Iconic building gets a green makeover

Family-owned Bacardi recently unveiled several environmental initiatives for its global headquarters in Bermuda, further cutting its carbon footprint and creating a working environment that promotes even greater wellbeing for its employees.

The world’s largest privately held international spirits company installed new solar paneling on the office roof which generates more than one third of the site’s energy requirements, and a stateof-the-art chiller system has cut the building’s total energy usage by more than 40 percent. Together, these improvements have reduced the building’s CO2 emissions by more than 70%.

Also on the roof, four large tanks capture rainwater used for the lawn, fire sprinklers, the beautiful fountains at the front of the building; and after careful filtration to clean the water, for the office bathrooms and kitchens.

Investing in these environmental upgrades promotes even greater wellbeing at work too. The new chiller system improves indoor air quality, while newly installed LED lighting improves the quality of light, at the same time creating further reductions in energy use. To encourage more outdoor time, additional seating and community spaces for hosting events and activities are being added outside.

“Doing the right thing by both people and planet is a top priority for us,” says Douglas Mello, Managing Director of Bacardi in Bermuda. “From planting trees, to helping reduce plastic pollution, we take every opportunity to make a positive difference to the environment and communities in Bermuda.”

Just last year, Bacardi partnered with the Beyond Plastic Bermuda campaign, a collaboration between Bermuda Environmental Sustainability Taskforce (BEST) and Keep Bermuda Beautiful (KBB), to educate the local community about the dangers of plastic pollution and encourage actions to reduce singleuse plastic on the Island. See page 30 for more details of this initiative.

The company also celebrated its 161st anniversary in February by planting cedar trees in Bermuda’s

Riddell’s Bay Gardens and Nature Reserve to help protect the biodiversity of the island. And last summer partnered with KBB to help clean up the Railway Trail and surrounding areas in Paget.

Through its extensive Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) programme, named Good Spirited, Bacardi has set itself ambitious targets. Find out more at www.bacardilimited.com