The Office Group Helping tenants to reduce their environmental impact The Office Group manages buildings throughout London, providing low cost office space for businesses in five London boroughs. They employ 9 staff and currently provide office space for 23 companies in King’s Cross and 34 in Farringdon. Key Achievements 1. Waste sent to landfill has reduced by 20% following the introduction of recycling. 2. Recycling is now available for paper, card and plastics. The Office Group organise a pick up for hazardous and electronic waste, including batteries, IT equipment and printer toners. 3. 7-day timers have been installed on water coolers so they automatically switch off out of work hours, saving over 4300 kg C02 and over £500 in energy bills per year. 4. The Office Group are investigating moving to a green energy tariff for their electricity supply. 5. Eco kettles that minimise water wastage and power use are used in all kitchens and all kitchens are only supplied with Fairtrade tea and coffee. “Through SmartWorks and Better Climate for Camden, we've strengthened our relationship with our tenants and demonstrated we are serious about helping them to reduce their impact, and running costs of the building.” Corina Degani, The Office Group The Office Group How have The Office Group achieved these savings? The Office Group worked with Better Climate for Camden to identify the need to engage with tenants around environmental issues, conducting a survey to find out about current practices, such as purchasing recycled paper, switching equipment off at night and whether they would be willing to take part in waste & energy audits. Green goody bags were provided as an incentive for tenants to return the surveys, and as a result of the information collected The Office Group hosted a screening of ‘An Inconvenient Truth’. SmartWorks assisted The Office Group to follow up on the surveys carried out by BC4C, helping tenants to reduce their energy use and increase recycling rates in the buildings. To assess current behaviour, after hours energy and waste spot checks were carried out by SmartWorks with the help of Global Generation. Results showed: • Equipment left on standby out of work hours at King’s Cross resulted in unnecessary carbon emissions of 1.6 tonnes per year - equivalent to 8 hot air balloons! • At Farringdon, equipment on standby out of work hours was resulting in carbon emissions of 2 tonnes per year - equivalent to 10 hot air balloons of CO2! • Waste spot checks showed that 60-80% of the waste going to landfill could actually easily be recycled. To engage tenants to switch off equipment out of working hours, SmartWorks carried out a survey of equipment left on, leaving a chocolate reward for those that switched off their PC and monitor. Bins were checked to find out how much recyclable waste was being thrown away and this helped to make the case for installing and using new recycling bins. This exercise has clearly made tenants consider their power usage. There was an instant reduction in the number of monitors left and the paper in the recycling bins has increased. The Office Group maintain frequent communication with tenants on these issues to keep up the tenant’s fantastic efforts and new environmental standards. Insert organisation image. This could be a graph, chart, picture, etc The Office Group’s green roof at their King’s Cross office The Office Group are also taking the lead in providing a service to their tenants that encourages environmental awareness through schemes such as constructing a living roof to promote biodiversity (with help from Global Generation), recycling grey water and holding a water awareness day at their King’s Cross site. Better Climate for Camden and SmartWorks collaborated on the project, allowing staff to share ideas and information and develop best practice reporting styles. This will help engage and support other businesses to improve environmental performance through the respective projects in the future. What’s next? The Office Group continues to communicate positively with tenants and work with them to explore further opportunities for energy conservation and waste reduction, in both existing buildings and new centres. The company is also committed to installing ambitious technology such as solar panels, wind turbines, and rainwater recycling for the benefit of their tenants. Further Information 1. 2. http://www.globalgeneration.org.uk/ http://www.theofficegroup.co.uk/sustainablespaces.html The Camden Climate Change Alliance has been formed by Camden Council and organisations in Camden that are committed to reducing their carbon dioxide emissions and helping to tackle climate change. For more information visit www.betterclimateforcamden.org, tel: 020 7974 5657 e: [email protected] to join the mailing list.