Climate Plan: A progress report after two years of implementation

Two years after the publication of its Climate Plan, École Polytechnique has achieved or finalized the implementation of a large part of its objectives.

École Polytechnique’s Climate Plan, published at the end of January 2022, integrates sustainable development into its fundamental missions of training, research and innovation, and into the operation of its campus. Its ten objectives, achievable in five years' time, are grouped into three pillars - train and engage, develop and innovate, reduce and empower - to transform behaviors in depth and contribute to the advent of responsible, sustainable prosperity.

As part of the "Train and Engage" initiative, X will be launching a 40-hour, multi-disciplinary course entitled "Engineering Sustainability, engineering for the long haul " for second-year students od the Cycle Inégnieur Polytechnicien Program at the start of the 2024 academic year. Its aim is to give them a systemic vision of the major challenges of sustainability, and to equip them with the knowledge they need to tackle them.

This initiative complements the introduction of 14-hour Sustainable Development seminars for MSc&T and 1st and 2nd year Bachelors.

Since the launch of the School's Sustainable Development Certificate in 2020, 86 engineering and MSc&T students have passed the course. To do so, they took part in 8 Coriolis conferences, wrote a CSR report for their 2nd year internship company or research laboratory, and took 5 "Competence - Sustainable Development" courses. A total of 210 hours must be devoted to obtaining this certificate. More than 200 students are currently enrolled in this program.

In terms of research and innovation, the interdisciplinary Energy for Climate (E4C) center, created in 2019, combines the strengths of the Institut Polytechnique de Paris schools, of which École Polytechnique is a founding member, the CNRS and the school's climate partners.

E4C has continued to develop a "living lab" on campus, with the installation of smartgrid, photovoltaic agriculture and carbon capture technology demonstrators. 

In collaboration with the Institut Pierre-Simon Laplace - Sciences du climat, E4C launched its medialib, bringing together open resources and data on climate. 

The center successfully organized its 4th Student Challenge and 2nd Summer School in 2023.

École Polytechnique’s laboratories are involved in the labo 1.5 initiative, which aims to better understand and reduce the impact of scientific research activities on the environment.

On the third axis of the Climate Plan, "Reduce and Empower", which focuses on the life of the establishment and the development of the campus, an 8% reduction in consumption per square meter of electricity and gas has been noted between 2019 and 2022.

A district of very low-emission housing has been developed. 

The installation of 180 additional bicycle parking spaces, the creation of a new cycle path and a bicycle repair station are all part of the objective to dedicate the heart of the campus to soft mobility.

All administrative and technical staff at X have been made aware of environmental issues, and the first two pilot professions - catering and communications - have been specifically trained in 2023 in eco-responsibility. 

As part of its ongoing efforts to integrate socio-environmental criteria into its purchasing policy, École Polytechnique won the Trophées de l'achat d'innovation award for its Building Management System (BMS) project, developed by Accenta, which uses artificial intelligence to optimize heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) consumption.