Water and marine resources

ESRS 2 SBM-3

Water is needed to provide construction services throughout the entire value chain – from the production of building materials, where large volumes of water become permanently bound in products such as concrete, through operational construction activities in which water is used, among other things, for dust suppression and cleaning, to the operation of buildings and structures, including water-carrying building systems.

Due to its wide-ranging interactions with other environmental topics, the relevance of water has increased even further. STRABAG, as part of the double materiality assessment, therefore carried out a comprehensive reassessment of the topic of water in 2025, identifying material IROs in the process. These include, on the one hand, water consumption – resulting, among other things, from the permanent binding of water in building materials – and, on the other hand, the development of business areas related to water – for example in infrastructure construction and in climate-resilient structures based on the sponge city principle. The analysis was carried out in coordination with internal stakeholders; affected communities were not involved.

Policies

ESRS E3-1

STRABAG has integrated the topic of water into its Sustainability Policy as well as its Environmental and Energy Policy. Both documents, approved by the Management Board of STRABAG SE, apply throughout the Group and set out key principles and action areas for the responsible management of water. These include, for example, the protection of water bodies and aquatic ecosystems, the reduction of water consumption along our value chain and the development of risk-based measures, including at sites located in water-risk areas. There are currently no specific requirements relating to water in product design or services; these are defined by the respective client.

Water abstraction and discharge are subject to strict legal regulations that vary depending on the country, context and construction project. In addition to the Group-wide provisions contained in the Sustainability Policy and the Environmental and Energy Policy, a range of guidance documents and checklists therefore apply to operational construction activities in individual divisions. Water is also considered a relevant environmental aspect within the meaning of ISO 14001 and is recorded accordingly as part of the Group-wide environmental management system.

Actions and projects

ESRS E3-2

As water is a key resource for the entire construction value chain and therefore for numerous business activities, a wide range of actions is already being implemented. Most of these are required by law and stipulated in project approvals and permits, ensuring that local requirements – for example in water-stress areas – are also taken into account.

In building materials production, the current focus lies on actions to reduce process water. Due to existing standards, reducing the proportion of water that is bound as an additive in building materials is outside the company’s sphere of influence. Nevertheless, optimisation actions are implemented within the production process to ensure that water abstraction is as efficient as possible – for example through the use of water treatment and recycling systems.

Water management at STRABAG during construction site operations is largely project-based. Depending on the size and context of the construction site, various actions are implemented to ensure the protection of water resources and to reduce water consumption. These actions include, among others:

• Use of (mobile) water treatment systems to clean contaminated water and return it to the cycle
• Avoidance of proximity to water bodies when refuelling and storing construction machinery, when handling hazardous substances, etc.
• Substitution of environmentally harmful and water-hazardous substances

Structured monthly water monitoring is carried out as part of the DGNB “Sustainable Construction Site” certification. The analysis of consumption data is to be further developed in the future to derive concrete improvement actions for construction activities.

The operational phase of buildings also offers significant leverage for reducing water consumption within the construction value chain. The ÖGNI and DGNB systems as well as the technical assessment criteria for EU Taxonomy compliance include various water-related requirements for buildings, including the installation of water-saving sanitary systems. In this context, STRABAG provides support both through specialised advisory services and through the construction and modernisation of buildings that meet these requirements.

A structured assessment of the costs incurred for implementing actions is currently not possible, as the topic is still at an early stage of knowledge development and concept design. Reporting will be further developed in the future on the basis of reliable data.

Targets

ESRS E3-3

To date, STRABAG has not defined any quantitative targets relating to water and marine resources. The current focus lies on further developing the underlying data basis in order to establish reference values for potential target setting.

Metrics

ESRS E3-4

STRABAG is reporting on the topic of water for the first time in the 2025 financial year. As the data collection processes are still being further developed, the following metrics are largely based on assumptions and estimates derived from cost accounting as well as external sources. Additional sources of information used to determine these assumptions include studies, product data sheets, literature and experience from operational activities. The collection of primary data and volume-based data is being continuously expanded in order to improve the data basis and reporting in the future.

The following metrics currently relate exclusively to production sites for building materials. Real estate locations were classified as not material due to their comparatively very low water consumption relative to production sites and the resulting limited relevance for the metrics.

For construction sites, no reliable estimates of water consumption are yet available for the 2025 reporting year. This is due to the difficulty of quantifying the many influencing factors, which can vary significantly depending on the type of construction activity and the associated resource requirements. These influencing factors include, among other things, the specific materials used, the size and duration of the construction site and the geographical location. Despite the availability of project-related information, these parameters cannot currently be systematically captured across all projects. Given the large number of construction sites and the wide range of potential influencing factors, there is therefore currently no sufficiently robust data basis for producing a reliable estimate of construction-site-related water consumption.

Methodological explanations