Sustainable workplaces

1. Sustainable workplaces Paul van der Werf

2. Overview • Making sense of sustainability? • What are our environmental impacts? • How can we make our work activities more sustainable? • Let’s leave today with a few practical ideas we can incorporate right away.

3. sustainability • We hear lots of jargon like: • Carbon foot print • Green • Environmentally friendly • Sustainable

4. sustainability • “...meeting the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.” • Brundtland Commission, 1987

5. How do we turn qualitative concepts into quantitative outcomes?

6. What is Environmental impact ? • Our impact comes down to one simple concept and that is consumption • “The act or process of consuming.”

7. What is Environmental impact ? • As a result of obtaining what we consume • As a result of the wastes generated through consumption

8. In more practical terms • Building • Manufacturing • Heating/Cooling • Transportation • Chemicals • Living • Others?

9. Distilling sources of Environmental impact • Energy usage • Water usage • Material usage • Waste generation

14. Energy • At home we consume about 2,500 kwh per year • One 100 watt light bulb on for 24 hours uses about 2.5 kwh • One Compact Fluorescent Bulb uses about 0.5 kwh • Energy is required to make electricity. Carbon dioxide and pollution result.

15. Energy

16. Energy

17. Energy

18. Water • Residents consume about 250 litres person every day • Think about what that means throughout the year Volume of 250 Filling up tank 4 times per day

19. Water • In 1996 Canada’s population was 29 million • About 1,500,000 litres/year per resident • Of that a little less than 10% or about 135,000 litres/year was for personal use • 370 litres/day

20. Waste • Residents throw away about 250 kilograms of waste per person per year Weight of 250 • In London has decreased since 1990 • In Canada continues to increase • Business waste increasing even faster

21. Waste

22. Quantity VS Quality • Need to think about consumption in terms of: • QUANTITY • QUALITY • What impact does the quality of our consumption have on the environment • Pesticides versus no pesticides • Green power versus conventional power • Quality is the impact of our consumption beyond the amount of resources used – manifest as pollution and other impacts

23. Environmental impact outcomes • Poor resource use-financial implications • Poor resource use-less able to support the population • Pollution-health impacts

24. Why Sustainability at work? • There are risks involved with continuing with the status quo: • Exposure to risk of increased environmental legislation (eg. carbon taxes) • Exposure to risk of increased cost of natural resources (e.g. rising cost of water and electricity) • Damage to brand, or consumer backlash

25. Reducing Environmental impact at work • What is our impact on the environment at work? • What can we do to reduce our impact at work?

26. Environmental impact at work • Impact can be split into two main areas • From buildings and process • From workers • Impact into air, water and earth

27. Environmental impact

28. Environmental impact

29. Environmental impact

30. What we can do? • Understand that our environmental impact is very closely tied to our consumption • Develop a Sustainability Plan to reduce environmental impact and help guide activities • It includes benchmarking, planning, implementation and review

31. Sustainability plan • Develop a Sustainability Plan to help guide activities • Requires top down and bottom up participation • Management – recognize importance • Staff- fully participate in opportunities • Embrace change

32. Consumption is tied to money • Everything we consume costs money • Everything we don’t consume costs money • We have largely been taught to ignore this • There is a greater appreciation of this right now

33. “Smart Consumption” We need to engage in what I like to call smart consumption. This is a thought process where we think about the environmental impacts of our purchases in three distinct stages 1 . What is the environmental impact of making this product; 2. What is the environmental impact of using this product; and 3. What is the environmental impact after this product has lost its usefulness.

34. Energy • Energy efficient construction • Business energy audits. • Minimize energy use during business hours and after hours • Encourage alternative forms of transportation • Where practical encourage other forms of work – such as telecommuting • Mayor’s Sustainable Energy Council. web page with some good information for residents (and business)

35. Energy http://www.msec.london.ca/

36. Energy http://www.msec.london.ca/

37. Water • Review processes to make sure water is being use efficiently • Reduce water usage and water contamination • Replace water guzzling toilets with an efficient 6 litre or dual flush toilet – rebates available • Toxics out of the drain

38. Waste • Take advantage of programs to deal with waste • Maximize their use Quantity Quality

39. Quality of consumption • Previous ideas focus on quantity • Quality focuses on composition of consumption. How polluting are processes? • e.g. Greening of Cancer Prevention (Source: Toronto Public Health) • Clean production • Toxics use reduction • Green chemistry • Safe substitution

40. conclusions • Sustainability relates to managing the quantity and quality of consumption • Managing consumption can have beneficial economic, social and of course environment outcomes • All businesses from small to large can participate • Many small steps result in large collective beneficial impacts.

41. Sources of information used • The Clear Network http://www.clear.london.ca • http://msec.london.ca/ • Stats Canada • Environment Canada

42. Thank-you Paul van der Werf My green workplace 519-645-7733 paul@mygreenworkplace.ca www.mygreenworkplace.ca www.2cg.ca