An ever-‘greener’ future for Ziegler

Although Ziegler was founded in 1908 and sets great store by its family ties and traditions, the firm is nonetheless a change actor. “Every company should place sustainable development at the top of its list of priorities,” argues Diane Govaerts, acknowledging: "Our sector is not reputed to be the most virtuous from an environmental point of view and we need to change that image.”

BNP Paribas Fortis, your partner in the transition to sustainability

After 111 years working in its original premises, Ziegler has now added a modern, sustainable building to house both its headquarters and its operational activities.  To do so, the company was able to draw on the expertise of BNP Paribas Fortis, which was closely involved in the project from the start of the thinking process. “We really appreciated the responsiveness and availability of our Bank,” says the CEO, underlining: "They identified our needs straight away and so we were able to make rapid progress on our project.”

Reducing the environmental impact

The results have certainly lived up to expectations. "The sustainability aspect of the new building was thought out down to the smallest details,” explains Diane Govaerts. Photovoltaic panels, rainwater collectors, heat pumps, techniques for reducing power consumption, and so on. The  new HQ is Ziegler’s showcase in terms of sustainable development and perfectly embodies the company’s policies in this field.  

Non-stop progress

Having set out along this promising path, Ziegler has no intentions of stopping there. As a pioneer in this field, the firm is constantly working to ‘green’ its performance by regularly updating its fleet of vehicles to meet higher environmental standards, optimising its delivery schedules, and opting where possible for ‘softer’ modes of transport such as water routes and railways. Ziegler is now looking to make improvements at its other sites. "Once again, we‘ll be calling on BNP Paribas Fortis so that we can take advantage of their network of experts to help pursue our energy transition by equipping 20 or so other sites with solar panels,” says Diane Govaerts, stressing: "Our relationship with our Bank has really intensified over these last few years and it’s very reassuring to know that we can count on them to assist us."