Green and Lean

Climate change and digitalisation are two of the most important challenges of this decade. For us as a company and for us as a society. Climate change is an existential risk, but it, together with digitalisation, also offers huge opportunities for our generation. In the EU (Green Deal), in the USA (Climate Plan), in China (14th Five-Year-Plan) and globally (Paris Agreement), an economic realignment towards ecological targets has already been laid out. And we want to proactively shape this transformation as one of Europe’s leading construction companies. Because we are building change.

PORR has been around for more than 150 years and innovation and diversity have always been the building blocks of our success. And that will remain the case in future. We have developed the new strategy “Green and Lean” by applying our experience, the enormous knowledge base in the Group and the challenges of our time. It means the next step into the future.

What these three words “Green and Lean” – and yes, all three of them – mean in concrete terms:

• We will change the way people build.
• We will apply a holistic mindset and strive for a circular economy.
• We will promote partnering models.
• And we will be agile – with our lean management approach and in our operations with LEAN Design and Construction.

Green. means one thing first and foremost: responsibility. After all, we are not building for today and tomorrow, but for the day after that as well. We want to be the market leader for resource-efficient construction that fits within a circular economy. Our goal is to integrate construction processes into closed material cycles wherever possible. We want to increase the percentage of sustainable projects and strive for climate neutrality. This does not only relate to absorbing a significant part of the emissions already generated, but also using technologies of the future to reduce them.

That is why, from design and planning, in the construction process and in operations, as well as for renovations, we apply solutions that deliver a climate-neutral future. This is not uncharted territory for PORR. We have long focused on conserving resources and on environmental awareness. With clear success: in July, the renowned ratings agency ISS awarded us a best-in-class ESG rating. With a C+, we have achieved Prime Status, simultaneously becoming number 1 in the industry on our home markets. This is also what distinguishes PORR: being a visionary and combining this foresight with outstanding skill in implementation.

And. means more than the link between Green and Lean. After all, change can only occur when we join forces. That’s why we engage in partnering models in the construction industry. This facilitates integration into the various stages of the construction value creation cycle and utilises the leveraging effect: Good and meaningful aspects multiply. The project is assessed over its entire lifecycle (design, construction, operations and renovations) and then everything is offered as a one-stop shop.

The benefits are plain to see: maximum risk mitigation coupled with high security in terms of quality, deadlines and costs. We intend to strengthen this approach in future and apply it even more broadly. That’s our “And”: partnerships between everyone involved in a project, with common goals.

Lean. relates to the way our organisation is structured. Lean is seen in our management approaches and is applied in practice in our construction process with the help of LEAN Design and Construction. Lean may sound abstract, but it is already our reality at PORR – we have implemented a streamlined organisation with short decision-making chains this year. This includes digital efficiency and smart innovation. They are instruments we are using to expand our position as technology leaders. Digitalising value chains is more topical than ever before.

And LEAN Design and Construction are our future for operational construction processes. This approach should be understood as an integrated, continuous process. Projects like BMW Freimann clearly demonstrate this – the new BMW complex is genuinely a collaborative achievement. The client as well as PORR and our subcontractor partners worked closely together in the form of a partnering model from the design right through to the turnkey realisation.

As this shows: Green and Lean is more than a vision, it is a milestone on the path to the future. It is the foundation of our future success and the basis on which we embrace our responsibility towards society as a big company. After all, intelligent building not only connects people, it also shapes our future.