Interview: The environmental and social challenges of NTN Europe's new headquarters

Construction of the future headquarters continues to progress: the exterior is now complete, and the interior is currently being fitted out, with the move still scheduled for mid-2026. Laurent Lebrun Damiens, CSR manager, presents the social and environmental objectives of the Annecy site's transformation: to design an eco-friendly building, reduce our CO₂ emissions and offer our employees a working environment in which they feel comfortable.  

A low-carbon certified building (BBCA) 

The low-carbon certification of the new head office is fully in line with NTN Europe's environmental policy. This certification is based on a comprehensive analysis of the building's life cycle, which assesses greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at several stages: construction, maintenance, operation, but also carbon storage and the circular economy. 

This comprehensive approach ensures measurable and sustainable environmental performance throughout the building's life cycle.  

An eco-friendly building that reflects our key commitments 

Sustainability: a concrete commitment to the environment 

The building's construction is environmentally friendly, thanks to the use of sustainable materials and optimised resource management (water recovery, solar energy, natural ventilation, etc.).  

Its main features include: 

• Structure and heating: the building has a wooden structure and a heat pump heating system, both of which promote energy efficiency. 
• Energy production: with 520 m² of photovoltaic panels, it produces part of its own electricity and contributes to reducing our carbon footprint by 380 tonnes of CO₂ per year (on an equivalent basis). 
• Natural ventilation: thanks to its SHED roof, ventilation is natural, limiting the use of air conditioning and making the cooling system more environmentally friendly. 
• Water management: all rainwater is infiltrated, and a 60 m³ rainwater reserve will reduce our consumption by 50%. 

Well-being: an environment designed for employees 

Quality of life at work is at the heart of our approach.  

Flexible working, by offering a fair variety of workspaces and promoting communication between teams, is a real driver of well-being.  

To ensure that everyone feels comfortable and can give their best, the building's architecture has been designed to create bright, friendly and comfortable spaces. Our employees also had the opportunity to share their opinions to help guide the choice of furniture for the future head office: height-adjustable desks, ergonomic chairs, alcoves, relaxation areas... everything is designed to promote motivation, collaboration and team performance.  

Innovation: a site focused on the future and in line with our purpose, ‘We make the world Nameraka’  

This new head office fully embodies our purpose, ‘Make the World Nameraka’, to contribute to a more fluid, harmonious and sustainable world.  

Through this project, we are affirming our commitment to creating responsible mobility, where technology, people and the environment advance together in balance.  

Performance: a lever for our carbon neutrality goals  

The construction of this new head office marks a key milestone in our carbon neutrality journey. This building combines operational efficiency with environmental performance and will enable us to make concrete progress towards our objectives: reducing emissions from our sites by 50% by 2030, then achieving a 90% reduction by 2035.  

This is a strong commitment, consistent with NTN Europe's sustainable vision. 

These elements promote both performance and industrial transformation. 

Thanks to the layout of the spaces, the equipment and the processes, everything has been designed to improve performance, support quality and strengthen team cohesion.  

With this project, NTN is affirming its role as a responsible and committed manufacturer. As Laurent Lebrun-Damiens explains in the video, NTN is transforming itself and actively contributing to industrial transformation.