As Canada’s largest bank and one of the largest banks in the world based on market capitalization, we recognize that we have an impact on the communities where we live and work. We are committed to proactive and prudent management of the environmental aspects of our business. As the number and complexity of global environmental issues grow, we continue to focus our efforts on relevant issues that can create risks or opportunities, including:
Our Luxembourg headquarters, Esch Belval has been operational since 2006 and is part of a project aimed at the regeneration and development of a former industrial site in Luxembourg.
Since 2009 RBC I&TS’ Toronto headquarters has been RBC Centre. RBC Centre has the distinction of being certified in 2012 as one of the largest LEED Gold for new Construction, and LEED Gold for Commercial Interiors project in Canada. LEED is a voluntary standard for developing high-performance, sustainable buildings.
To obtain Gold certification, the building’s design and RBC’s interior space incorporated a number of features including deep lake cooling, power conservation through indirect lighting and lighting sensors, light shelves that reflect natural light deep inside the building, use of Energy Star appliances, diversion of over 75% of interior construction waste from landfill, over 20% of the materials used to construct the interior space were made of recycled content, and a storage facility for bicycles.
At RBC, we are reducing our environmental impact as a whole by choosing to lease or build office space certified to green building standards, including the predominant North American green building standard, LEED. This year we achieved our Environmental Blueprint target of occupying over 350,000 m2 of LEED Gold certified office space, three years ahead of schedule. In 2015, our offices worldwide occupied 427,937 m2 of LEED certified office space, and 72.6% of our major properties (facilities with an area greater than 2,320 m2) globally are LEED certified.