Integrating sustainability into risk based asset management

In the western society awareness is growing that care for the environment is a key value. A large part of the attention to the environment is given to the emissions of the greenhouse gas CO2 and the closely correlated energy consumption. Being a energy distribution company and therefore playing a vital role in the energy consumption Essent Netwerk felt a special responsibility in being in the lead and facilitating a more sustainable energy consumption. However, as the grid is a very large energy consumer itself (grid losses), such a leading role could not be achieved without giving the right example. Sustainability should be integrated into everyday decision making. Essent Netwerk decided to adopt a slightly enhanced version of the ecological footprint to accommodate resource depletion and applied it to the end products it uses. The first studies show that the chosen method and the resulting values are precisely right to alter decision making in favor of the sustainable option.