount of electricity generated by the wind turbines
preserve the building’s exterior, which was classified for historic is capable of meeting UniCredit Bank AG’s energy needs.
preservation in 2006. One of our objectives is to achieve a LEED The wind park is designed to respect the surrounding
Green Building Certification for the HVB Tower while reconfiguring ecosystems by being located roughly 100 kilometers from
our office space to ensure it is being used economically and that the shoreline, beyond an environmentally protected area.
it incorporates modern communications technology.
74 2012 Sustainability Report · UniCredit