Building sustainable future: How “Six Degrees” pioneers Circularity in Tertiary Building

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“Six Degrees” is an eco-responsible real estate project spanning 39,000 m², designed by the agencies Hardel Le Bihan Architectes and Alain Barthe Architecture, including flexible and modular offices adapting to new work modes and a wide range of services: coworking spaces, auditorium, restaurants, shops, nursery, gym, wellness center. It also integrates 7,000 m² of about thirty tiered terraces, envisioned as suspended gardens.

Delivered at the beginning of 2024, it can accommodate 2,900 people within the three interconnected buildings through walkways and tree-lined terraces. It is located in Paris, Gentilly (94), 100 meters from the future Kremlin-Bicêtre Hôpital metro station, on a slightly hilly, sloping terrain… of about 6 degrees.

A first in the tertiary building universe

It is a unique project. While it would have been simpler to use traditional but more carbon-emitting materials and construction methods, SCOR Investment Partners (investor and project owner), the architects, and the company Bouygues (constructor) decided to do everything to contain the environmental footprint by choosing innovative solutions: low-carbon concrete for infrastructure and foundations, wooden floors and posts for the superstructure, algae-based paints… and numerous materials from the circular economy.

“We wanted a model building in terms of the environment and labeled low-carbon,” explains Thibaut Fontanaud, Project Director for SCOR Investment Partners. “Carbon emission control is one of the elements of the group’s strategy, and they are pioneers in the field. If we, as owner and project owner, do not drive the process, who will?” he emphasizes.

Reusing at the heart of the project

So, to meet this large-scale carbon saving requirement, SCOR Investment Partners and Bouygues Energies and Services France, the project installer, decided to exploit all possibilities of reuse following the credo: “good reuse is one that is not perceived.” Objective: to install products in perfect condition and with identical performance.“Decarbonization and reuse are fully part of our strategy,” explains Mickaël Pol, department head in the project management at Bouygues Energies & Services France. “The approach of SCOR Investment Partners therefore particularly interested us. In total alignment with our strategy, we regularly propose reuse. In addition, the freedom that the client allowed us on this project also allows us to explore new avenues in this field.”

Seeking different products

With the aim of low carbon emissions from the building throughout its life cycle (construction, operation, and demolition), Bouygues Energies & Services first questioned its suppliers about the possibility of finding compatible products. It then wrote the tender for the electrical distribution, this favoring products from the circular economy. From medium-voltage equipment to Building Management System (BMS), all products must contribute to reducing the carbon footprint of the 3 buildings.

Schneider Electric therefore responded on 6 lots, with products in the circular economy and, when not possible, products with low carbon emissions such as the AirSeT range, a range without SF6, a gas with very high global warming potential.

“This demand for products with reduced carbon emissions is a real underlying trend in all tenders,” notes Santiago Rivero, key account manager at Bouygues Energies and Services. “And France is a pioneer in the field, with legislation pushing us in this direction and an increasing awareness.”

A whole offering in the circular economy

For the “Six Degrees” site, Schneider Electric provided different offerings in the circular economy. First, the equipment (Mureva and Unica) stemming from a reuse approach. Before the AGEC law (the anti-waste law in France now requires every product marketed or imported in France after January 1, 2023 to be accompanied by a

‘product sheet’ which provides compulsory sustainability and circularity information of the items), products that had not found takers were taken back and destroyed. For this project, they were saved from destruction and “Checked & Repacked” by Schneider Electric, offering the same warranty as our new products, and thus avoiding waste and hence carbon emissions.

Then, MasterPacT MTZ circuit breakers were refurbished in the Grenoble factory, undergo a thorough process that includes diagnostics, repairs, testing, and repackaging. This process ensures that the configuration, software, and data are reset. Like our Checked & Repacked products, they also carry the same warranty as new items.

At Schneider Electric, responding in the circular economy can take five forms. It starts with the genesis of products with eco-design and ends with recycling, which we aim to limit as much as possible. At all stages (eco-design of products & packaging, keeping in operational condition, reuse, refurbish, and recycling), we ensure to limit the consumption of raw materials, extend the lifespan, and avoid waste.

From 3,200 references available in September 2022, the Group is now at over 7,000. More than 10,000 units have already been repaired and refurbished only in the dedicated factory in Privas.

Paradigm shift

Linear models are running out of steam. Everyone says it: extracting resources, transforming and producing, consuming, and then discarding, it’s over!

To support this trend, an integral part of our DNA, and to accelerate the decarbonization of our customers’ sites, we are strengthening our service offerings with an end-to-end circular approach, “use better, use longer, and use again”. Approaching the modernization of electrical equipment, UPS, or variable speed drives by offering refurbished products completes our

EcoFit Life Extension Essential approach, which consists of extending the lifespan of certain electrical equipment by digitizing with sensors and then implementing remote monitoring to anticipate breakdowns.

In 2024, we have been recognized by World Economy Forum as a Circularity Lighthouse. This new designation recognizes pioneering circularity solutions that demonstrate innovation, substantial impact and value, and maturity of scale.

Watch the video and get more about our end-to-end circularity model through our high power Altivar Process Drive Systems

About the author

Geoffrey Richard – Circular Economy Director

Geoffrey Richard holds an MBA in International Business (Université du Littoral Côte d’Opale) and a Certificate in Entrepreneurship (Université de Sherbrooke – Canada).

He began his career in 2008 at Earlex Group Ltd in the UK as Assistant Product and Marketing Manager. He joined Schneider Electric in 2010 as a Junior Offer Manager, before moving to Canon in 2012 as a Sales Engineer, then Chapel Hydraulique S.A in 2013 as South Europe Area Manager.

In 2016, he rejoined Schneider Electric as a Distribution Sector Manager. In 2018, he was appointed as the industry sales development manager for distribution, then regional director for the Mediterranean in 2020.

Since mid-2022, he has held the position of Circular Economy Director, with the main mission of creating, developing, and extending circularity both for business and supply chain resilience.