SIBCA 2025 Conference: Virtuo, Elan and Arcelor Mittal share their solutions for low-carbon, sustainable logistics buildings.
Reducing the carbon impact of logistics buildings has become a major challenge for sustainable real estate. At SIBCA 2025, Virtuo invited its partners to a conference dedicated to low-carbon logistics construction. Developers, industrials and environmental experts shared their experiences on warehouse decarbonisation, low-carbon materials and best practices for sustainable operations. The round table confirmed that the future of sustainable logistics depends on innovation, collaboration and collective commitment.
On 4 September, from 5pm to 6pm in the Churchill room, we organised a conference at SIBCA on a key issue in logistics real estate:
‘Reducing the carbon impact of logistics buildings: a shared challenge for developers, users and environmental experts’.
This round table, moderated by Eloïse Leydier, a journalist specialising in logistics, brought together three speakers:
- Mélanie Cahin (Virtuo Industrial Property) – Head of Projects, Sustainable Development and Innovation,
- Eitel Kuete Nameyim (Elan) – Low Carbon and Circular Economy Consultant,
- Prisca Lopez Voeltzel (Arcelor Mittal Construction France) – National Key Accounts and Low Carbon Specification
🎧 Listen to the replay of the conference https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vF4GXDlGgoc
Building a low-carbon logistics building: where to start?
The discussions highlighted the different key phases:
- Design: choice of low-carbon materials (XCarb steel, prefabrication, etc.), carbon modelling, integration of ambitious and sustainable objectives from the outset.
- Construction: rigorous monitoring of the carbon footprint, collection of real data for the LCA, clean and low-impact construction methods.
- Operation: less energy-intensive equipment (heat pumps, LEDs, low-impact refrigerants), integration of local renewable energies, consumption monitoring.
Each step must be thought of as a continuous chain of decisions where developers, users and manufacturers move forward together.
The power of collective work
The conference emphasised one key point: no one can achieve the low-carbon transition alone.
- Manufacturers contribute their innovations, environmental data and technical support.
- Environmental project management consultants and design offices ensure consistency in choices and verification of variants.
- Project owners play the role of conductor, arbitrating decisions and integrating labels and certifications (HQE, BREEAM, LCBI, BBCA, etc.).
This collective intelligence makes it possible to reduce risks, innovate and drive progress across the entire sector.
Shared but varied motivations
The speakers emphasised that the benefits of a low-carbon project extend beyond the environment:
- Economic: long-term cost control, attractiveness of certified buildings.
- Managerial: mobilisation of teams around meaningful projects.
- Commercial and CSR: meeting user expectations and enhancing brand image.
Thus, every stakeholder – developer, manufacturer, user, environmental expert – has a direct and lasting interest in such projects.
Challenges and perspectives
Although the dynamic is underway, certain constraints remain:
- availability of low-carbon materials,
- supply lead times,
- regulatory constraints (fire, ICPE, ATEX, etc.),
- lack of perspective on certain innovative solutions.
However, concrete initiatives such as the anticipation of XCarb steel stocks, the rise of individual FDES (environmental declaration sheets) and specialised training courses offered by experts such as ELAN are evidence of a real acceleration in the sector.
How do you measure success?
The carbon performance of a logistics project is measured at various levels:
- At delivery: material emissions, construction site emissions, labels obtained, reuse rate, biogenic carbon storage.
- During operation: energy consumption, renewable energy production, water consumption.
These indicators make it possible to monitor the impact over time and ensure that the low-carbon transition becomes firmly established in practice.
A collective and sustainable challenge
In the conclusion, this conference highlighted that reducing the carbon footprint of logistics buildings is not only a regulatory requirement (RE2020, tertiary decree, etc.), but also a strategic opportunity for the entire real estate chain.
Virtuo, alongside its industrial and environmental partners, intends to continue this momentum by systematically integrating decarbonisation into the heart of its projects.
