Industry:
Construction/Public Works
Field:
ESG
Location:
France
A leading player in the public works and building sector, with more than 30,000 employees and a turnover exceeding €10 billion. As a subsidiary of an international group, Bouygues Construction is committed to acting responsibly, particularly by reducing its carbon footprint.
1. Context
The company has set ambitious targets to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions:
These targets, validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), require rigorous monitoring. To achieve this, the company has relied on multiple Excel files to:
It should be noted that the calculation of their trajectory relies on multiple and complex methodologies, which evolve regularly thanks to improved data availability.
- 40% reduction in emissions for Scopes 1 & 2
- 30% reduction in the carbon intensity of materials for Scope 3a
- 20% reduction in emissions related to building operation for Scope 3b
These targets, validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), require rigorous monitoring. To achieve this, the company has relied on multiple Excel files to:
- Collect emissions estimates from a large number of internal contributors
- Gather decarbonisation levers
- Simulate emissions reductions
- Monitor and manage decarbonisation actions
- Estimate emissions projections based on financial data
It should be noted that the calculation of their trajectory relies on multiple and complex methodologies, which evolve regularly thanks to improved data availability.
Key challenges
The company faces several issues:
A methodology locked within an outdated Excel-based system no longer supports evolving business needs or the upskilling of the Carbon teams.
- Dependence on a complex Excel tool developed by a former employee, making the methodology difficult to master and hindering information sharing across operational teams
- Data integrity is difficult to guarantee due to the risk of errors linked to multiple file versions
- The proliferation and management of Excel files data consolidation laborious
A methodology locked within an outdated Excel-based system no longer supports evolving business needs or the upskilling of the Carbon teams.
Objectives
To overcome these challenges, Bouygues Construction set the objective of digitalising the construction and management process of its carbon trajectory. To achieve this, the Carbon teams needed to:
- Understand and formalise the existing carbon trajectory process in order to regain ownership of the methodology
- Collect specific methodologies and processes from each operational entity
- Establish a detailed list of functional requirements for the digitalisation of the carbon trajectory
- Carry out a benchmark of tools suited to identified needs
- Select an appropriate solution and launch the digitalisation project
2. A key analytical phase to identify real needs
The analysis revealed a heterogeneous level of maturity among the group’s entities, with diverse methodological practices and the persistence of manual steps in the carbon trajectory process.
- Adaptation of methodologies to each entity’s specificities and data availability
- Simplification of data collection and acceleration of data consolidation
- Harmonisation of data collection and analysis timelines with financial cycles
- Provision of scenario visualisation and simulation capabilities
- Strengthening of data and methodology auditability to meet control requirements
- Development of ergonomic administration interfaces to encourage rapid user adoption
3. Our recommendation
No single off-the-shelf solution met all of Bouygues Construction’s expressed needs. The most suitable option proved to be one offering development flexibility, enabling adaptation to several highly specific processes. Two main options emerged from the benchmark: Enablon, and the Microsoft environment combined with MSM and PowerApps.
However, deployment of the solution depends on meeting two critical prerequisites:
However, deployment of the solution depends on meeting two critical prerequisites:
- Development of a detailed technical and functional specification to cover all required custom developments
- A thorough review of calculation methodologies, to simplify tool configuration
4. Conclusion
This preliminary study ensured that the tool selected to digitalise Bouygues Construction’s carbon trajectory fully and directly meets its priority requirements. Expected benefits include:
By anticipating its needs and choosing an appropriate tool, the organisation aims to gain greater control over its carbon trajectory construction process, while:
The digitalisation project is now underway. The Carbon and IT teams are approaching this new chapter with greater confidence, and the benefits will be assessed over time.
- Improved process auditability
- Significant time savings during data updates
- Historical traceability of all data updates to support steering and comparability
- A substantial reduction in data collection errors
- More precise and real-time carbon trajectory management
By anticipating its needs and choosing an appropriate tool, the organisation aims to gain greater control over its carbon trajectory construction process, while:
- Reducing the burden on operational teams
- Supporting more informed decision-making on decarbonisation efforts across the group
The digitalisation project is now underway. The Carbon and IT teams are approaching this new chapter with greater confidence, and the benefits will be assessed over time.
ESG 
EHS 
LEGAL 
REM 
GRC
PERFO
