Our environmental impacts include:
- Greenhouse gas emissions (from energy use and business travel)
- Consumption and waste
- Creating a pleasant and environmentally-friendly office space.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
Our greenhouse gas emissions are all from indirect energy that we use (i.e. electricity) and from our business travel.
Our electricity consumption from September 2007 to June 2009 was 241.1 kwh. We purchase 20% renewable energy. Our C02 emissions from electricity usage averaged 0.4 tonnes per month during the reporting period.
In 2008 and 2009, we signed up to Earth Hour, an initiative organised by the global conservation group WWF, where signatories commit to turning their lights off for one hour to raise public awareness of climate change.
We minimise energy consumption by having motion-detector lights in three zones in our office and by using laptops, rather than desktop computers on most workstations. The Australian Government estimates that laptops use up to 90 per cent less energy than a desktop computer.
Greenhouse gas emissions from air travel are our biggest source of emissions. We frequently travel interstate to conduct workshops and for client meetings. We minimise travel where possible, by, for example, using teleconferencing or combining visits to clients on the same trip. We offset our carbon emissions from air travel that we purchase, whether on behalf of ourselves or clients.
Cycling and walking to work is encouraged, with bicycle racks and shower facilities provided in our building. In 2008, we took part in Bicycle Victoria’s National Ride to Work Day and held a breakfast on the day for employees. The office is situated close to public transport, with easy access to trains, buses and trams.
Consumption and Waste
We attempt to minimise our direct environmental impact through actions such as setting our printers to default double-sided printing and reducing the amount of office materials going to general waste. The office recycling system includes recycling printer toner cartridges and paper, glass, plastic and cans.
Our conference sponsor and host, Westpac Banking Corporation, offset the greenhouse gas emissions produced from this travel.
Given the small size of our business, it is not economically feasible for us to incur the cost of ongoing measurement of carbon emissions of travel by workshop participants. We remain alert, however, to future opportunities such as that provided by Westpac and will periodically revisit this issue as we grow.
We applied in June 2007 for the GBCA’s Green Star Accreditation of the office interior. The office was designed to Green Star’s six-star guidelines but was only awarded four stars, after a two-year application and appeal process. Although disappointing, we declined a further opportunity to appeal this decision. Our costs in adding features to our office fit-out recommended by Green Star and then undertaking the application and assessment equated to more than eight per cent of our revenue in the year these expenses were incurred. Until the GBCA can develop a cost-effective and efficient process for certification of small spaces, we cannot recommend that other small businesses follow our example in seeking certification for their environmentally sustainable office fit-outs.
Features of our office include:
- Windows that can be opened to allow fresh air and reduce the need for running the air conditioning
- Plenty of natural light
- Zoned lighting that switches off automatically when the room is empty
- Indoor plants to improve internal air quality and aesthetics
- A dedicated exhaust system to minimise harmful emissions (volatile organic compounds (VOCs), ozone and particulates) from the use of printing and copying equipment
- Carpet tiles enable replacement of small sections when worn, and are 100 per cent recyclable
- Pin boards are made out of recycled plastic bottles
- Materials, such as paints and sealants, chosen which have low-embodied energy and low VOCs
- Desks and chairs have been selected for their low embodied energy or recyclability
- A recycling system for paper, glass and aluminum
- Double-sided default printing
- Lap top computers minimise the energy required for our every day computing requirements
- We purchase green electricity.