Allianz Hungária – also serving to protect nature and our environment

Our company is deeply committed to fighting global climate change. As a service provider, Allianz can undoubtedly do less for the cause than product manufacturers. However, we have implemented and will continue to implement a number of measures in addition to our green headquarters to protect nature and our environment.

Opening the new, green headquarters in 2010 was a milestone even in Allianz Hungária’s long list of efforts in environmental protection. The building was designed with a number of environment-friendly considerations in mind, including the type of construction materials (recycled materials were used in lots of sections) and also the lifetime carbon footprint of the structure.

1. A powerful insulation system including, among others, glass fibre sheets, aluminium foil backed rock wool panels and thermal insulation plaster significantly lowers the building’s energy consumption.
2. Hot water is partially supplied by the 12 solar panels mounted on the roof of the building in an area covering 24 m².
3. Rainwater (also called grey water) is used to flush toilets. With the heavy rains in the rainy season, it equals 13 m³ or approx. 52 bathtubs of water a day (instead of clean tap water) that the Municipality does not have to treat, another considerable amount of energy saved.
4. The combination of central printers, the introduction of double-sided printing and new non-paper based processes as well as the digital office solution has drastically reduced paper use. Now only one-fifth of the paper quantity of 2009 is used, i.e. the company has consumed the same amount of paper over the past five years as in the year 2009.
5. Amounting to close to 6000 kg in 2015 alone, documents and papers generated in office work and sorted to be destroyed are stored in metal containers and destroyed by an outside business partner in a closed system and then recycled. Consequently, approx. 70 full-grown trees are saved every year. (Recycling is regulated in a contract to ensure that our partner processes materials in an environmental-friendly manner.)
6. Used paper towels at our headquarters are collected and disposed of via the Budapest Municipal Public Services Inc. (FKF Zrt.), which in 2015 alone amounted to a total of 57 m³ of selectively collected paper waste.
7. With selective waste collection being the norm, we also separately collect hazardous waste such as the oil used in the restaurant kitchen of the building. Depleted batteries are collected in another container that normally fills up in a year. There was even another container for dead light bulbs during the 2015 Earth Hour campaign which was filled by company employees and walk-in contributors. In addition, dead light bulbs (400 pcs) and electronic devices (100 pcs) are also selectively collected and disposed of on a regular basis.
8. Our colleagues drink purified water to limit the number of PET bottles used and to reduce the material needs for producing mineral water. Calculating with an average 2 litre water consumption per day per person and with 1000 colleagues, we save 4000 half-litre PET bottles every day.
9. The glass surfaces of the building provide lots of natural light; in all other premises motion detector controlled or energy saving (compact fluorescent lamps and LED) light sources are employed. Savings on electricity is further enhanced by a motion detector controlled, dynamic light switching system in the underground garage.
10. We use natural gas heating because it produces the least amount of combustion products. The hot exhaust air is used to preheat the fresh air supply via a condensation boiler. In addition, blown, filtered and fresh air is pre-cooled and pre-heated using huge heat recovery drums to reduce the amount of electricity and natural gas consumed for heating and cooling.
11. As a result of our energy saving efforts, 250 trees are saved in our forests and a quantity equalling 24,000 bathtubs filled with water remain clean in our rivers. A single 11 W compact fluorescent lamp now operates for 960 fewer hours (120 workdays) per year, resulting in over 3 tons of limestone and over 1 ton of coal left untouched in the mountains.
12. Access to the building is also an important factor for a green office. The Allianz HQ is accessible via various means of public transportation and there is even a bicycle track nearby. To encourage cycling, the building houses bicycle storage, locker room and shower facilities.

In support of our environment-friendly efforts, our Company is planning to introduce additional energy efficient methods by implementing the ISO 50001 standard.

We are proud that the building has been pre-qualified as “BREEAM very good” and its “greenness” has been recognised with the Construction Industry Excellence Award (“Építőipari Nívódíj”). And we have not even mentioned the colour of the building…