Saint-Gobain wins “European Cleantech Corporation of the Year” award

This award singles out a company for its significant action to promote innovation in green technology and environmentally friendly products and services.      

Saint-Gobain was selected for its sustainable habitat strategy, for continuing its strategic investments in 2012, and NOVA External Venturing’s contribution to speeding up innovation. Tasked with identifying start-ups and encouraging partnerships with Saint-Gobain Activities, NOVA’s international team promotes a culture of innovation that embraces the world outside Saint-Gobain.

“We were struck by Saint-Gobain’s consistent approach to cleantech innovation, underpinning its sustainable habitat vision, as shown by the gradual growth in new products as a percentage of its sales. In 2012, despite a tough economic context, its commitment to sustainability, innovation and energy efficiency prevailed, with notably the acquisitions of Celotex and Sage Electrochromics, and the running of the 4th NOVA Innovation Competition. Beyond this competition, the NOVA team has progressively encouraged the building of a true ecosystem gathering together the world of start-ups and investors, to rise to tomorrow’s technological challenges”, explained Richard Youngman, Managing Director for Cleantech Group in Europe.

The award was presented at a gala dinner on April 17 to Armand Ajdari, R&D Vice President Saint-Gobain Innovative Materials. “This award recognizes the Group’s successful efforts to open up its innovation policy to the outside world through partnerships with start-ups and its cooperation with prestigious universities and laboratories. More broadly, it honors the style of management promoted by the Group’s senior executives: a community of united entrepreneurs, committed to providing their customers with innovative solutions in all its business areas,” concluded Armand Ajdari.

More about Saint-Gobain

Saint-Gobain, the world leader in the habitat and construction markets, designs, manufactures and distributes building materials, providing innovative solutions to the challenges of growth, energy efficiency and environmental protection. With 2012 sales of €43.2 billion, Saint-Gobain operates in 64 countries and has nearly 193,000 employees. Saint-Gobain was ranked among the world’s 100 most innovative companies by Thomson Reuters in 2012. For more information about Saint-Gobain, please visit http://www.saint-gobain.com.

More about NOVA External Venturing

NOVA External Venturing examines how projects coming from innovative start-ups can be implemented faster by leaning on the industrial and commercial assets of Saint-Gobain, for the greatest benefit of each partner. NOVA serves as a unique interface for start-ups and helps create and develop links with all Group activities worldwide. Since 2006, NOVA has launched about 60 partnerships with start-ups. For more information about NOVA External Venturing, please visit http://www.saint-gobain.com/en/nova.