Greening yourOrganisation

With support from

www.cih.org

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ContentsGreening your organisation ....................................................................... Page 3What is a ‘green’ organisation?................................................................. Page 4Why go green? ............................................................................................. Page 7Getting started – convincing people in your organisation ................... Page 10Buildings and building services ................................................................. Page 15Information and communication technology .......................................... Page 23Office supplies .............................................................................................. Page 26Staff travel .................................................................................................... Page 32Wider issues ................................................................................................. Page 38Engaging with residents ............................................................................. Page 41A strategy for becoming and staying ‘green’ .......................................... Page 50Finding out more ......................................................................................... Page 58

Customer feedbackWe welcome feedback on how we can improve our publications both in terms of format andcontent. If you would like to contribute to our commitment to improving our services please email: policyandpractice@cih.orgAuthors: Christoph Sinn, Policy and Practice Officer and John Perry, Policy

Adviser (CIH)Contributor: Duncan Snook, Director of Finance and Corporate Services (CIH)Editor: Debbie Larner, Head of Practice (CIH)Acknowledgement: We are grateful to Matrix Housing Partnership for partnering CIH in

the production and dissemination of this practice brief.Production/print: Jeremy Spencer/Sharp Edge Print & MarketingPhotographs: all photos istockphoto.com; except page 55 – fotolia.com

© Copyright: Chartered Institute of Housing October 2010Registered charity No. 244067/R ISBN 978-1-905018-85-7

This publication is printed on Nine Lives 55 170gsm silk which is made with 55% recycledfibre from both pre-consumer and post-consumer sources, together with 45% virgin ECF

fibre from sustainable forests. In recognition of the carbon footprint of this book, a donation hasbeen made to a solar energy project in Nicaragua (see www.cih.org/nicaragua).

Whilst all reasonable care and attention has been taken in compiling this publication, the authors and thepublishers regret that they cannot assume responsibility for any error or omission that it contains. The practice brief refers to a number of different commercial and non-profit services and products. However,none of the services or products are endorsed by CIH unless they are directly provided by CIH or one of itsassociated companies; CIH assumes no responsibility for services or products provided by others.All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmittedin any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the priorpermission of the publishers.

Protecting the environment is good for theplanet – and for your organisation’s bottom-line. Reducing the use of energy and makingbetter use of resources, whether it’s minimisingor recycling waste, limiting staff travel orinstalling solar panels, can reduce your costsover the longer term. Such measures can alsopromote your organisation as environmentallyresponsible and help comply with statutory andregulatory requirements. Work with residentscan raise their awareness and have practicalbenefits such as cutting their fuel bills.

The ideas in this practice brief are a startingpoint for reducing your organisation’senvironmental impact. If you take on board themajority of the issues covered here you will bewell on the way to ‘greening’ your housingorganisation.

There are five main ways in which sociallandlords can become more ‘green’:

• Buildings – can they be made more energyefficient?

• The ways buildings are used – can lessresources be consumed?

• Operations – can they be run moreefficiently, eg. by making staff travel moreefficient?

• Tenants and residents – how can theycontribute?

• Houses – can the stock be made ‘greener’to benefit tenants and benefit theenvironment?

This practice brief outlines what can be done,describes the policy and legal backgroundswhere appropriate and provides ideas andpractical examples. The practice brief deals

with the organisational challenge and doesnot deal with the housing stock – this will becovered in a CIH practice online chapter:www.cih.org/practice/online

But it does include working with residents asthey are potentially important partners inchanging your organisation.

The aim of the practice brief is to:• show what it means for an organisation to

go ‘green’• look at the reasons why it is important• emphasise the need to take people along

with you – staff, board members/councillors,tenants and residents

• set out the basic steps and give practicalexamples

• outline how organisational change can beresourced

• show how going green fits into yourbusiness plan and helps meet statutory andregulatory requirements.

The practice brief is principally aimed atsocial landlords across the UK, and will also be of interest to other office-based organisations.

Greening your organisation

‘Going green’ in a nutshell

First, what is a ‘green’ organisation? DrumHousing Association, who won a Gold Awardfor environmental sustainability in 2007,summarised it as:

‘...minimising the negative impact andmaximising the positive impact of theassociation’s activities on the environmentand biodiversity, and contributing positively tosustainable development.’

Whether, like Drum, you are motivated by yourimpact on the environment, or whether yousimply want to cut your costs by saving on theenergy and resources that your organisationuses, this practice brief will be relevant foryou. However, its starting point is that becominga green housing organisation is a seriouschallenge requiring hard work and devoted stafftime. The practice brief aims to show that theeffort will be worth it.

Your organisation’s environmental impact

How do we measure the impact on theenvironment? Just as in other aspects of anorganisation’s performance, it is important toknow where you are starting from in order to beable to measure your progress.

A good way of doing this is by measuring theorganisation’s environmental ‘footprint’. Yourfootprint is the impact that you have on theearth’s resources. A typical person now uses ina year an amount of resources that the Earthneeds one year and five months to replace. Or,put another way, if everyone lived like we do inBritain, we would need three planet Earths. Asthe graph below shows, humanity began tofully use the Earth’s capacity in about 1988.

Of course, the graph uses global figures. Lateron in the practice brief we will discuss indetail how to measure your organisation’sfootprint (see pages 52-54). But it is a goodidea to have the concept in mind now –because everything in the practice brief isabout making your footprint smaller.

Avoiding ‘greenwash’ and gaining agenuine green branding

No organisation wants to be branded asenvironmentally unfriendly. But there are plentyexamples of ‘greenwash’ – appearing greenwithout actually making any of the majorchanges required to make your footprintsmaller. ‘Greenwash’ is a claim more likely tobe made about an oil company or airline thana housing organisation, but it’s alreadycommon for housing providers to have one ortwo well-publicised ‘eco-projects’ while the restof their stock and businesses carry on much asbefore. This practice brief will help youensure that your organisation is really goinggreen, not just producing greenwash.

You also need to be wary of the claims madefor ‘offsetting’ – see the box on the next page.

4 What is a ‘green’ organisation?

Source: www.footprintnetwork.org

Humanity’s ecological footprint

1961 1985 2006

1.41.21.00.80.60.40.20.0

Num

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f Ear

ths Earth’s biological capacity

Total ecological footprint

Carbon footprint

Carbon offsetting – a brief guide

Can you carry on as you are but ‘buy’ your way to being a green organisation, byoffsetting your carbon emissions or purchasing carbon credits? Carbon offsets areemissions reductions that have been made elsewhere and are sold to the organisation thatseeks to reduce its impact. They are calculated by comparing the theoretical carbonemissions that would have resulted in the absence of the scheme, to the actual emissionsafterwards.

Carbon offsetting and carbon trading are controversial, because they can result in little orno change to how an organisation runs its business and the resources it consumes. Inaddition, the organisation gets no ‘bottom line’ savings by reduced use of resources – infact its costs could go up if it buys offsets and takes no other action.

The National Housing Federation’s report Carbon Offsetting for Social Housing concludedthat a national scheme wasn’t a good idea (but the report is an excellent guide tooffsetting from a housing perspective www.housing.org.uk/default.aspx?tabid=996&mid=1959&ctl=Details&ArticleID=2432).

For a more humorous take on offsetting, take a look at www.cheatneutral.com/(but make sure you read the page ‘small print’).

This practice brief does not recommend using carbon offsets as a main plank of a greenstrategy. Nevertheless, social landlords might want to consider investing some of theirfunds in schemes which reduce emissions elsewhere, as part of their green profile. Forexample, several housing associations have funded a CIH-supported scheme installing solarenergy kits in Nicaragua – see www.cih.org/nicaragua.

Another option is to invest in a scheme which uses supporters’ money to buy CO2 permits.Sandbag http://sandbag.org.uk/ intervenes in the EU’s emission trading system (whichallocates tradable CO2 permits to carbon-intensive industries) by buying permits thendestroying them, so reducing the amount of CO2 that companies are legally allowed toproduce.

According to the Rough Guide to Green Living, the perverse thing about the EU cap andtrade system is that it can effectively render individuals’ efforts to reduce carbonineffective. However, if more individuals (and housing organisations) make carbon savingchoices, the picture could change. First, because it wouldn’t be possible to sell all thesurplus permits on the market, and secondly there is a good chance that governmentmight lower the cap in the future due to the pressure of committed individuals andorganisations.

While we are against greenwash, we are verymuch in favour of organisations getting realcredit for going green. Not only is it a badgeof what you have achieved, but it helpsmotivate staff, board members and residents,and is a real boost to your organisation’simage. It might even bring resources thatotherwise wouldn’t have come your way.Different ways of getting recognition arediscussed on pages 56-57.

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It might seem obvious that going green is agood thing, but if so why are we so bad at it?Many organisations still don’t see the relevanceof tackling their impact on the environment, orthey may be confused by conflictinginformation or too busy trying to deliver coreservices to engage with the issues.

It is a good idea to set out a range of differentreasons for going green. Some might be moreimportant to you, your organisation and yourcustomers than others, and it will work best ifthe green agenda complements other‘agendas’ you may have.

What are the benefits of going green?

Going green can bring about a number ofpositive benefits, both to the environment andyour organisation:

Reduce your environmental impact

More than a quarter of the damage we do tothe environment comes from our homes – theirenergy use, the other resources they use andthe waste they produce. However, while thehomes you own are a key element (but beyondthe scope of this practice brief) every otheraspect of your business counts too, and it’sthese other aspects that are covered here.

So, you use resources, produce waste andcause environmental damage through youroffices and in your operations. Only if allbusinesses tackle these issues can thegovernment meet its ambitious target ofreducing carbon emissions by 80% by the year2050.

Save you money

Going green is not guaranteed to save moneybut it certainly helps. A small example is fromGentoo – which has 30,000 homes – wherestaff suggested cutting down substantially onthe numbers of keys that were being cut fornew lettings – saving money, materials andenergy with no disadvantage to the business.

Help you prepare for and/or minimise risks

Every organisation should be risk averse. Anyevaluation of risks over say the next ten years isbound to throw up several that relate to theenvironment or resources. For example,Peabody identified rising energy costs as amajor risk factor. Assessing risks and how torespond to them can produce many measuresthat fit in with a green agenda.

Remember too that responding to climatechange means two things. We know that theclimate is already changing, but what we canhope to do globally is slow down the changeand prevent it reaching dangerous tippingpoints. This is called mitigation. Butorganisations also need to plan for climatechange – more variable weather, hottersummers, increased risk of floods. This is calledadaptation. If you invest in mitigation, youhelp reduce the general risk; but you also needto review your business and stock to see whatparts might need adapting to face specificrisks.

Why go green?

Develop your reputation

Many organisations believe that going green isgood for their reputation and will help them todo better business. For instance many fundersand sponsoring agencies already enquire aboutthe green credentials of an organisation. Goinggreen might therefore just give you the edgeover your competitor! Also the current Tory/Lib Dem Coalition Government claims to be‘the greenest government ever’, which showsthe usefulness of being able to boast aboutgreen credentials. But of course, it’s importantto be able to show that they are real ones.

Meet the expectations of your customers

Even if many customers don’t specifically askabout green issues, some will be concernedabout the environment and many will beworried about issues like energy costs,recycling, trees, illegal dumping and manyother items on the green agenda.

Protect vulnerable groups

Who will suffer most as the climate changes?The Third Sector Declaration on ClimateChange argues that it will have a massivenegative impact on poor households:

‘...there is overwhelming evidence that theworst impacts of climate change constituteone of the greatest social, environmentaland economic threats to society. Issues suchas health, housing, transport, waste, foodproduction and equality are completelylinked with environmental conditions.’(see www.justact.org.uk/)

In the housing field, fuel poverty is a goodexample. Because vulnerable groups are likely tosuffer the most – especially if the global effectsare considered – it should be part of yourequality agenda to aim to protect them.

Be ahead of the game and open newmarkets

Becoming green involves building up yourexpertise on green issues, and this presentsopportunities. Many of the organisationsmentioned in this practice brief are well-equipped to take new business opportunitiessuch as the feed-in tariffs for producingrenewable energy. The Gentoo group, forexample, now has a division called GentooGreen, which by the end of 2010 aims to have15 staff.

Be a responsible employer

As a housing organisation, you aim to recruitstaff who are aware of and want to respond tothe issues which an organisation working in poorcommunities inevitably faces. People who aremotivated to do this are also likely to beinterested in – and expect you to respond to –the green agenda.

Become a sustainable organisation

Your organisation may already have asustainability strategy. This may cover social andeconomic as well as environmental issues. So itmay need more development in the areascovered by this practice brief. But bear in mindthat environmental, social and economic issuesare interlinked, as in the case of fuel poverty.

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Meeting legal, regulatory and otherrequirements

Not only is it good to go green but in manyrespects it is essential. Many aspects of thelegislation are relevant to housingorganisations (see practice online). Thegovernment itself has an obligation to reduceUK carbon emissions by 80% by 2050 as aresult of the 2008 Climate Change Act. Underthe act, many public bodies are registered inthe Carbon Reduction Commitment EnergyEfficiency Scheme, the government’smandatory energy savings programme.

There are several other ways in which goinggreen may be obligatory:

• Regulatory requirements – meanmeeting the Decent Homes Standard andresponding to tenant priorities such asmaintaining the environment of an estate.In developing local offers, some associationslike Hastoe have developed a localenvironmental standard, addressing thegreen agenda and saving tenants money.

• Charitable objects – if you are a charitythen you are likely to be in the business ofhelping vulnerable people, most likely to beaffected by environmental change.

• Local decisions – local authorities mayhave set carbon reduction and otherenvironmental targets as part of Local AreaAgreements; they may expect sociallandlords to help to achieve them.

• Contractual requirements –sustainability conditions are increasinglyappearing in any sort of contract that yourorganisation might enter. Funders too mayrequire evidence of sustainability in a widersense than just financial sustainability.

How going green relates to other goals

It is useful to take a look at your organisation’sbusiness plan or other strategic document andask how the green agenda relates to all thedifferent goals that you have. For example, ifyou are building new homes, you faceprogressively tougher requirements on energyefficiency. If you are working with low-incometenants, their fuel bills might be a key part oftheir outgoings – and you could keep thosecosts down. It is almost certain that most ofyour wider goals and programmes will behelped by pursuing a green agenda.

Becoming more environmentally responsibledepends first of all on people. This sectionlooks specifically at the people within theorganisation; on pages 41-49 we talk aboutworking with tenants and residents.

Who are the key people?

The answer to this question may seemobvious: everyone from the board or electedmembers down to frontline staff. This is true,but organisations which have gone green havelearnt some useful lessons.

First, the finance director is key. Whereorganisations have made a real change, it’soften because the finance director wasconvinced at an early stage or took a lead role.

Second, any member of staff can play a role.There are many examples of frontline staffsuch as caretakers or wardens who havewelcomed the opportunity to get involved,using their experience of things like cleaningmaterials being wasted or lights being left on.

Third, you need some people who will set anexample. If you are going to make changesthat mean people have to alter their habits,can some senior people do this first?

Finally, it is vital that the board or electedmembers are signed up to the green agenda,especially if your aim is to transform theorganisation.

What will motivate them?

Again, there are four potential factors:

• first, saving money motivates people,especially if they can see that money savedcould be better used elsewhere

• second, getting involved and havinginfluence – for example seeing ideas putinto operation. The green agenda providesmultiple opportunities for this to happen

• third, making a difference both inside and –even better – outside the organisation isalways an excellent motivator. It can showthat not only are you going green, but youare also influencing your customers,suppliers and other organisations in theneighbourhoods where you work

• and finally – make it fun! Several of theorganisations we talked to found that thegreen agenda provided plenty ofopportunities for staff and residents to havefun... which in itself can be a greatmotivator!

The role of environmental ‘champions’or green teams

Opinion is divided as to whether it is best togive specific responsibilities to individuals or tospread them out across a broad range of staff.Different approaches follow.

10 Getting started – convincing people in your organisation

Accord Housing Association started with adedicated sustainability officer for a period of18 months to do some of the ‘legwork’. Whilethis certainly helped to get started, greenissues were also rather marginalised – therewas less ownership throughout theorganisation.

Accord now has an EnvironmentalImprovement Team – consisting of 35 peoplefrom across the group. The team hasownership of the agenda, is popular and itsmeetings are well-attended, and it includesstaff from all levels in the business.

Every department has an individual action planwhich is managed by the department itself.Departments feed into the overall plan.

Accord trained an internal group of auditors toaudit departmental action plans. There are alsochampions on particular issues.

Contact: carltaylor@bchs.coop

The Trans-Pennine green championsdeveloped a green charter which outlines theircommitment to tackling the challenges. Theirinitial aims were to:

• challenge environmental laziness

• use sustainable materials whereverpracticable

• maximise recycling opportunities

• eliminate unnecessary waste

• encourage customers to be environmentallyresponsible and energy efficient

• make recycling simple for staff andcustomers

• challenge negativity and encourage positivebehaviour

• work with partners to influence theirbehaviour.

Contact: val.morris@ph2k.org.uk

Practiceexample

Practiceexample

Getting commitment from all staff

Going green has some similarities to theequalities agenda as it also involves a culturalchange across the organisation. Ideally, beinggreen becomes a personal motivating factorand staff behave differently in the workplace,in dealing with customers and – perhaps –more generally in their lives. How can thisculture change be achieved?

Start by making an impact. If you really aregoing to change the culture, do somethingdifferent, memorable and perhaps a bitdramatic. For example, Accord held a staffawayday in 2007 at which their chief executiveannounced the goal of becoming the‘greenest’ housing association in the country.The film An Inconvenient Truth was shown toget people motivated. Gentoo decided tofocus initially on waste. They demonstratedthe amount of waste within the organisationby collecting six months worth (31 tonnes) and putting it in two large lorries which theyparked outside their offices so staff could seethem.

Have a small budget to start to do thingsstraight away and get some quick wins. It alsohelps to demonstrate that the organisation isserious.

Get the message across at staff meetings.It helps if senior management back up themessages you want to convey.

Training might be included in inductioncourses or more general programmes. Todevelop courses, there is plenty of materialonline – for example The Shared Energy Toolkit (see example). CIH offers training andthere are specific housing-related coursesoffered by Sustainable Homes.www.sustainablehomes.co.uk/

The Shared Energy Toolkit illustrates thedamage climate change has already causedand shows how different climate changescenarios could affect your organisation. Itgives ideas about how to improve yourorganisation’s sustainability, and how to raiseawareness in local communities.

It contains a quiz, instructions for a climatechange ‘walk’ and practical topics fordiscussion. It’s intended to be used with FutureNews, a series of four newspapers from 2027.

www.neweconomics.org/publications/shared-energy-toolkit

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Practiceexample

Recruitment can be a tool in implementingyour green agenda. Can you require basicunderstanding of the issues as a jobrequirement? Can appropriate knowledge/understanding be a criterion in selecting staff?Can appropriate duties be included in jobdescriptions?

It is worth giving thought to how toinfluence people’s attitudes andbehaviour. There may be some resistance tochange. Commitment from the top will help asyou can make clear that some of the changesare now required across the organisation. It isbest to respond to objections in a positive way.For example, if there are known sceptics, canyou hold an event with experts who will(sympathetically) listen to and deal with theirarguments? For the majority of people whoare simply reluctant to change old habits, theteam approaches already mentioned,incentives to change and ‘quick wins’ can becombined to persuade everyone to take part.

To encourage new ideas and keeppeople motivated, you also need toconsider whether to have formal incentives.For example, Places for People have a ‘GreenStar Award’ to encourage good ideas orperformance among staff. Gentoo has anannual award called ‘The Grafters’ – one ofthese is for green achievement. One winnerdeveloped a successful schools programme onenvironmental issues.

Of course, staff need to know that their ideaswill be listened to. Empowering people sothat they are able to make a difference(regardless of position or role) is crucial if thegreen message is to be embedded in theorganisational culture.

Remember to tell people how they aredoing. You could have real-time displaysgiving information on energy use throughoutthe building. You could also have a target forreducing it, and show progress against it. Ifyou assess your footprint (see pages 52-54)this will provide you with baseline informationand you can choose some key targets and tellpeople how well they have done.

The TUC have produced a guide Go Green atWork aimed specifically at union members butwhich provides some useful general ideasabout how to inspire staff and organisations toget involved: www.tuc.org.uk/extras/gogreenatwork.pdf

Where do we start?

Every organisation will have to think about thebest way of getting started that suits theirparticular culture. There are ideas in thissection which will help you to brainstorm howyou could best get started.

As well as using this practice brief andfollowing up the practical examples, it isalways useful to exchange experience withothers. Sharing knowledge within the sectorcan give you ideas on what (and what not) todo and motivate those involved.

Chevin Housing Association held a half-day workshop to consider how to get startedon becoming a green organisation, facilitatedby consultants Chris Barnett Associates. Fromthis emerged a 14-page action plan Where DoWe Start.

Download the action plan at www.ecoreports.co.uk/stdreports/default.aspx?id=46

In setting out to convince people about yourgreen agenda, have you:

got commitment from senior management?

given staff specific responsibilities?

worked out how to have an immediateimpact?

set a small budget to help you get started?

thought about a variety of ways to get yourmessage across?

worked out what to do if people arereluctant to change?

built some incentives into the system toencourage action and new ideas?

devised a plan for the initial steps you planto take?

collected the information from the startthat will enable you to tell people whatthey have achieved?

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Practiceexample

Practice checklist:Getting started

Knowing your energy consumption

A good place to start is getting to know theenergy consumption patterns of your office(s).Take a look at your energy bills over the past12-18 months. If you have difficultiesunderstanding them you are not alone – theCarbon Trust’s Metering technology overviewwill help – it covers electricity, gas and water(for this and other resources mentioned in thischapter go to www.carbontrust.co.uk). Do

consumption levels vary widely throughout theyear or are they fairly steady? Are your billsbased on actual readings or estimates? Whattariff are you on? You might already be on asmart meter, in which case you will haveaccess to accurate energy consumption data.

Checking your bills might also spur you toshop around for a better deal, saving hardcash. You could also consider switching to agreen energy tariff (see box on the next page).

Buildings and building services

Many housing organisations operate out of more than one building. You might occupy the spaceon your own or share with other organisations. Building type and fabric, age and whether youown or lease the premises will affect the extent of any potential energy efficiency measures. Ifyou happen to be in a conservation area this will limit work to the external fabric, including theinstallation of low carbon technologies. But despite these potential challenges, there is plenty ofscope to act.

Resource use and wastage in the office – what’s the issue?

• office-based companies typically produce over two tonnes of CO2 per year – more thanthe carbon output per person of the typical UK home

• lighting can be up to 40% of a company’s electricity bill – lights left on overnight useenough energy in a year to heat a home for almost five months

• heating typically accounts for about half of the energy used in offices

• heating costs rise by about eight per cent for each 1ºC of overheating

• a 2°C increase in office temperature creates enough CO2 in a year to fill a hot airballoon

• a photocopier left on standby overnight wastes enough energy to make 30 cups of tea

• the average person in the UK uses 150 litres of water per day: flushing toilets accountsfor a third of this – old toilets use up to 14 litres per flush

• a 5mm drip from a single tap can cost more than £900 p.a. in water and wastewatertreatment costs.

Source: Carbon Trust: www.lowcarbonlife.net; http://envirowise.wrap.org.uk/

Specialist monitoring equipment can makeenergy data collection and analysis moreefficient, and help you properly manage yourcarbon footprint, energy use and/or go downthe accreditation route. Devices such as theWorkplace Footprint Tracker enable datacollection for electricity, gas, heating/coolingand water www.buildingsustainability.net.

Installing energy displays in the office is agood way of bringing the issue alive. As wellas displaying actual consumption (on its ownrather meaningless), it will show the CO2

emissions. Some devices change colour asenergy demand changes.

Do an (initial) office energy walk-about toget a feel for energy consumption issues anddo a spot-check for opportunities to carry outquick fixes (the Carbon Trust’s Assessing theenergy use in your building tells you what tolook out for).

The remainder of this section will providepointers on how you can improve the energyefficiency of your offices and makeconsiderable cost savings.

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Green energy tariffs

Is the environmental impact of electricity on a green tariff less than that of a conventionaltariff? Things are not as simple as they seem! With a few exceptions, green tariff electricityis generated from various sources, including non-renewables. Where suppliers claimed thatelectricity supplied is from renewables only, Ofgem, the energy watchdog, found thatsome were only complying with legal requirements under the Renewable Obligation (RO).The RO requires all suppliers to source from renewable sources (for 2009-2010, theobligation is 9.7%).

Ofgem has now launched the Green Energy Supply Certification Scheme. Approved tariffsunder the scheme must ensure that:

• all electricity used by the consumer is matched by renewable energy bought orgenerated by the tariff’s supplier

• the supplier contributes a minimum level of additional environmental benefits for eachcustomer

• the supplier signs up to the certification scheme, reports all its sources of electricity bytype and submits its green tariffs to an annual independent audit.

At the time of writing, only two tariffs for small businesses (non-domestic customers usingless than 55,000kWh a year) are approved by the scheme.

www.greenenergyscheme.org

Building fabric

Addressing the building fabric (or building‘envelope’) is a good way to reduce energydemand and hence to cut carbon. A poorlytreated or uninsulated building envelope meansthat valuable heat is simply going straightthrough it. The table (right) shows the typicalheat loss of various building components.

Component Proportion of(commercial buildings) heat loss

Ventilation and draughts 35%Windows 26%Roof 22%Walls 9%Floor 8%

Source: Carbon Trust

This Carbon Trust checklist can help identify ways to reduce these losses

Action

Minimal or no-cost good housekeeping measures• provide instructions for door operations and signage to remind occupants to keep doors closed• keep windows and skylights clean to maximise daylight in the space• use blinds and curtains to control light and heat penetration in the space

Priority low-cost measures (excellent short-term payback)• check levels of loft insulation. Add insulation to uninsulated roof space or top up to 200mm• check uninsulated wall cavities and insulate cavity walls where suitable• check draught proofing and add draught strips and seals to leaky windows and doors• check insulation in suspended timber ground floors from below and add insulation where

access is easy• install door closers to external doors and to internal spaces with differing temperature

requirements

Priority investment measures (worthwhile as part of refurbishment)• check internal wall insulation and consider upgrading • check flat roof insulation and incorporate new insulation as part of any re-roofing work• fix solar shading devices to air-conditioned areas or consider planting deciduous trees

Long-term investment measures (when major work is planned)• insulate suspended timber ground floors from above where access is not possible from below• check quality of windows and replace with draught-proofed double or better triple glazing• check internal wall insulation and apply to existing walls in good condition where relevant • add a draught lobby where draughts cause discomfort • take advantage of any refurbishment work by ensuring fabric is improved at the same time

Source: Carbon Trust, 2007, Building fabric – Energy saving techniques to improve the efficiency of building structures.www.carbontrust.co.uk/publications/pages/publicationdetail.aspx?id=CTV014

To go further you could commission an EnergyPerformance Certificate (EPC) for eachbuilding. This helps to focus minds andprovides accountability. Having obtained anEPC, South Tyneside Housing set a target toimprove the rating of its main office by one‘band’ during 2010/11. A carbon auditresulted in a target to reduce the building’sfootprint by 10% over the same period.

Electricity

Operating office equipment and lighting willaccount for most electricity use (consumptionfrom ICT equipment is dealt with on pages 23-25). Relatively simple measures can reducelighting costs, for instance, by up to 30%.Measures suggested by the Carbon Trustinclude:

• Don’t leave lights on when nobody isin the room – this could cut lighting costsby as much as 15%. Put up signs to remindstaff.

• Let the sunshine in – maximise the useof natural daylight by leaving blinds open.You could even install sensors whichautomatically adjust to the amount ofdaylight flooding in. Think also aboutinstalling skylights as part of anyrefurbishment.

• Make sure you don’t use more lightsthan you need – is it possible to switchoff lights in parts of the room not in use? Ifnot then you will have to think about‘zoning’, ie. installing controls which enablethe most effective use of lighting in a room.Install light sensors in rooms that aren’t inconstant use, such as toilets and corridors.

Remove superfluous light bulbs (particularlyif you have reflector fittings – those silvergrid-like contraptions). Ditch some of thosehalogen lamps.

• Use energy efficient lighting – replacestandard tungsten bulbs with compactfluorescent ones, ie. energy efficient lightbulbs. You’ll be able to get them now foralmost all fittings (even halogen tubes).

• Ensure that your system is properlymaintained – a regular maintenanceschedule can reduce costs by up to 15%and of course increases efficiency.Remember to remove bulbs that don’twork, as they still consume a certainamount.

For more information see the Carbon Trustguide Lighting – Bright ideas for more efficientillumination.

There are more ‘technical’ ways of reducingdemand such as ‘voltage optimisation’.Sentinel Housing Association for instanceestimated that, using this, £3,200 of energysavings could be made each year. However,this measure is not suitable in allcircumstances (see information box).

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Cross Keys Homes has considerably reducedtheir office energy consumption.

They managed to:

• achieve a 41% reduction in gasconsumption through replacing the headoffice roof, cavity wall insulation andinstalling a more efficient boiler

• achieve a 31% reduction in electricityconsumption through introducing sensorylighting, replacing T5 fluorescent tubes withmore efficient lighting and replacinginefficient air conditioning units

• bring in a good housekeeping scheme whichlists recommended tips for helping to cutthe carbon footprint, eg. turning lights off

• replace desktop printers with multi-functional devices, saving 49% on papercosts as well as on energy.

Contact: Kelly.Field@crosskeyshomes.co.uk

Voltage optimisation

This is a way of reducing energydemand. In the UK, electricity issupplied at a higher voltage than isactually required by electronicequipment. The average voltage in theUK grid is 242 volts. However,equipment is generally designed to runmost efficiently at 220 volts. The excessenergy is wasted in the form of heat,which you are paying for. By installingspecialist equipment, the voltage isreduced to the optimum level requiredby the equipment on site and savings of 15-20% can be achieved. Beware! If you have a device that requires 230volts to operate efficiently and you capyour supply at 220 volts you could losemore than you save through thatdevices inefficiency and potentiallydamage to the device. However, thereare technical issues, so you should takeadvice from an impartial electricalengineer before going down this route.

Practiceexample

Heating and cooling

The Carbon Trust suggests these ways to cutcosts and save carbon:

• Get a basic understanding of yourheating and cooling system – so youcan talk to your maintenance person abouthow to run it more efficiently and ask the‘right’ questions

• Don’t turn up the heating unless youneed to – try to keep your thermostat at19°C and encourage staff to wear extralayers in colder weather. Remember, yourheating costs will go up by 8% each timeyou increase the temperature by just onedegree

• Leave plenty of space aroundradiators – blocking radiators withfurniture means that your system will haveto work harder to heat the room. Increaseefficiency by sticking reflective foil behindradiators on outside walls

• Don’t heat unused space – do yourstorerooms or corridors really have to be aswarm as the main office? Fit thermostaticvalves to control individual radiators. Aswith lighting, you can apply the principlesof ‘zoning’. Make sure that the heating ison a minimum setting over the weekend

• Keep doors and windows closed anddraught-proof – in cold weather, turndown the heat first if the room temperatureis too high

• Keep the thermostat away fromdraughts or hot or cold spots – thesewill increase your heating costs

• Don’t let heating and cooling operateat the same time – set a higher switch-on temperature for cooling and lowertemperatures for heating. The gap betweenthese two (also referred to as the ‘deadband’) is recommended to be 5ºC

• Reduce demand for air conditioning –switch off unnecessary equipment –especially out of hours – to reduce heatbuild-up. If possible open windows insteadof using the air con

• Don’t put ‘hot’ equipment, likephotocopiers, near cooling vents – thecooling system will need to work harder

• Maintain equipment properly – youcould add as much as 10% to heating billsby not carrying out regular checks onequipment. When it comes to replacing thesystem (or parts), ensure it is tailored toyour needs. Energy efficiency should be topof the agenda.

For more information see the Carbon Trustguide Heating, ventilation and airconditioning.

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Water

Treating and delivering water consumes energyand emits CO2 – and heating water consumesmore. Recent years have seen water shortagesand, in future, drier and hotter summers areexpected. So it is vital to reduce waterconsumption.

Here are some ideas: • monitor your water consumption to identify

any unusual patterns (monitoring equipmentdescribed above can help you with that; orhave a look at past water bills). Make sureyou are billed only for what you use.

• ensure that staff are aware of theimportance of reducing consumption. Putsigns up in washrooms and kitchens with aphone number to report drips and leaks.

• have a regular walk-about to identifyopportunities to save water

• fitting passive sensors to control flush urinalscan save up to £4,000 per year in water andsewerage costs. Make sure that timers areswitched off outside business hours

• install cistern displacement devices tominimise wastage. Alternatively, install dual-flush systems which use far less water

• fit spray taps and reduce water use by 60-70%

• consider alternative water sources, such asrainwater and greywater

• only purchase water-efficient appliances• contact your water supplier for advice to

reduce consumption. Source: http://envirowise.wrap.org.uk/ ;www.waterwise.sebenza-hosting.com

Financial incentives

Enhanced Capital Allowances (ECAs)provide a tax incentive to businesses thatinvest in equipment that meetspublished energy-saving criteria. TheEnergy Technology List (ETL) details thecriteria for each type of technology, andlists products that meet them. Businessescan claim 100% first-year capitalallowances on qualifying equipment.

Source: www.eca.gov.uk

You may be eligible for an interest-freeCarbon Trust business loan to pay forenergy efficiency measures. Loans of upto £100,000 are available to qualifyingorganisations, over periods up to fouryears.

For more information seewww.carbontrust.co.uk

Sanctuary’s office in Kingsmead, London,incorporates:

• automatic lighting controls to turn off lightsin areas not occupied

• sun tubes to illuminate internal areas withnatural daylight

• a building management system to controlheating and cooling

• a heat recovery system

• high-efficiency condensing boilers

• low-consumption sanitary fittings

• electric water heaters which only operatewhen the building is occupied

• solar reflective film on south-facingwindows.

The office has secured an Energy PerformanceAsset Rating of 29 (Category B).

Contact: Sophie.Atkinson@sanctuary-housing.co.uk

In the short term

do an office energy walk-about to spotopportunities for quick wins

calculate your historic/current carbonfootprint

ensure your heating and cooling systemsare properly maintained

ensure that staff are on message, such asturning off lights and equipment

make this fun, for example by introducingdepartmental energy usage tables.

In the medium term

install monitoring equipment to understandyour energy consumption

upgrade the lighting system as outlined inthis practice brief

consider upgrades to wall and roofinsulation.

In the long term

upgrade the boiler system

consider voltage optimisation

install renewables and make use of thefeed-in tariff (FiT) and renewable heatincentive (RHI) payments.

But remember the order of priorities: reduceenergy demand – use energy efficiencymeasures – adopt low carbontechnologies.

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Practiceexample

Practice checklist:Saving energy in buildings

Most of the things you can do arestraightforward and don’t involve majorchanges. In fact some ‘simply’ rely on staffgoodwill, such as switching off equipmentwhen not in use. In any case, talk to colleaguesin the IT department to see what is feasible aswell as cost-effective within your set-up.

Here are some ideas for what you can dowithout spending anything:

• get staff to turn off equipment (includingstandby) when away from their desk forsome time

• ensure that computers and printers are setto enter sleep mode when inactive, ratherthan using an energy-wasting screensaver

• ensure all IT equipment is completely turnedoff overnight

• fit timers or utilise technology such as Bye bye standby, which allows you to cut power to devices in standby modewww.byebyestandby.co.uk

• unplug any chargers when not in use, asthey still use power when plugged in, eventhough not connected

• recondition and upgrade – rather thanreplace – slightly outdated IT equipment

• cut down on business travel by utilisingsoftware to hold ‘webinars’, create onlinecommunities of practice and aidteleconferencing

• allow staff to access work files remotely,making home working easier.

Information and communication technology (ICT)

This section looks at the environmental impact of ICT and how you can reduce it.

ICT – what’s the issue?

• office equipment accounts for 15% of total office energy consumption – across the UKthis amounts to a staggering £300m per year

• 2% of global carbon emissions come from the manufacture and use of ICT

• non-domestic energy consumption from ICT rose by 70% from 2000 – 2006 and on a‘business as usual’ basis is forecast to grow a further 40% by 2020

• 1.7 tonnes of raw materials and water go into the manufacturing of one PC – theprocess consumes over ten times its own weight in fossil fuels

• in 2007, there were an estimated 10m office PCs in the UK

• office equipment is the fastest growing energy user in the business world, yet costsavings of 70% are easily achievable.

Source: Energy Saving Trust; www.globalactionplan.org.uk; Carbon Trust

Additional measures that may have a financialimplication are:

• buy energy-efficient equipment (seeinformation box)

• where feasible, replace PCs with laptops,which use around 80% less energy

• invest in thin client technology. Think of athin client as a stripped-down computerwhich runs programs remotely on a server.They use much less energy and are cheaperand more environmentally friendly toproduce. They require less administration socan save staff time too (see practiceexample)

• run multiple virtual servers on a singlehost machine. Most servers do not run atfull capacity yet energy is wasted in runningand cooling them. Hosting multiple virtualservers in one place allows you to poolresources and use less capacity. The result isless equipment, reduced production, andreduced power use.

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Energy efficiency labelling

There is no mandatory labelling system,such as those for white goods. There area number of voluntary schemes:

Energy Star – international standardfocusing on energy efficiency ‘in use’www.energystar.gov

TCO certified – international labellingsystem which considers bothenvironmental performance and usabilitywww.tcodevelopment.com

Energy Saving Trust (EST)recommended – products with lowenergy consumptionwww.energysavingtrust.org.uk

Electronic Product EnvironmentalAssessment Tool (EPEAT) – evaluatescomputers, thin clients, workstationsand monitors against environmentalcriteriawww.epeat.net

An innovative datacentre has been developedat Sanctuary Group’s Worcester office whichrecycles waste energy generated by thecomputer servers. Using specialist technology,IT equipment located in the datacentre iscooled and the heat reclaimed via a heatexchange unit. This is then recycled to heatother buildings in the complex.

The system provides a sustainable source ofheating, without the production of CO2. It hasproved so successful that it is due to beextended to two new buildings on the site. Thescheme was awarded the Leadership in thePublic Sector Award in the 2009 DatacentreLeader Awards.

Contact: Sophie.Atkinson@sanctuary-housing.co.uk

In its drive to green its ICT infrastructure, theChartered Institute of Housing (CIH) hasput in place a number of measures:

• actively adopted the ten quick winsrecommended by the Cabinet Officewww.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/media/141533/greening_gov_ict080724.pdf

• reduced the numbers of servers by creatingvirtual servers. This has cut the amount ofpower needed to run and cool the serverroom, and has reduced the environmentalimpact of producing servers

Practiceexample

• cut the number of printers by usingmultifunctional devices that can print, copyand scan, and encourages users to printduplex where possible

• insists that all newly procured equipmentother than servers is energy star compliant.Use of thin clients means that power usageis reduced on PCs

• sets desktop power settings where availableto go into hibernation after a short periodof inactivity. Monitors are set to usepowersave mode rather than screensavers

• recycles used toner cartridges

• refreshes used equipment with hardwareupgrades, rebuilt for smooth running. CIH‘sweats the assets’ by extending thereplacement cycle for as long aseconomically possible. Used equipment isoffered to charities or recycled by anapproved IT waste contractor

• aims to reduce the number of pieces of kitper person – so some users have laptopsinstead of a PC, but not both.

Practiceexample

Paper and printing

Cutting down on paper usage saves money.But does it save the environment? The forestryindustry argues that paper productionpreserves forests, because it provides thecommercial incentive to plant trees. But a lotof paper doesn't come from sustainableforests, and all paper uses fuel and chemicalsto make the paper and transport it. Typically,paper accounts for 70% of waste produced in offices. Here are some ways to cut paperuse.

Reduce

• reduce or stop using printed forms – stocksoften get thrown away when forms change

• print letterheads from the computer – don’tkeep printed supplies

• use default settings for computers thatproduce narrow margins; review the text totake out waste space and cut the numberof pages

• print two-sided; use ‘grey scale’ or ‘draft’and ‘duplex’ modes – set these as defaultson printers

• educate staff to use the least wastefulprinter settings

• send faxes via computers to avoid printing

• create electronic publications wherepracticable

• if you do print, work with your designer/printer to minimise paper consumption,using certified paper that is as light inweight as possible

• ensure your office doesn’t get junk mail,including free magazines.

26 Office supplies

This section suggests ways that you can reduce your consumption of office materials or make aslittle environmental impact as possible.

Office supplies – what’s the issue?

• over 45m printer cartridges go into UK landfill sites each year. Each one takes up to1,000 years to decompose.

• every tonne of non-recycled paper used means chopping down as many as 17 trees,using 2.5 barrels of oil, 31,780 litres of water – producing four tonnes of CO2

• a refrigerated drink machine generates around three tonnes of greenhouse gas every year

• a large tea urn generates more greenhouse gas than 20 fluorescent lights

• data projectors and plasma TVs use up to 300 watts of power, producing about one kiloof CO2 every three hours.

Reuse

• reuse paper for printing drafts, if it’s onlyprinted on one side

• reuse printer cartridges – get a refillcompany to collect them or buy a refill kit.

Recycle

• have easily-accessible recycling points withclear instructions

• send used paper for recycling (make surethe service is a reliable one that is notdumping the paper)

• buy recycled or partially recycled paperwhere you can – try to use the highest

proportion of ‘post-consumer content’ thatyou can

• recycle printing cartridges and othermaterials

• carefully specify paper for printedpublications (see box).

When the time comes to replace printers,invest in multi-function devices (ie. thosewhich enable you to print, copy and scan).Only purchase duplex printers that allow youto automatically print on both sides. Evenmore can be achieved by investing in ITsystems designed to replace paper files,reducing paper use and storage.

Specifying paper supplies

Aim to minimise environmental impact by specifying paper that has a ‘post-consumerwaste’ content of at least 70%. Make sure that it is chlorine-free during production. Itshould be sold with an accredited environmental or green label that details emissionstandards and post consumer waste content. For paper supplies, the main label is that ofthe Forestry Stewardship Council. FSC material can be:

• recycled (all the fibre is post-consumer reclaimed material)

• mixed sources (a mixture of timber from an FSC-certified forest, post-consumer waste,or ‘controlled sources’ which exclude unacceptable forestry practices)

• pure (all the fibre comes from an FSC-certified forest) – at the moment there is verylittle availability of this type of paper.

More information is available at www.fsc-uk.org/

Clyde Valley Housing Association movedinto new offices in 2009 and made a wholecultural change to reduce the amount of paperbeing used and its carbon footprint. Part ofthis was thin client IT. Over a six-month period:

• managers were given presentations on theadvantages of electronic documentmanagement

• a project plan was developed

• each area of the business designed adatabase structure

• agreement was reached on indexingcriteria, system functionality andresponsibilities

• replacement PC systems were researched,chosen and installed

• project progress was constantly reviewed.

The system was phased in over a period offour months:

• electronic document management wasinstalled

• links were created into existing systems

• training provided staff with necessary skills

• scanning was completed to deadline anddocumentation uploaded

• staff accessed the system, with ongoingtesting to identify problems.

Results achieved were:

• culture change and a reduced carbonfootprint

• quick access to documents

• documents can be found easily

• reduced storage

• paper-based incoming documents arescanned to be available to multiple users

• outbound documents can be emailed andtransferred, further reducing printing

• departmental printers have been replacedwith fewer multi-functional devices

• improved customer service.

Contact: Andy.McVey@cvha.org.uk

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Practiceexample

Purchasing strategies – greenerprocurement

As a minimum, think about how to reduce,reuse and recycle the items used regularly inyour offices – apply these principles whenordering new supplies or making decisions likewhether to replacing desks. Before orderingsomething, check its environmental standingat www.gooshing.co.uk

Ideally, though, you will take a morecomprehensive approach by adopting a greenprocurement strategy. There is alreadyplenty of help available (see box) but you haveto be aware of possible greenwash. The clearer

it is how the supply chain works, the morelikely that you will be able to identifygenuinely green products. You might alsowant to avoid products that cause otherenvironmental damage like chemicalpollution. You might want to go further stilland buy certified Fairtrade products whereavailable. Ideally, as with paper, you shouldpurchase supplies made from recycledmaterial. You might want to work with yoursuppliers to ‘green’ the supply chain or investin training for them. And the more local yoursupplier, the less the transport costs(providing of course that the supplier sourceslocally, too).

Green procurement

Procurement for Housing (PfH) is the procurement arm of HouseMark, jointly owned byCIH and the NHF:www.procurementforhousing.co.uk/about_us/sustainable_procurement

You can read the government’s sustainable procurement plan at:www.defra.gov.uk/sustainable/government/documents/SustainableProcurementActionPlan.pdf

The Mayor of London has a green procurement code and other advice at:www.greenprocurementcode.co.uk/

The local government procurement strategy is at: www.idea.gov.uk/idk/aio/7643299

Reducing waste

Finally, even if you reduce consumption, somethings will end up as waste. Workplacesgenerate 250m tonnes of waste a year – tentimes more than households. So whatever youdo to reduce waste at home, you can achieveeven more at work. It makes business sensetoo: waste costs UK industry at least £15bn peryear.

To begin to get to grips with waste, you needto measure how much you produce. Classifythe waste so you can set targets for reducing itby category. At this point, you need to raisestaff awareness. The example cited earlier wasof Gentoo’s two lorry loads of waste, parkedoutside the main office to show people whatthey had thrown away over a six month period.

Once you have reduced waste to the minimum,you need to ensure as much as possible isrecycled and also that you minimise thedistance it travels (whether to be dumped orrecycled). To do this you need to separate thewaste at the time when it is thrown away (themost efficient time to do it),having clearly labelledreceptacles withinstructions on whatgoes where. Try to

make these as simple as possible and havesome system of checking or (even better)rewarding people for meeting the rules.

Ideally, you should have a waste disposalcontract in which the final points of recycling or disposal are specified. Here is a briefchecklist to make sure your waste contractor is operating correctly:

• are they registered with the EnvironmentAgency?

• do they have appropriate insurance policies?

• do they provide ‘waste transfer’ or ‘duty ofcare’ notes for each consignment?

• do they give you evidence of final disposal?

• do they have proper arrangements forseparating hazardous waste?

More information on what to ask about wasteis at: www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/

You should also consider recycling locally. Canyou give old but serviceable computers away to staff? Will a charity (eg. Oxfam) take yourused mobile phones? Housing organisations

should try to recycle furniture thatis suitable for domestic

reuse to people whoneed it – maybe

their own tenants.

30

In looking at office supplies, have you:

encouraged staff to make suggestions?

looked seriously at reducing paper and printing?

decided if you can change your IT system to cut paper use?

implemented the principles of reduce-reuse-recycle for all office supplies?

examined procurement systems?

made the value-for-money case for any changes?

Reducing and recycling waste

Here are some websites that offer advice (but remember also to check local sources – such as your council):

• general guidance – www.wasteonline.org.uk and www.envirowise.gov.uk

• reusing old furniture – www.frn.org.uk/

• Impact Furniture Services www.impacthousing.org.uk/CFS.html

• mobile phones – www.oxfam.org.uk/get_involved/recycle/

• unwanted but working computers – www.oxfam.org.uk/get_involved/recycle/computers.html

Practice checklist:Greening your office supplies

32

Developing a travel plan

A good way of addressing this issue is bydeveloping a travel plan. This aims to reducecar use (for commuting or business) bypromoting alternatives. Evidence shows thattravel plans can reduce car use, typically by15%.

Having a travel plan has many benefits – forthe organisation and staff and for the localcommunity where your premises are situated.DfT’s Essential Guide to Travel Planning saysthey include:

• less demand for parking spaces andassociated maintenance costs

• reduction in business travel costs

• improved image with customers and others

• contribution to achieving accreditationschemes such as ISO14001

• improved staff health through exercise

• reduction in traffic and congestion, and lessdangerous streets

• enhanced staff punctuality due to fewertraffic-related delays

• savings on commuting costs

• reduction of travel-related stress

• moving away from traditional travel benefitslinked to position and seniority

• improved public transport, cycling andpedestrian infrastructure

• enhanced local environment.

Download the guide at: www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/sustainable/travelplans/work/

Getting started

A good way to start is by giving someoneoverall responsibility for a travel plan. In mostcases this will be a committed individual with

Staff travel

This section looks at the environmental impact of business travel and commuting and how it canbe minimised.

Staff travel – what’s the issue? • commuting accounts for 15% of all trips, with business trips a further 3%• nearly 70% of these trips are made by car• in 85% of commuter/business trips, the car has only one occupant • only 3% cycle to work • the averagecommuter travels 1,340 miles per year, producing almost one tonne of CO2

annually• replacing the car for commuting only one day would cut the UK’s CO2 emissions by

almost 1%.

Source: National Travel Survey 2008; 2009 www.workwiseuk.org

an interest in this topic, unless you have adedicated post such as a sustainabilitymanager.

There are plenty of free sources available tohelp, such as the DfT guide (see previouspage). Local authorities may offer advice ontravel planning. The Energy Saving Trust inScotland offers free travel plans to Scottishorganisations with more than 50 employeesand/or 10,000 visitors per year (www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/scotland).

Before embarking on a travel plan, you needto decide on its coverage. Sanctuary Groupprioritised large sites and those which wouldhave the most environmental impact, beforeextending their plan to other locations.

Establishing a baseline

A quick way of assessing current travelpatterns is to conduct a staff travel survey(see the Essential Guide to Travel Planning fora sample questionnaire www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/sustainable/travelplans/work/essentialguide.pdf). This needs to be accompanied byadditional information such as availablebus services and cycling infrastructure.Convening a small group at this point is usefulfor getting the survey questions right and alsoto get a feel for the kinds of initiatives whichmight work.

This information will enable you to promotepractical alternatives. For example, do notpromote car-sharing if staff live in verydispersed places or start work at quitedifferent times. In organisations where a highproportion of staff commute ten miles or

more, incentivising cycling will have verylimited success. Check your current travelpolicies. Do they (inadvertently) encourage caruse through high mileage payments?

Set some targets

It is important to be realistic about what isachievable. A car dependency culture won’tchange overnight. The DfT guide suggestsexpressing the target as the number ofcommuter cars per 100 employees (for smallerorganisations adjust this figure accordingly).This way it is possible to track changes overtime, even if staff numbers change, andcompare performance with other organisations.You might want to set additional targets, suchas reduction of car use for business travel andincreased cycling to work.

Making the travel plan work

The plan will only work if staff buy into thepolicies. Remember that culture change takestime and ‘incremental’ is the watchword.

Communicating the motivation behind theplan is key to buy-in (get your marketingdepartment involved). Make it part of anoverall carbon reduction strategy or of meetingaccreditation requirements. Use staff whoalready travel sustainably as champions of thetravel plan.

Keep staff informed through regular updates.Publicise success stories to keep up morale.Involve staff in deciding how some of themoney saved as a direct result of the planshould be spent.

Cross Keys Homes’ travel plan endeavors toreduce the carbon footprint of staff andbusiness activities and support Peterborough’squest to become the UK environmental capital.

Five pool bikes and cars are available for usefor travelling to meetings. The HA committed

to replace its 13 fleet vehicles on a rollingprogramme with more environmentally-friendlyones, in accordance with business needs. Theorganisation received recognition for its travelplan at the regional Workplace Travel PlanAwards.

34

Practiceexample

Initiatives and incentives

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• get senior management to lead by example– could company cars be replaced withsmaller or ‘greener’ models when the timecomes?

• cut down on business travel by askingwhether a journey is really necessary –would an email exchange, telephoneconversation or video conference be aviable alternative?

• think about reducing the personal car userallowance or even withdraw it altogether,where alternative modes of travel can bearranged – Peabody Trust has gone downthis route, despite initial resistance fromstaff

• match staff who are willing to car share

• introduce car parking fees – maintaining carparking space isn’t cheap. Creating new carparking facilities is even more expensive.However, since this would have a greaterimpact on lower-paid staff, it needs to becarefully thought through

• provide cash payments or other benefits inkind every time an employee leaves their carat home

• make it a requirement that staff use publictransport for business travel where feasible– look into options for getting cheapertickets

• consider video conferencing – Places forPeople reduced business travel throughvideo conferencing and were able to

Cross Keys Homes’ travel to work patterns 2008 2009 Trend

Car as driver (travelling alone) 81% 70% – 11%

Car share 7% 9% + 2%

Cycle 2% 8% + 6%

Public bus 5% 1% – 4%

Walk 3% 12% + 9%

demonstrate the cost and time savings. Even if you can’t afford a fully fledgedconferencing system, use Skypewww.skype.com

• provide an emergency fund so that peoplewho didn’t come by car can get a taxi home in case of a family emergency,sickness, etc

• provide information on local publictransport

• if your office is near a mainline train station,consider a shuttle service during rush hours

• make things fun – Accord’s car-sharingscheme was run on the basis of acompetition which saved a total of 11,000miles, equal to a journey to New Zealand

• consider pay-as-you go car sharing services,such as Streetcar www.streetcar.co.uk/

• give staff the option (where appropriate andfeasible) to work from home

• provide season ticket loans to help spreadthe cost (paid back by monthly deductionsfrom the salary).

The Northern Ireland Housing Executive(NIHE) promotes sustainable travel to workand has signed up to the Tax Smart TravelCard provided by Translink, the integratedpublic transport operation in Northern Ireland.NIHE offers staff a salary sacrifice for thepurchase of a TaxSmart Travel Card beforeincome tax and national insurance deductionswhich saves up to 31% on the annual busfare. An Annual Commuter Travel Card isalso available through salary sacrifice for traintravellers, giving savings of 20%. At the timeof writing 42 staff use the schemes for trainsand 18 for buses.

Contact: Maurice.Jennings@nihe.gov.uk

Encouraging cycling

Here are some tips:

• support the Cycling Guaranteewww.cycletoworkguarantee.org.uk/

• sign up to the Cycle to Work scheme(see information box on the next page)

• provide secure cycle storage and showerand changing facilities

• make use of any avid cyclists within yourorganisation to spread the word

• provide some pool bikes for staff to useduring working hours

• encourage the formation of a bicycle usergroup

Practiceexample

• ‘match’ experienced with budding cycliststo help them get started

• find out if your local authority is runningcycle proficiency training and if so ask themto run a course in your organisation

• tie in promotional activity with the NationalBike Week www.bikeweek.org.uk/

• provide information (for example, the ActiveTravel Workplace Toolkit www.sustrans.org.uk/).

Whilst many of the suggestions above areaimed at reducing car use for both commutingand business travel, the nature of housingorganisations’ businesses means that the scopeis often limited. The focus must therefore beon efficiency. For instance, SolihullCommunity Housing had a ‘green fleetreview’. Riverside offered staff training on‘smarter driving’ (see examples).

Staff at Riverside who cycled to work weregiven a voucher for a free lunch. There wasalso a display in reception on the benefits ofcycling with giveaways like cycle maps andreflectors. Between them, 12 staff cycled 200miles, saving 49 kg of CO2 and up to £80 intravel costs. If they keep this up, over a yearthey would collectively travel 19,400 miles,saving over five tonnes of CO2 and £7,760 intransport costs.

Contact: Alix.Johnson@riverside.org.uk

In 2008, Solihull Community Housingreviewed the green credentials of their fleetwith advice from the Energy Saving Trust. Anew specification was developed whichincluded:

• a mix of vehicles, including electric, hybrids,as well as traditional petrol or diesel

• speed limiters in all vehicles to makejourneys safer and more fuel efficient

• training for drivers, including how to dobasic checks and maintenance

• online facilities to access and share vehiclerepair and service records with themaintenance company, including the facilityto book services online

• availability of vehicle servicing facilitieswithin five miles of the depot

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Cycle to Work scheme

The employee enters into an agreementwith the employer to hire a bike and any accessories for a set period (usually12 months). The hire fee is paid viasalary sacrifice, taken from gross salarythus saving income tax and nationalinsurance. At least half of all journeys onthe bike should be for work. Theemployer has to sign up to the schemebeforehand.

Schemes are run by Cycleschemewww.cyclescheme.co.uk/ and by largerretailers.

Practiceexample

Practiceexample

• free health checks for vehicles at the depot

• a mobile tyre fitting service.

CO2 emissions from company vehicles wereestimated to be around 150 tonnes a year.Targets were put in place to reduce the fleet’senvironmental footprint over a 24-monthperiod commencing January 2009, cutting CO2emissions by 40 tonnes, fuel used by 16,000litres and fuel costs by £16,000.

Further work underway includes:

• monitoring fuel use, with extra training onfuel-efficient driving for those using toomuch

• exploring ways of reducing the number ofvehicles in the fleet

• road-testing alternative vehicles for thefuture

• changing the way work is planned toreduce the distances travelled – via workscheduling software

• looking at how staff use their own vehiclesfor business purposes

• ensuring continued support from staff forany future changes.

Contact:mcastanheira@solihullcommunityhousing.org.uk

Working in partnership with the Energy SavingTrust, Riverside offered staff free SmarterDriving lessons by an advanced instructor toteach staff to drive more efficiently. At eachsession the savings in fuel use and costs areassessed. On average the 100 staff who tooklessons each potentially reduced emissions by18% – more than half a tonne of CO2 andmore than £300 per driver.

Contact: alix.Johnson@riverside.org.uk

Practiceexample

Organisations can widen their considerationsto take on board issues such as banking,investments and pensions.

Banking

A growing number of financial products andservices have green credentials – there iscertainly a choice in an increasinglycompetitive market where with research anorganisation can achieve efficiencies as well asmeet green objectives.

As green products emerged in the bankingsector they were initially targeted atindividuals, but there are now internet-basedsolutions for organisations which provide ahigh proportion of paperless transactions.Some providers apply qualifying criteria – forexample, an organisation’s level of turnover.

Charging for banking services has always beencompetitive, and with greener products thiscommercial aspect still remains. It is stillimportant to test the market and find theprovider that best suits the organisation.In some cases providers offersolutions that improve businessprocess on the basis of speed orlabour intensivity.

The complexities of banking structures and theinterrelationships locally and globally can makeit a daunting task to identify a provider. Butmany are now making more of their greencredentials. Whether an organisation isreviewing its processing facilities or itsborrowing, it should check the credentials ofproviders against the goals of the organisation.Choice of provider may rest on environmentalor social responsibility policies which in mostcases are available on the provider’s website orare a feature of marketing or advertisingcampaigns.

Some banks make a specific feature of theirethical or green agendas. For example, the Co-operative Bank and Smile have strongethical banking policies and campaign ongreen issues. The smaller Triodos Bank offersservices to business and charities (seewww.triodos.co.uk/en/business/) and investsonly in sustainable ventures, including a stronginterest in renewables and in social enterprise.

38 Wider issues

Investment

The area of environmentally and sociallyresponsible investment is a difficult one. Withthe fluidity of global investment markets, andthe complexity of corporate structuresworldwide, it becomes increasingly difficult toidentify the global activities of an internationalcompany. It has become difficult to be surethat companies are adhering to environmentalpolicies which creates a challenge for theinvestment manager, whether internal or as anexternal adviser, to ensure compliance.

The question of climate change is acomplicated one for investors and advisers. Forexample, major international oil companies, afundamental sector in UK markets, may beconsidered not only the creators ofenvironmental problems but also possiblythose most likely to invest in renewables.

To monitor such issues, many investment firmswill have a specialist ethical screeningfunction, either through an external agency orin-house. The availability of such screeningmay well be a key criterion in selecting aninvestment firm or adviser.

Boards and trustees of organisations havemany responsibilities regarding invested assets,especially managing the balance between riskand return. It is appropriate for anorganisation to have a policy which reflects itsapproach to socially or environmentallyresponsible investment. Care needs to betaken that such a policy is both workable andflexible. Features may include:

• instructing investment managers or advisersto follow an approach consistent withsustainable investment which forms part oftheir contractual relationship with you

• investments should not only offer soundreturns but that companies should conductthemselves in ways that are socially andenvironmentally responsible

• favouring companies with ethical businesspractices and responsible corporategovernance

• any specifically excluded area(s) in keepingwith the organisation’s aims and ethos

• conversely, any favoured areas, such asenergy-efficient housing or micro-renewables.

There are a number of guides to greeninvestment, such as EIRIS (www.eiris.org/).There is general background on green financialservices and products at www.gooshing.co.uk/money/. In the housing field, theEcological Building Society (www.ecology.co.uk/index.htm) specialises in mortgages forenergy-efficient housing and offers investmentaccounts for charities as well as for individuals.

Pension Funds

Engagement with pension funds eitherindividually or corporately makes us allpotentially major shareholders in some of thelargest and best known companies. Given that70% of FTSE-related earnings are fromoverseas activities, it is increasingly difficult toassess the activities of a company, andtherefore its environmental credentials. Theethical screening of pension funds is just assignificant as it is with investment portfolios.

The requirement to state the extent to whichethical issues have been taken into account ininvestments by pension funds has been inplace for many years. However, since theintroduction of the first ethical fund in 1984there have been debates as to whetherfollowing the ethical path compromisesreturns. Trustees and fund managers havebeen faced with the dilemma of the legal dutyto act in the financial interests of membersand the ‘public’ duty of socially andenvironmentally responsible fundmanagement.

Performance of ethical funds is key to thisdebate, and they have demonstrated strongperformance by investing in well-governed,forward thinking companies. Also, bybecoming more mainstream ethical funds haveattracted talented fund managers, drawn byenvironmental issues, with the result that theyare an investment choice because of, ratherthan despite, their performance.

It is essential when identifying ethical pensionfunds to choose those that:

• perform favourably against relevantbenchmarks in terms of returns

• comply with investment screeningprocedures

• have a comprehensive and robustenvironmental statement about theiractivities.

The report Is your pension fund at risk fromthe carbon crunch (www.trucost.com/_uploads/downloads/Trucost_Pension_Report_Singles.pdf) identified the risks oflong-term investments failing to take accountof climate change.

40

Why engage on this issue?

There are at least three good reasons for this.First, the homes you manage are almostcertainly a massive part of your business andtherefore of your environmental impact. Youcan do a lot to tackle this by making themmore energy efficient, but to be really effectiveyou need to have residents’ activeengagement. This key issue will be dealt within detail in the practice online www.cih.org/practice/online chapter on the housing stock.

Second, the green agenda potentially benefitsresidents themselves. As well as saving moneyon fuel bills, many landlords have found thatthe ‘green’ agenda is also perfect for gettingresidents involved in communal activities – asthe ideas in this section show.

Third, working with residents is an idealopportunity to broaden the impact of whatyou do. Climate change will only be tackled ifpeople are aware about it and decide to act: asa landlord, you are in an excellent position toinfluence hundreds or even thousands ofpeople – your residents!

Raising awareness – what’s in it forresidents?

It’s important to give thought to the initialcontact with residents: there may be atendency to dismiss the ‘green’ agenda and ifyou can put forward specific reasons foraddressing it that will be attractive to them,this can help get onto the right footing. Oneobvious approach is to focus initially on savingenergy: many residents are likely to haveproblems with fuel bills, or need to keep their

homes warmer, or both. As part of theirAffordable Warmth strategy, HerefordshireHousing identified that:

• 14% of their tenants have debt problems

• 38% have a disabled person in thehousehold

• 11% use the services of a carer

• 41% are aged 60 or over

• 17% are not connected to the gas grid.

Their survey work helped make a convincingcase for their strategy, given the proportion ofhouseholds it was likely to benefit.

However, cutting fuel bills is by no means theonly approach you can use. For example, a lotof surveys have shown concern about so-called‘crime and grime’ issues in neighbourhoods.You might be able to use these as a startingpoint, working from local environmental issuestowards more global ones. Another approachis to build on activities already taking place –for example, people who are interested ingardening might be interested in larger-scalevegetable growing or in healthy eating. Thisaddresses several green issues, not least the‘food miles’ involved in shipping food overlong distances.

Engaging with residents

42

Engage individually or with groups?

In reality this isn’t an either/or question, butyou will have to decide whether to engage ona one-to-one basis and/or work throughcommunity networks. A compromise with one-to-one engagement is to work only with newtenants, and train staff appropriately. However,if you only do this you may well miss thelarger proportions of tenants who could gainmost from advice on (for example) saving onfuel bills.

Some golden rules

Many of the issues that arise are the same aswith any type of community engagement, butsome are particularly important for thisagenda:

• green issues are a little like communitycohesion or equality – as an organisationyou may have a clear agenda but residentsare likely to have their own views: takethem into account as far as you can

• providers who are not giving a good serviceare unlikely to succeed with a wider agendauntil they get the basics right

• avoid the temptation to treat green issuesas technical (at least in the first instance).Wait for residents to ask for advice ontechnical matters then respond to theirrequests

• engage early on in the process – you won’tbe thanked if you give the impression(especially if it’s true) that residents’ viewswere not important in drawing up yourgreen strategy

• build in space for bottom-up initiatives.Residents are likely to have ideas of theirown – do you have some resources to takethese forward?

• remember that – as on other issues – only aproportion of residents will attendmeetings. Use two or three different waysof getting residents engaged

• think about ‘hard to reach’ groups and howyou can involve them too

• Look for existing networks before you startup new ones – go ‘with the grain’ of how aparticular community works

• check out what resources are availablelocally – many different groups are engagedwith ordinary people about this agenda andmay have already started work in your area.

The rest of the section covers a range ofdifferent practice examples to give you ideas.

Energy-saving initiatives

The most basic way to raise awareness aboutenergy-saving is to provide booklets to go toall current and new tenants. A good example is the one produced by Isos HousingGroup in the north-east: The Isos Green Guide(www.isoshousing.co.uk/aboutus/socialresponsibility/sustainability.htm). Places forPeople has an interactive guide on its websitefor residents to compare energy tariffs in theirarea, as well as a series of short video clipsabout how to save energy in the home(www.placesforpeople.co.uk/customers/save_money_and_energy.aspx).

In the private sector, Wates produced a guidefor new residents in their developmentsexplaining how to save energy, save moneyand at wider issues (www.wates.co.uk).

Some landlords have built on this to havebroader approaches to energy saving, withincentives such as free devices. Here areexamples from City West Homes and KnowsleyHousing Trust.

City West Homes

Over 1,800 residents of City West Homes (theALMO in Westminster) took part in 11 eventsin which there was energy-saving advice andfree gifts like energy-efficient bulbs,PowerDowns and scarves to help keep warmin the winter. Thirty partners of City WestHomes participated. The events were sopopular that follow up events covering widerissues were then planned. City West Homeswon the ‘Best Community Initiative’ in the NFAnational ALMO awards in 2009.

Contact: hshore@cwh.org.uk

Knowsley Housing Trust (KHT) produceda booklet in the form of an ‘energy savingwheel’ that showed money-saving tips.Residents can have a free home energy auditto get specific advice. There are incentivessuch as money off more efficient white goods,and free energy-saving devices such asmonitors. KHT judges that many tenants havesaved several £100s in energy bills as a resultof the audits.

Contact: anthony.jarvis@k-h-t.org

Practiceexample

Practiceexample

Creating more sustainable lifestyles

Some landlords are helping residents tackletheir environmental footprints through widerschemes. Examples are Black Country HousingAssociation’s Carbon Cutters and SandwellHomes’ eco-champions.

Black Country Housing Association workswith tenants in a scheme called ‘CarbonCutters’ which gives advice about savingenergy and also about reducing waterconsumption and waste, buying local produceand changing travel habits. The project startedin one estate in 2009 and was then rolled outin a series of roadshows. The eventual aim isto cover all 1,700 tenants. Local agencies suchas the CAB and Sure Start are partners in theproject.

Contact: bainesr@bcha.co.uk

From 50 tenants who applied, five suitablevolunteers were chosen as potential eco-champions. Sandwell Homes assessed theirhome energy performance and carbonfootprints. The champions agreed to try andlower these readings by taking on severalchallenges including reducing the amount ofwaste they create, increased recycling andreduced energy use.

As well as regular meetings, the championshave been on visits, including to the Centre forAlternative Technology. Working closely withthe champions, Sandwell Homes created aunique Going Green ‘micro-site’ throughwhich residents could follow progress andshare opinions and personal experiences. Thesite has received hundreds of visits. Eco-champions were also given free training tohelp them use social networking to discussgreen issues. To date the Twitter site has morethan 280 followers, many of whom areSandwell residents. There has been extensivemedia coverage, with eco-championsappearing and being quoted.

Partly as a result of the scheme, 80 tenantswere chosen to receive free fridge-freezers inexchange for participating in a one-year trialwith energy supplier N-power to see how theycan help control energy fluctuations in thenational grid.

Contact:andrew_walton@Sandwellhomes.org.uk

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Practiceexample

Practiceexample

Initiatives to engage residents inenvironmental projects

The green agenda has great potential toencourage residents to work jointly to improvetheir environment.

Trans-Pennine Housing has around 16,000properties and its Edible Pennine projectaims to:

• encourage tenants to start growing fruitand vegetables by offering free start-uppacks – this could be a potato growing kit,a planting bag (for tenants in flats withbalconies) and compost, or tomato/strawberry plants and a grow bag or akitchen window sill planter.

• support groups of tenants who want toutilise HA land, including communalgardens, for community growing projects.This could be planting herbs/soft fruitingshrubs into communal beds or morecomplex projects like community orchardsor allotments.

• develop tenants’ cooking skills andencourage them to try ‘new’ foods. Thisinvolves roadshows in estates with a ‘burgervan’ that provides good food for people totry, and recipes and bags of ingredients totake home.

The project is now in its second year andabout 1,000 tenants have taken part. Thereare a number of community growing projects,one in a ‘difficult’ estate, which so far areworking well. There have been other benefits,for example in Mixenden, Halifax there arefour tower blocks with a very youngcommunity, and there is now a walking groupwhich goes out monthly and afterwardstenants share a community meal – in acommunity where loneliness and isolation areissues.

Funding came from the Healthy TownsInitiative and the Big Lottery.

Contact: val.morris@ph2k.org.uk

Adactus Housing Association manages agrant scheme where residents can apply for upto £1000 to deliver sustainable projects intheir area that will involve and benefit thecommunity. Residents are supported with theapplication and planning their project; it isthen assessed by a panel of residents. So far£30,000 has been awarded to residents acrossthe North West to deliver projects includingalleyway gardens, street greening andvegetable growing.

Contact:Chris.Twomey@adactushousing.co.uk

Practiceexample

Practiceexample

Engaging with different groups

Here are two examples of engaging withparticular groups – young and old. But youmight want to consider how to use the ideasin this part of the practice brief to engagewith other groups who – for example – don’toften attend meetings.

Gentoo Green has a number of programmesto engage with children:

The Yoks is an environmental lesson for ages4-11, which involves pupils designing theirown environmentally themed comic strip. Thiscould be as simple as stick figure drawingsthat encourage recycling or a detailed comicstrip that tells a story about worms whostruggle to cope with traffic congestion. Thelesson is usually delivered in up to an hour, toclasses of 30 pupils.

The Yoks is now one of the modules inGentoo’s Community Kids Programme. This isprovided free to schools in Gentoo priorityneighbourhoods but elsewhere there is acharge, although Gentoo has successfullyapplied for funding through SunderlandCouncil’s Community Chest. In these cases thelesson is supported with Gentoo Green’smobile education unit, which can expand onthe work started in the classroom lessons.

EcoHacks involves designing anenvironmentally focused newspaper. Pupilsbecome reporters, editors and designers.Gentoo worked in partnership with TheSunderland Echo to arrange visits to the

newspaper and have the final newspapersprinted by the Echo, giving pupils anunderstanding of how a newspaper isproduced.

Priceless teaches the value of rubbish. Gentooworks with pupils (usually sixth form) toencourage waste reduction and supportreduce – reuse – recycle. Pupils are given abrief to create a marketable product madealmost entirely from rubbish. They need toprepare a business case, consider how theywill market the product and costs, productionand predicted sales. The project allows pupilsto see the value of ‘rubbish’ and also helps todevelop business skills.

Contact: paul.burns@gentoogreen.com

Anchor Trust’s customers are older people;to engage them the trust set up a competitionto encourage resident-led initiatives fromdifferent Anchor communities. The competitiveelement appealed to tenants, and a range ofdifferent ideas emerged from 30 groups withover 900 tenants. The winners produced aregular energy newsletter, written by tenants,created recycling points and installed energy-efficient bulbs. The winners saved over£25,000 of fuel through the scheme –equivalent to almost 20 tonnes of CO2.Anchor won the ‘Energy Saving Initiative ofthe Year’ prize in the Sustainable HousingAwards 2009.

More information: www.insidehousing.co.uk/ihstory.aspx?storycode=6507066

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Practiceexample

Practiceexample

Training schemes

Green issues can provide excellentopportunities for training initiatives, such asapprenticeships in retrofit work.

Accord Group with Family and BlackCountry Housing Group, SandwellHomes and the Energy Saving Trust arerunning the ‘Fit for the Future’ campaign whichaims to train a total of 600 residents onenvironmental issues.

The project will also see up to 20 paid‘community climate change champions’, with afurther 20 work placements at contractorMears. Mears is also training its own workforcein fitting green technology. The £200,000scheme is funded by Advantage West Midlandsto help develop a low carbon economy.

To date more than 100 residents have beentrained, with dozens opting to go on a furtherfull course in Climate Change & EnergyManagement. A key part of the scheme is anew one-stop advice website for all thingsgreen: www.thegreenhouseproject.org.uk

One resident said:

‘The training made me think about energyconservation in my own home and therewere opportunities for me to discuss mysituation with other residents and thetrainers, who were both approachable andknowledgeable.’

Contact: enquiries@nrcce.org.uk

Using green issues to create morecohesive communities

An important feature of the green agenda isthe ‘feel good’ factor – it can help makepeople feel better about themselves and wherethey live – and even affect outsiders’ views ofan area.

Family Housing Association,Birmingham City Council and UrbanLiving worked with the local residentsassociation to turn the Summerfieldneighbourhood into Birmingham’s first ‘eco-village’. Renewable energy and insulationmeasures were installed in 329 low-incomeowner-occupied homes, the Housing EducationInitiative worked with school children fromlocal schools, 20 unemployed residentsundertook paid placements with the eco-contractors and six multi-occupied houseswere refurbished as large family eco-homes.This attracted over 2,000 visitors (local,national and international) to Summerfield.

The project successfully engaged with mostresidents and was commended when itreceived the community involvement prize inthe Sustainable Housing Awards 2009 becauseit ‘engaged the whole community with deepbuy-in’.

Practiceexample

Practiceexample

Family now has a further eco-neighbourhoodin South Lozells with eco-installations inhomes, home energy advice, paid traineeplacements and the competitive ‘Eco-Factor’scheme for young people (modelled on ‘X Factor’ and delivered by First ClassYouth/E:ngage).

Family are currently delivering a Green Doctorprogramme (in partnership with GroundworkWM and Moseley Community DevelopmentTrust) which aims to make 600 home visits byMarch 2011 to help residents reduce fuel billsand live more sustainably, delivering thecommunity engagement activity for the pilotphase of a Birmingham Energy Savers scheme.

Family HA’s experience is unusual in puttingsuch a strong emphasis on community-basedwork – and has gained results.

Contact: chardwick@family-housing.co.uk

Another neighbourhood-based initiative is theBarnet Green Home Zone, which covers 2,250homes. It also has a network of local‘champions’ and it has a dedicated websitewww.greenhomezone.org/

Community initiatives might benefit financiallyfrom installing renewable energy: GreenStreets (www.ippr.org/pressreleases/?id=4142) looks at the potential forcommunities to fund projects in this way.

Making green issues the basis of atenant engagement plan

In Wakefield, the stock transfer HA hasactually made the green agenda the focus oftenant engagement, with promising results.

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Wakefield and District Housing

WDH manage 31,000 homes. This number ofpeople can have a huge environmental impact.Following board approval of WDH’s ClimateChange Strategy in April 2008, WDH launcheda tenant engagement plan. ‘Influencingbehaviour’ was one of three underlyingthemes of a strategy that aims to make WDHcarbon neutral by 2016. The three aims of theengagement plan are to:

• inform residents and increase theirawareness of the climate change issue

• inform residents about the implementationof the WDH’s new strategy

• receive feedback to improve the strategyand the information residents receive.

There were two focuses for active engagementin the initial stages:

• over 100 attended the annual tenants’conference, whose theme was climatechange. Workshops covered fuel poverty,design standards for new housing,behaviour change and energy efficiency

• the WDH summer roadshow aimed to raiseresident awareness of environmental issues.More than 800 residents attended andcompleted a climate change questionnaire.There were competitions for children andadults.

The budget for the initial stages was £14,000.The key messages from residents were thatthey are concerned about climate change andwant WDH to do more by for exampleinstalling renewable energy systems. Tenantsasked for more recycling facilities and for helpwith the problem of pre-payment meters. Allthe issues are now being investigated by WDH;they are actively developing a trainingprogramme for residents to be certified byCIH.

Contact: odaggett@wdh.co.uk

Practiceexample

Action does not depend on a strategy

There are many things your organisation cando immediately to reduce its environmentalimpact. You will find quick-win solutionsthroughout this practice brief to help youget started. Implementing these doesn’tdepend on having an environmental strategyin place. Indeed, if there is only one messageyou take from this publication, it is dosomething! This can help pave the way forthe more strategic approach discussed here.

Don’t let bureaucracy or indifference frommiddle or senior management get in your way– persuade them, or offer to take the leadyourself. Time and again we have seen thatchange happens incrementally and from thebottom up rather than top-down. Of course,‘buy in’ from the top is very desirable(particularly when it comes down toinvestment), as the examples have illustrated,but you don’t necessarily have to wait for thisbefore getting started.

Turning from individual actions to astrategy

However, in the end you will need a strategyor action plan if you are to really ‘embed’change in your organisation. It’s especiallyimportant if you want to gain accreditation(see practice example), as this will depend onhaving a plan and being able to demonstratethat it is being carried out.

Accord Housing Association started with arange of piecemeal actions, but then theydecided to develop a strategic approach. Inpart this was because they decided to aim foraccreditation under the ‘EMAS’ standard (seepage 56), and they became the firstassociation to do so. This determined theshape of their strategy, designed to meet theEMAS requirements.

Key elements of the Accord strategy are:

Environmental responsibilitiesAccord established a structure of sharedresponsibilities, including creating anenvironmental management team amongexisting staff, who take the lead role inimplementation across the different parts ofthe group. Two senior managers report onprogress to the group’s executive team. Thestrategy’s progress is now formally reviewed onan annual basis.

Management tools Accord approved its group environmentalpolicy in March 2009. The eco-managementand audit scheme is the tool for implementingthe policy and achieving the EMAS standard. Itsets out the key steps to be followed,including an audit and review process, and aprocedure for ensuring legal compliance. TheEMAS appraises all the group’s activities whichhave an environmental impact. Many of theseare obvious, of course, like electricity use inoffices and staff travel.

50 A strategy for becoming and staying ‘green’

Practiceexample

Environmental programme

Accord has set an environmental programmewith five main objectives and associatedactivities. The aim was to have a limitednumber of clearly expressed goals, whoseprogress could be measured and would deliversignificant change. The five objectives are:

1. Reduce CO2 emissions by 26-32% by 2020from a 2005 baseline. This produces a seriesof actions, from reducing the average SAPrating of Accord homes to reducing stafftravel.

2. Develop an enhanced management tool forcontrolling CO2. This will be an in-housetool to assist the drive towards goal 1.

3. Develop low and zero carbon housing.Several new developments are scheduledwhich will meet carbon targets.

4. Campaign to develop staff and residentawareness. All parts of the group havedepartmental action plans. Staff awarenessis maintained by entering Accord forcompetitions (see below).

5. Achieve EMAS accreditation. This wasgained in September 2009.

In addition to the five main goals and actionsto achieve them, a number of other objectivesand actions are set out, together with aprocedure for reviewing and updating thestrategy. Many of these actions pick upsuggestions made by staff.

Measuring environmental performanceThis is tackled in two ways. First, the strategyshows how Accord is meeting legal obligationsand industry standards, such as the Code forSustainable Homes and the relevant AuditCommission KLOE (which includes anexpectation of tackling environmental issues inthe housing stock). Second, the strategy showshow the Accord carbon footprint is calculated(see below) and kept under review. This is thekey measure as it will show whether or notAccord is meeting its primary goal (see above).

Other aspectsA final section covers issues such as pastactivities which have a continuing impact,including purchase of contaminated land, andhow new environmental risks are dealt with. Italso covers the partnerships which Accord usesto further its environmental objectives.

The eco-management and audit scheme canbe found at www.accordha.org.uk/

You will have to decide on the scope of yourstrategy – is it going to cover the wholebusiness (like Accord’s), including the stock?Or will it cover just the business activities?Obviously, the former is more ambitious andvery desirable, but you might want to beginwith a more limited strategy and then developit further.

The remainder of this section of the practicebrief looks at specific tasks that you will needto perform in developing your strategy:

calculating your carbon footprint, settingachievable goals, environmental audit andaccreditation schemes and rewarding success.

Calculating your organisation’s carbonfootprint

One of the first steps in preparing a strategy isto establish a baseline measure in the form ofyour carbon footprint – the total amount ofcarbon that your organisation is directly andindirectly responsible for emitting.

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Greenhouse gases

A carbon footprint takes into account six main greenhouse gases (GHGs):

• carbon dioxide (CO2)

• methane (CH4)

• nitrous oxide (N2O)

• hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs)

• perfluorocarbons (PFCs)

• sulphur hexafluoride (SF6)

Each has a different global warming potential (GWP): certain GHGs are more potent intrapping heat compared to CO2 (which has a GWP of 1) and thus exacerbate thegreenhouse effect. For instance, methane (a by-product of waste decomposition) is a farworse offender than CO2 with a GWP of around 21.

Different GHGs are usually reported as CO2 equivalents (CO2e). A carbon footprint ismeasured in tonnes of CO2 equivalent (tCO2e), arrived at by multiplying the emissions ofeach GHG by its GWP.

The Greenhouse Gas protocol is the mostwidely used methodology (www.wri.org/publication/hot-climate-cool-commerce). Itdistinguishes three types of emissions whichtogether make up a comprehensive carbonfootprint:

• Scope 1 – direct emissions over whichyour company has direct control, such asfrom gas use and company vehicles.

• Scope 2 – indirect emissions over whichyour company hasn’t got direct control, butis indirectly responsible for, such as fromelectricity use.

• Scope 3 – other indirect emissionssuch as those from waste, employee traveland procurement.

While calculating scope 1 and 2 emissions isrelatively straightforward, scope 3 is moredifficult. You might therefore want to startwith scope 1 and 2. The comprehensiveness ofa footprint also depends on its purpose. Onerequired for an energy management standardor accreditation system obviously needs to bedone thoroughly.

It isn’t necessary to detail the process offootprinting, as there are online calculationtools to help you with this.

All you need is to compile the relevant data –such as gas and electricity bills for scope 1 and2 emissions – and the various calculators dothe rest.

Source: New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development

There are a range of resources and tools tocalculate scope 1 and 2 emissions:

www.ghgprotocol.org/calculation-toolsYou don’t have to manually apply the emissionfactors – these are embedded in thespreadsheets – you only have to input thequantity of kilowatt hours from your energybills.

The Carbon Trust’s online calculator is anothertool and can be found at:www.carbontrust.co.uk/cut-carbon-reduce-costs/calculate/footprint-calculator/Pages/footprinting-tools.aspx

The trust also produces a useful overview:www.carbontrust.co.uk/publications/pages/publicationdetail.aspx?id=CTV043

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Setting achievable goals

It is vital that goals are challenging butrealistic: if you don’t get the balance right staffand board members could easily getdisillusioned. It is also important that the goalsare yours – by all means learn from elsewhere(including from this practice brief) but youshould set objectives that really relate to yourcircumstances. You need to incorporate somegoals based on suggestions from staff orcustomers, for example.

Personal carbon and ecological footprinting tools

There are plenty of online tools – encourage staff or residents to try one of these:

Energy Saving Trust – carbon cutterwww.energysavingtrust.org.uk/calculator/start

WWF footprint calculator http://footprint.wwf.org.uk/

Carbon Footprint Ltd.http://calculator.carbonfootprint.com/calculator.aspx

Resurgence carbon dioxide calculatorwww.resurgence.org/education/carbon-calculator.html

Centre for Sustainable Economywww.myfootprint.org/

If you are starting from scratch you will needsome simple aims that can be achieved quicklythen you can set more ambitious ones oncepeople are more confident. Bron AfonCommunity Housing in Torfaen has 8,000homes. It began its campaign to ‘green BronAfon’ with activities during WalesSustainability Week in May 2010. It set theimmediate aim of reducing carbon emissionsby 10% in 2010, so it has joined the 10:10campaign (see page 57).

Remember, worthwhile goals will stayworthwhile no matter what happens to publicopinion or government policy on climatechange, because they are driven by yourorganisation’s priorities, its staff and customers.

Sentinel Housing Association in NorthHampshire has 7,900 homes. It committed to aset of goals over the three-year period to2013, under its environmental programmecalled ‘Re Think’:

• reduce its operational carbon footprint peremployee by 10%

• achieve an average SAP rating per home of74% by 2013

• reduce the average property CO2production by 0.28 tonnes per annum –15% over the three years

• generate customer energy savings of £400kover three years

• improve the insulation of 400 homes a year(saving on average £28.50 per property fortenants)

• reduce contractor travel by 3% over threeyears

• reduce the overall footprint by 3.1 tCO2.

Sentinel has a climate change officer whoshares her role with Hart District Council – auseful example of a partnership allowing tworelatively small bodies to tackle this issueeconomically.

Contact: Val.Bagnall@sentinelha.org.uk

Practiceexample

Environmental audit and accreditation schemes

Formal schemes to audit your environmental progress and accredit your achievements have a veryuseful role in driving change within the organisation, motivating staff by setting a clear target and– perhaps above all – being able to prove to the outside world that you are environmentallyresponsible.

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Accreditation schemes

SHIFT (Sustainable Homes Index for Tomorrow) is a social housing benchmarkingbody which assesses member landlords on their environmental sustainability every twoyears, and provides a practice exchange. www.sustainablehomes.co.uk

ISO 14001 2004 is an environmental management standard. It specifies a set ofrequirements for environmental management systems. The purpose is to help organisationsprotect the environment, prevent pollution, and improve environmental performance.www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/management_standards/iso_9000_iso_14000/iso_14000_essentials.htm

EMAS (Eco-Management and Audit Scheme) is a more demanding EU standard,which incorporates ISO 14001 but requires external verification. An organisation mighttherefore decide to aim for compliance initially with the ISO standard, then aim for EMAS.An EMAS-accredited organisation might decide to encourage or require its suppliers tocomply with the ISO standard.http://ec.europa.eu/environment/emas/about/summary_en.htm

BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method) is a long-established measure,applicable to any type of building.http://www.breeam.org/

Rewarding success

Even if you don’t initially want to aim forformal accreditation, there are manycampaigns or competitions available (see box)which can help you promote green issues andmotivate staff.

Social landlords can succeed in wider businesscompetitions too. For example, SandwellHomes was the first ALMO to achieve

validation by EMAS (see above) and was alsonamed the second greenest social landlord thisyear, achieving number 21 on the SundayTimes ‘100 Greenest Companies’ list. This wasparticularly because of their ambitious trainingscheme: to date more than 900 employeeshave completed half-day training sessions topromote best practice in the workplace, theirresponsibility as employees and how theirwork impacts on the community.

Green campaigns and competitions

The Sustainable Housing Awardstake place each year, organised by InsideHousing. There are a number of separateawards covering not only retrofit andnew build but also organisational changeand work with residents.www.insidehousing.co.uk/6503721.article?navCode=1170

10:10 is a campaign to get individualsand organisations to cut their carbonemissions by 10% in 2010. www.1010global.org/uk

The Sunday Times Best GreenCompanies award takes placeannually. It is open to organisations thathave at least 50 staff.www.bestgreencompanies.co.uk/

In setting your strategy, have you:

got started with some short-term actions orquick wins?

looked at other organisations’ strategies –then started your own?

received commitment from a high level butensured the strategy goes right through theorganisation?

set your starting point and your targets byassessing your carbon footprint?

made sure the targets are achievable andrelevant?

decided whether to go for formalaccreditation?

looked at joining competitions orcampaigns that might incentivise staff?

Practice checklist:Setting a strategy

Selected reading

Christoph Sinn and John Perry (2008) Housing,the environment and our changing climate.Published by CIH, this book provides acomprehensive and non-technical introductionto the topic.

Duncan Clark (2009) The Rough Guide toGreen Living. Excellent overview of all thingsgreen.

Liz Barclay and Michael Grosvenor (2007)Green Living for Dummies. Good overview,similar to the Rough Guide.

Some useful websites

NetRegsEnvironmental guidance and overview oflegislative requirements for businesses.www.netregs.gov.uk

Act on CO2Government initiative to raise awareness ofclimate change and how to mitigate it.http://actonco2.direct.gov.uk/home.html

SustransThe UK’s leading sustainable transport charity,working with policy-makers and practitionersto promote the health benefits of cycling andwalking.www.sustrans.org.uk/

Choose Another WayInitiative of the Scottish Government, designedto encourage more sustainable transportchoices through the creation andimplementation of travel plans. www.chooseanotherway.com

National Business Travel NetworkNetwork which enables companies to sharebest practice and promote the rationale fortravel plans. www.nbtn.org.uk

Carbon TrustNot-for-profit organisation providing adviceand support for businesses to enable them tocut their carbon emissions.www.carbontrust.co.uk

Energy Saving TrustFree advice on energy efficiency and carbonreduction measures. EST also provides bespokeinformation for housing professionals. www.energysavingtrust.org.uk

Energy Saving SecretsOne-stop-shop on saving money and theenvironment.www.energysavingsecrets.co.uk

A Greener OfficeComprehensive resource on making your officegreener. www.agreeneroffice.co.uk

58 Finding out more

The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) is the professional body for people involved inhousing and communities.

We are a registered charity and not-for-profitorganisation. We have a diverse and growingmembership of over 22,000 people – both inthe public and private sectors – living andworking in over 20 countries on five continentsacross the world.

We exist to maximise the contribution thathousing professionals make to the wellbeing ofcommunities. Our vision is to be the first pointof contact for – and the credible voice of –anyone involved or interested in housing.

The Chartered Institute of Housing

Matrix Housing Partnershipleading the sector on the green agenda

The Matrix Housing Partnership is

leading the sector on the green agenda

by building innovative low carbon

homes and improving the effi ciency of

our existing stock.

Through Matrix, The Accord Group’s

nationally acclaimed timber eco homes in

Redditch are a mass market model of low

carbon housing – with 300 completed or

on site and 100 more planned.

The individual partners are delivering

programmes to retro-fi t existing

stock with green technology and also

jointly ran a competition in schools to

encourage pupils across the region to

design the ‘eco house of the future’. A

house based on the winning design will be

built as part of an 80-home development

in 2011.

Matrix is a partnership of seven housing

associations delivering over £110m of

new housing development and other

services. Matrix comprises of Accord,

Ashram, Caldmore, Rooftop, Trent &

Dove and Trident housing associations

as well as WATMOS Community Homes,

and in addition provides services to a

range of other housing organisations.

www.matrixhousing.org.uk