Sustainability Goals

We are implementing energy efficiency measures and increasing our use of renewable energy to reduce our on-site energy consumption and related CO2 emissions.

By 2025, our goal is to reduce CO2 emissions from our onsite energy use and vehicle fleet by 40% compared to a 2019 baseline.

We are pursuing energy efficiency in our buildings, including optimizing our heating, cooling and air conditioning systems as well as upgrading to more efficient lighting systems. Energy efficiency is a core part of our design and operations philosophy for new and existing buildings and our first LEED Gold certified building uses 76% less energy per employee when compared to similar buildings. Our SSF campus now features two LEED Gold certified buildings and our newest building has achieved LEED Platinum certification status. This building is a net zero energy building which means its entire electricity demand is met through onsite renewable energy generation.

We support clean, renewable energy sources. In addition to purchasing renewable energy, we have made significant investments in on-site renewable energy and all our sites in California now have on-site solar photovoltaic technology.

We are focused on reducing the impact of our daily commutes and business travel.

Our goal is to achieve a 50% reduction in emissions from air travel by 2025, compared to a 2019 baseline.

We offer sustainable commute options to our employees. Our gRide program provides buses to nearby communities, shuttles to and from public transportation, and incentives for carpooling, biking and walking. We have added electric commuter buses to our fleet after piloting the world’s first fully electric double-decker coach bus. We have signed on to EV100 and the Ceres Corporate EV Alliance, committing to convert our entire sales fleet to EV or plug-in hybrid vehicles and our commuter buses to electric by 2030. We are continuing to expand EV charging provisions for our employees.

In 2019, we began partnering with companies in our area to share our buses in order to remove even more cars from the road, reduce congestion in the Bay Area and do our part to improve air quality.

We are exploring creative ways to reduce the environmental impact of air travel by leveraging technology like virtual meetings and raising employee awareness of our global and individual air travel impacts.

Reducing our water use is an important focus, as most of our operations are in California, which is vulnerable to drought conditions.

Recognizing the trend toward a water-constrained future, our California sites are working on solutions that will have long-term benefits, will reduce our reliance on potable water sources and will increase our overall resilience and sustainability. We are determining the risks and impacts of water supply and use with the aim of better understanding and accounting for the value of the water resources we use.

By 2025, our goal is to reduce water use by 20% from a 2019 baseline.

Our water conservation efforts include installation of water-efficient bathroom fixtures, greywater systems, weather sensors and drought-resistant landscaping. We are reusing water internally and we are looking for new ways to increase our water reuse, including in our cooling towers, toilets and landscaping.

We are implementing a variety of reduce, reuse, recycle and compost initiatives to minimize our waste to landfill.

By 2025, we aim to reduce our total landfill waste by 20% against a 2019 baseline, including ensuring that 80% of our waste onsite is diverted away from landfill and our plastic consumption is reduced by 10%.

Office moves can create a lot of unnecessary waste. Our Zero Waste Zones (ZWZ) program installs temporary collection zones within relocating departments where employees can conveniently drop off their unwanted items, and others can “shop” for new items they might need. This program engages employees in sustainability, while reducing waste as well as new supply purchases. Extra materials are then offered to local nonprofits. Our multi-stream recycling bins encourage employees to segregate wastes to maximize recycling and composting. To address specialized waste types we leverage the Green BioPharma program.

Reducing food waste is another priority. We have created food waste reduction best practices for employees and our catering vendors, and have improved our process for donating surplus food to people in need.

In addition, food is a significant driver of climate change. A quarter of all greenhouse gas emissions come from food and agriculture productions. Genentech is targeting a 25% reduction in CO2 emissions from food purchases by 2030 as part of the World Resources Institute’s Cool Food initiative.