Nature, territory and environment

Following the review of the Canton of Vaud’s climate change adaptation measures carried out in 2016, CSD ENGINEERS SA has once again been mandated by the Vaud Council of States to contribute to the development of the action plan, the objectives of which are:

• Reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 30% by 2030 and achieving climate neutrality by 2050;
• Adapting to climate change, i.e. limiting the risks to the environment, the land and society, but also taking advantage of possible opportunities;
• Documenting the development of climate change impacts and the effect of the measures laid down in the action plan.

The Klimaplattform der Wirtschaft (KdW) [Climate Platform for Business] was founded on the initiative of the Federal Environmental Protection Office of the City of Bern in 2007: Since then, the City of Bern and 60 partner companies have been pursuing the goal of using resources sustainably and minimising CO₂ emissions. The focus is on volunteer work. All the bodies involved are expected to ensure that a new project is implemented every two years. KdW promotes the exchange of expertise between the partners through newsletters, the website (www.klimaplattform.ch) and business lunches, and publishes an annual report on the climate-related activities of its partner companies. CSD Ingénieurs SA advised KdW’s partner companies from 2008 to 2010. Since 2010, CSD annually verifies the projects submitted by the partner companies and determines the reductions in CO₂ emissions achieved.

Within the context of the “Natural hazards in Thurgovia” project, a landslip map has been created for the Lützelburg pilot project. In parallel to this, the data have been compiled and made available in order to create the phenomena map for the entire canton.

The project aims to set up an alarm and intervention system to deal with the problems caused by the Rhône flooding. This system must allow the research results to be translated into concrete measures and current risks to be managed until protective measures are completed and dykes reinforced.
This involves defining monitoring, alarm and intervention measures covering each of the tasks that must be performed during a crisis.

CSD ENGINEERS SA was commissioned by RPS Health Safety and Environment (London) to undertake an environmental review for EC HARRIS (Paris) of the Retail Centre Champs Fleuris at Matran (near Fribourg) in Switzerland.

The principal aim of the review was to determine whether there is potential for contamination to be present which would significantly constrain the use of the site, or give rise to the risk of significant environmental liability.

The report may also be relied on by any subsidiary of EC HARRIS and those institutions funding their purchase of the property.

RPS Health Safety and Environment was commissioned by an international purchaser to undertake Phase 1 Environmental Liability Review of 10 Hilton hotels in Europe and RPS commissioned CSD ENGINEERS SA for the audits in France, Switzerland, Luxembourg and Germany. The principal aim of the review was to determine whether there is potential for pollution or other environmental impacts to be present which would significantly give rise to the risk of significant environmental liability or may cause a significant depreciation of the building price.

The objective was to contribute towards a sustainable industrial production mode in the Brazilian federal state of Paraíba and its neighbour states by applying cost-effective measures in particular with regard to the efficient use of fuel wood, thus to contribute to reduce desertification in the rural area.
The project’s main component included the capacity enhancement of the local partner institution „Serviço Brasileiro de Apoio às Micro e Pequenas Empresas (SEBRAE)”. The trained consultants formed a new profit center under SEBRAE called Centro de Produção Industrial Sustentável (CEPIS). CEPIS will provide high quality services to local enterprises in the field of Cleaner Production techniques and Cleaner Technologies.