As the newly appointed carbon neutrality project manager for a VINCI Facilities business unit, Florentin Gaussin is one of the pioneers developing a new professional role: the carbonologist, or carbon manager.*
To enter working life by creating one’s own role in a completely new field is a rare career opportunity. But that has been Florentin Gaussin’s experience since October 2022, when he joined VINCI Energies Building Solutions in Fretin, near Lille, as its brand-new Carbon Manager.
“This is a newly created role in which I have total autonomy, though of course, my business unit manager supports me day-to-day,” explains the 25-year-old engineer. “This new field, dedicated to decarbonising our own and our customers’ activities, is an exciting one! Business units are committing to this process, and our mission is to support them. We have to constantly try things and adapt accordingly. We are moulding a new professional role.”
This new role was created to address the challenges of global warming and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and several dozen people already occupy the position across the network of VINCI Energies Building Solutions business units.
What does it involve? To help their customers with their decarbonisation strategies, these carbonologists – or carbon managers – start by performing an audit of a site’s carbon footprint. For this, they use three tools: P2C (Carbon Contract Profile) to assess the carbon impact of maintenance contracts; and Quick Scan Carbon and Bilan Carbone to measure the site’s overall impact.
The assessment considers factors such as energy efficiency, travel, purchasing, the circular economy, waste management, the types of fluids used in refrigeration systems, etc. “Based on these assessments, we propose decarbonisation plans, the so-called LCPAs (low-carbon performance actions), that may activate all or some of these levers,” explains Florentin Gaussin.
Energy efficiency and beyond
Though he dreamed of working in the aerospace industry, Florentin Gaussin seems to have found fulfilment in his education at the ENSICAEN engineering school, in which he leaned toward materials chemistry and then energy (“a field of the future”). “After I completed my final-year placement, my business unit manager asked me to stay on and become a carbon manager, a job I had never heard of but one that he wanted to create.”
Florentin Gaussin was then trained by two of his counterparts at other VINCI Energies business units. He also completed both levels of studies offered by the Carbon Training Institute in Paris to obtain certification from ABC, the French low-carbon transition association. ABC’s mission is to support and disseminate carbon audit methodology. It can now also provide statutory Greenhouse Gas Emission Assessments (GHGEAs).
“This new field dedicated to decarbonisation is exciting! We have to constantly try things and adapt accordingly.”
“For me, this was a complete and fascinating revelation, because low-carbon actions can go further than energy efficiency alone. This job of carbon manager touches on some very different fields and requires you to be constantly on the lookout for new tools and new solutions.”
These discoveries can be unexpected, such as the solution for reclaiming cigarette butts developed by the Oise-based startup TchaoMégot, which transforms this waste into eco-designed building insulation or textiles. Florentin Gaussin has implemented this solution at his VINCI Facilities business unit’s site in Fretin.
Tenacity and flexibility
In addition to audits and action plan recommendations, the young carbonologist spends much of his time raising awareness both internally (business managers) and externally (customers). “Carbon is everyone’s business,” he says. “That’s why I work hand-in-hand with both business managers and our customers. In this role, you need patience, tenacity and flexibility, because there is a lack of awareness around the subject, and its added value – especially in financial terms – is not immediately convincing. And while there are all kinds of solutions, these have to be adapted to the individual customer’s requirements and means.”
As the new arrival, Florentin Gaussin receives plenty of support from his counterparts, whom he meets regularly at meetings organised by the network of carbonologists. He is also part of the VINCI Energies incubator programme designed to help young graduates integrate.
His first major assignment involved the carbon assessment for ESME, a specialist school for mechanical and electrical engineers. “We submitted the assessment in June 2023. This is the first project I’ve managed from start to finish. I saw how important it was to support the customer really closely, especially for the data gathering, which can take several weeks. We suggested having the ESME students challenge our action plan to make it even more effective.”
Florentin Gaussin’s ambition is to develop the range of low-carbon solutions available to a portfolio of customers dedicated to this activity. In this, his VINCI Facilities business unit can count on the commitment and perseverance of this young engineer, who is also a facilitator for Climate Fresk!
* Carbonologist (or Carbon Manager): A new role within VINCI Energies business units, the purpose of which is to accelerate the transformation of processes in order to promote low-carbon products and solutions to all its customers. Read the article Flying the flag for low carbon on The Agility Effect.
09/12/2024
