Thomas & Piron Bâtiment: the carbon footprint as a strategic compass

For Thomas & Piron Bâtiment, the subsidiary of the Thomas & Piron Group specialising in multi-residential developments, sustainability is a deliberate strategic choice, embedded in the way buildings are designed and delivered. With 380 employees and a footprint across five countries — Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, Portugal — the subsidiary has turned carbon measurement into a genuine management tool.

The context — Anticipating rather than reacting

In a sector where regulatory pressure is intensifying, the CSRD, the requirements of public procurement and clients’ expectations are redefining the rules of the game. The Thomas & Piron Group, with more than 3,000 employees, is directly subject to them, with the obligation of structured and auditable sustainability reporting in 2028 for 2027.

But Thomas & Piron Bâtiment got ahead of this obligation. As early as 2019, the conviction was clear: in a sector that weighs heavily on global emissions, continuing to build without measuring one’s impact is no longer tenable. Decarbonising is the only way to build sustainably. And it is, for the subsidiary, a concrete lever of differentiation in the eyes of its clients, its co-developers and its public contracting authorities.

“The innovation unit was created to anticipate, not to react. Sustainability is at its heart: it gives us a solid foundation to advise management, guide the trades and make informed decisions about materials, energy and worksites.”

— Romuald Catoul, Reference Manager in Sustainable Development, Innovation and R&D, Thomas & Piron Bâtiment

As early as 2019, the subsidiary set up a unit dedicated to innovation, sustainable development and R&D. The objective: to build a solid internal competence, capable of guiding strategy, supporting operational teams and anticipating the sector’s changes. Today, the team has grown and counts three full-time people on these matters.

The challenge — Moving from reporting to decision-making

Building the data where it did not exist. Thomas & Piron Bâtiment’s first carbon footprint was carried out in 2020 for the 2019 financial year, with the support of the specialised firm CLIMACT. The team then trained itself in collecting carbon data in the construction sector.

The emissions linked to materials, to worksite energy, to the vehicle fleet and to the buildings sold mobilise very different departments: procurement, HR, logistics, energy. Without clear governance, without a structuring tool, the exercise risks remaining of little use.

The complexity was also methodological. To account for the “embodied” energy of the materials implemented or even the operational energy of the buildings delivered over 60 years, Thomas & Piron Bâtiment adopted a physical approach, based on actual quantities rather than on monetary data. A demanding choice, but one that guarantees the reliability of the results over time.

Results that surprise and guide. The carbon footprint confirmed certain hypotheses: concrete and steel are among the most emitting items. But it also brought to light sometimes counter-intuitive gaps between the weight or volume of certain materials and their actual impact on emissions. This fine-grained analysis revealed that elements perceived as secondary can, proportionally, contribute significantly to the overall footprint. Without this level of granularity, certain reduction opportunities could have remained invisible.

Another structuring lesson: the emissions linked to the operation of the company itself — energy, vehicles, overheads — represent only 3 to 4% of the total. The bulk of the emissions plays out in the materials implemented and in the energy consumed by the buildings over their lifetime. This finding directly guided the action priorities.

Mobilising without imposing. The internal upskilling required bringing on board teams that were not very familiar with carbon logic. Procurement, design offices, project managers: each had to integrate new reflexes into their daily practices. Building this internal culture was as much a matter of management as of design and technique.

The approach with Tapio and CLIMACT — Structuring in order to act

To structure this approach over the long term, Thomas & Piron Bâtiment relied on two complementary partners: CLIMACT for the methodological and strategic support, and Tapio for the management and structuring of the carbon data.

“What sets Thomas & Piron Bâtiment’s approach apart is the shift from the carbon footprint as a compliance exercise to a genuine decision-support tool. Here, carbon data becomes a common language serving strategic choices.”

— Laurie Pazienza, Real Estate and Construction Specialist, CLIMACT

The choice of Tapio was based on several concrete criteria: the flexibility of the tool, the possibility of integrating one’s own emission factors, and the team’s responsiveness to feedback from the field.

“What won us over with Tapio is its agility. The tool evolves according to our needs. We can integrate our own emission factors, which is essential to work with reliable physical data.”

— Romain Crahay, Sustainability Manager, Thomas & Piron Bâtiment

The platform made it possible to establish a uniform data structure within the subsidiary and the group. But beyond collection and reporting, it is the scenario simulation feature for reduction that captures the teams’ attention. Visualising the impact of a material choice or a change in the fleet on the overall carbon trajectory transforms the footprint into a decision-making tool, not merely an observation.

The results — From data to action

On the energy front, Thomas & Piron Bâtiment focused its efforts on decarbonising the buildings’ energy systems, favouring high-performance and low-emitting production solutions. The transition translated into the gradual replacement of fossil-fuel producers with electrified or renewable solutions — aerothermal, geothermal, heat networks — as well as into particular attention to the self-consumption of renewable energy. The subsidiary is also preparing the next steps through the development of actual-consumption monitoring tools, both for the maintenance teams and for the occupants, paving the way for active participation by users.

On the materials front, work was undertaken with suppliers to:

• obtain environmental product declarations (EPD);
• optimise concrete specifications — cement reduction, steel traceability;
• test bio-based substitutes for certain petrochemical materials.

On the worksite front, the fleet is moving towards electric, the use of diesel is being reduced, and battery packs are gradually replacing the generator sets.

These results also have a commercial dimension. Mastering the carbon footprint strengthens the credibility of Thomas & Piron Bâtiment, facilitates access to certifications, prepares for the CSRD, and constitutes a tangible argument with B2B clients and co-developers who are sensitive to the environmental impact of their assets.

The conviction underpinning the entire approach is clear: there is a cost to inaction. Acting today, with method and reliable data, means protecting the value of the assets built and the company’s competitiveness in a market that is transforming.