LEED certification and technology advance sustainability in stores and offices
Gucci’s commitment to sustainability can be found in the very foundation of our stores and offices. We are passionate about the built environment and leverage the science and design of building to create lower impact spaces. We follow progressive guidelines and eco friendly practices resulting in energy and water savings and carbon emissions reductions, while minimizing waste and managing air quality at all our locations.
As a first for luxury brands, we achieved the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification in 2009. Providing a framework to create healthy, highly efficient and cost-saving green buildings, LEED is globally recognized as the leading certification for buildings and a symbol of sustainability excellence.
We’ve increased LEED Construction and LEED Operation & Maintenance certifications by 57% from 2020 to 2021, reaching 66 LEED certified buildings in 2021 including our two Italian headquarters located in Florence and Milan, our headquarters in Shanghai, and stores mainly located in China and the USA.
On top of these achievements, our Italian offices are certified under the international ISO 14001 and the ISO 45001 standards and they follow its rigorous environmental health and safety management systems. All our Italian stores also achieved the health and safety ISO 45001 certification in 2019.
Inside our stores and offices we have set up eco-friendly initiatives and energy efficient technologies. We have been busy retrofitting LED lighting for significantly lowered energy consumption and to promote longer-lasting lighting than the traditional options. We also work with all our stores to recycle and manage the disposal of waste more sustainably.
In order to track energy consumption more closely, we have been installing BMS monitoring system (Building Management Systems) in our main European flagship stores and corporate sites. We increased our BMS by 78% from 2020 to 2021, covering 50 of our store and corporate locations in 2021,
Designing our store lighting using LED also helps to lower our energy footprint and, as of 2021, 88% of our stores used LED.
When we drill down into our energy use across Gucci’s worldwide stores, offices and warehouses in 2021, 93% of it is renewable energy with a target to reach 100% in 2022. To support this transition we incorporated solar technology at both of our Italian headquarters in Florence and Milan, outfitting the rooftops with photovoltaic paneling, which directly converts sunlight into usable green electricity for these sites.
Read more about our efficiency programs in place in our stores.
