Case study
Creating solutions for
low emission construction sites
Supporting green transition in construction sites with data-driven refueling and emission reporting services
Neste is the world’s leading producer of sustainable aviation fuel, renewable diesel and a frontrunner in developing renewable and circular feedstock solutions for polymers and chemicals.
The company is on an ambitious journey to transform itself and how the world consumes energy. Neste strives to combat climate change by offering its customers solutions that help them to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.
Challenge
Make GHG emission reporting transparent and accountable
Construction sites need to change their way of operating and set ambitious climate targets to reduce their emissions and to meet the sustainability market pull.
Regulation, incentives and voluntary green deals are all needed to drive emission reductions.
Strategy
Leveraging value chain exchanges to create a viable concept
We mapped the value chain and validated struggles and concerns of stakeholders to create customer-centric concepts for transparent GHG emission tracking.
Outcome
A centralized data-driven fueling hub and reporting for construction sites
We co-created an array of directions and validated the final concept through a series of B2B experiments.
This hub isn’t just about fuel; it’s about changing the fabric of construction logistics by offering a seamless way to monitor, record and differentiate renewable fuel use. Here, every tag, every liter of fuel is a step towards a more sustainable future.
Dive deeper into one of the solutions developed.
By offering Neste MY Renewable Diesel and proof of sustainable fuel usage as a service on-site, we provide value for all players
Challenge
Make GHG emission reporting transparent and accountable
Voluntary Green Deal agreements, changing legislation and climate targets of large public and private actors push the industry to reduce emissions.
Use of light fuel oil represents 96% of generated emissions on Finnish construction sites. Switching to Neste MY Renewable Diesel can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by average 90%* compared to fossil diesel.
But how do we get all the subconstractors to use renewables?
*) The GHG emission reduction percentage varies depending on the region-specific legislation that provides the methodology for the calculations (e.g. EU RED II 2018/2001/EU for Europe and US California LCFS for the US), and the raw material mix used to manufacture the product for each market.
The big idea
Neste created a double-edged sword by providing automated emission reporting and seamless, time-saving refueling solution for construction sites.
The fuel service and reporting solution speaks to each of the stakeholder’s needs, adding value along the chain.
A centralized and data-driven refueling solution at the construction site makes daily life of subcontractors easier and simultaneously gives stakeholders up the value chain direct insights in fuel use and GHG emissions, to meet and monitor their targets.
Strategy
Leveraging value chain exchanges to create a viable concept
The Neste x Board of Innovation intrapreneurship programs are catalysts for disruptive thinking. The teams are challenged to step off their day-to-day tasks and think beyond today’s challenges.
With the team, we addressed emission reporting through multiple lenses. What makes the life of the various stakeholders easier? How can we reduce their emissions generated by the heavy machinery use (at the construction site)? And how can it be viable for all players?
We answered these questions through an iterative approach, mapping the ecosystem and recognising their needs and struggles, validating those and ideating for potential concepts to resolve them. Then validating and prioritizing solutions and mapping the value exchanges to define the business model that fuels the concept. Through a series of B2B experiments, we validated the final solution to be the right one.
Problem Exploration
Which critical sustainability challenges affect businesses and society, which we can influence?
Solution Development
How might we develop solutions to these challenges, keeping in mind the importance of our customer base?
Business Model Definition
Where can we ensure we deliver holistic benefits across a triple bottom line?
We managed to innovate through both an environmentally sustainable and economically viable lens by enabling Scope 3 Emission Reporting and simultaneously making a subcontractor's life easier
Robin Vermeulen, Senior Business Designer and Program Lead at BOI (Board of Innovation)
There is a push of legislators for lowering emissions.
Big buyers of fuel, like the City of Helsinki pledged to join these green deals and top-down demand construction sites to lower their emissions and show proof.
General contractors are challenged in construction bids no longer just on price, but on emissions as well, demanding their subcontractors to minimize their emissions.
Subcontractors need easy access and competitive pricing of renewables in order to be able to take part in the sustainable transformation.
Mapping the value chain together helped us define our value propositions for each player in the chain. For example the buyer, the contractor and the subcontractors
Jarkko Kulmala - Service Design Manager at Neste
Outcome
A centralized fueling hub for construction sites
Neste offers a service for the general contractor, to provide the renewable fuel for its own and subcontractors use and to monitor fuel usage across construction sites, solving both the access and reporting challenges.
The service provides:
- A way for tracking the fuel use and emissions in construction site with reliable data
- Scope 3 Emission Recording: Offering a clear, actionable pathway for recording and managing indirect emissions, a previously obscure task
- Enhanced Safety: Centralizing fuel storage reduces risks, creating a safer environment for subcontractors.
- Centralized refueling and automatic orders: subcontractors can refuel renewable fuels from a centralized hub, instead of having to order fuel for their own tanks, effortlessly contributing to the site’s emission reduction targets.
- Unified emission reporting: reporting real-time on-site consumption data and avoided emissions through RFID tags
- Fuel-as-a-Service: A novel approach that ensures subcontractors use of renewable fuel, aligning with the site’s sustainability objectives.
This hub isn’t just about fuel; it’s about changing the fabric of construction logistics by offering a seamless way to monitor, record, and differentiate renewable fuel use.
Here, every tag, every liter of fuel is a step towards a more sustainable future.
This project was part of a multi-year partnership in which BOI coached 20+ teams, conducted 100+ B2B validation interviews and ideated 1000+ solutions towards Neste's 2040 goal of a carbon neutral and a nature-positive value chain.
