Skanska USA Civil installs EV charging stations at their offices, making progress towards our 2045 net-zero goal
From coast to coast, Skanska’s USA Civil teams are installing electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at their offices and facilities. Installing EV charging stations helps cut USA Civil’s “Scope 1” emissions and contributes towards our 2045 Group-wide carbon neutrality goal.
At Skanska Underpinning & Foundation’s (UFS) Maspeth, New York facility, sustainability has been top of mind. They have eight electric vehicle (EV) charging stations—four in the equipment yard and four in the UFS yard. They are also working on installing an additional six EV stations.
In Carteret, New Jersey, Skanska Koch recently installed four new EV charging stations at their facility. These new stations are primarily powered by the electricity created by the solar panels installed at the facility in 2010.
The acquisition of the chargers was fully subsidized by the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s “Clean Energy” program.
“This significant enhancement not only supports our commitment to sustainability, but also directly benefits those utilizing PHEV or fully electric vehicles,” said Bill Matre, SVP/general manager of Skanska Koch. “This integration of renewable energy sources is a testament to our innovative approach and desire to achieve our company’s net-zero carbon emissions goal by 2045.”
Every added charging station provides USA Civil with increased capacity to reduce their carbon footprint.
On the West Coast, USA Civil has two active EV charging stations at the Riverside, California headquarters. These were installed in 2019, and each charging station has the capacity to charge two vehicles. With the increase of electric Skanska vehicles as well as a growing number of personal electric vehicles, these chargers are in high demand.
Currently, the Riverside office is installing six additional EV charging stations. Installation materials have been arriving over the past few weeks and we are aiming to have the new charging stations available for use within the next six months.
In addition, Skanska Civil's west coast operations in Seattle, Washington issued the first EV charging card to an employee. Randee Schuster, project engineer on the Lynnwood Link Extension (L300) project, has an electric vehicle, and the EV charging card not only supports her personal environmental efforts but also lowers Skanska’s "Scope 2" emissions in the office and on the project sites.
Small steps towards our 2045 climate target
When it comes to carbon emissions, organizations—like Skanska—measure and set goals for reducing their emissions within a framework of three scopes:
- Scope 1 emissions – direct company emissions
- Ex: the fuel burned in a Skanska superintendent truck
- Scope 2 emissions – indirect emissions
- Ex: electricity purchased for company use
- Scope 3 emissions – indirect emissions tied to the supply chain
- Ex: business travel
Skanska Group’s ambitious climate target states that we will:
- Reduce Scope 1 and Scope 2 carbon emissions by 70% compared to our 2015 baseline, including value chain in projects initiated by Skanska development units
- Have net-zero carbon emissions resulting from our business by 2045, including the value chain in all projects.
It will take all of us to reach our 2045 carbon neutrality goal, and this action by USA Civil is a small step towards helping us get there.