News stories of the month Office workers document their green concerns C
oncern for the environment is having a major impact on office working habits
according to research conducted by Toshiba Tec, which reveals that 57% of office workers often or always decide not to print out documents out of concern for the environment. The online survey of over 800 British office workers also revealed that over 1 in 4 (27%) would be more likely to print out documents if printing was carbon-free.
The research suggests that UK businesses face a particular challenge in balancing the environmental concerns of their workers with the fact that many (25%) still prefer to commit business documents and emails to paper, rather than reading them on screen.
Of those office workers who ever print at work, nearly 1 in 2 (48%) regularly print out important emails while 38% print out maps and directions – despite the growing use of mobile devices to access email on the move and GPS-enabled smartphones. Other studies have suggested that workers read faster and retain more information from a printed sheet of paper compared to reading directly from a computer screen. Toshiba’s research suggests that, as long as workers express a desire to print out important office documents, businesses should ensure that office printing is as environmentally-friendly as possible – requiring plans that go beyond merely recycling waste paper and consumables or simply switching
printers off over night. Toshiba Tec’s Carbon Zero scheme offers such a solution, allowing office workers to print with a clear conscience. The scheme offsets all the carbon associated with the manufacture, transport, servicing and daily use of its copiers and printers over a period of 5 years, or 1 million pages.
The gold-standard certified scheme supplies villagers in rural Kenya with domestic stoves that cut the use of firewood by more than half. Each cooker typically prevents three tonnes of CO2
emissions every year –
equivalent to the emissions produced by an average UK car doing 9,000 miles a year.
www.toshiba.co.uk/imaging
LEADING COMMERCIAL LANDLORDS PUBLISH SUSTAINABILITY GUIDANCE
T
he Better Buildings Partnership, a collaboration of fifteen of the largest commercial property owners in the UK, in partnership with the Mayor of London and the LDA, has published its latest Toolkit, setting out how it believes Managing Agents should incorporate best sustainability practice into the management of buildings. Is freely available at:
www.betterbuildingspartnership.co.uk /working-groups/property-agents/ managing-agents-sustainability- toolkit/
In light of the increasing amount of environmental legislation and growing importance of sustainability and CSR reporting, it is becoming ever more important, for both property owners and occupiers, that their buildings are managed in a way which reduces adverse environmental impacts and identifies opportunities for improvement.
8| SUSTAINABLE FM | APRIL 2011
Managing Agents have a key role to play in this process which has not traditionally been part of their remit. They are often the conduit linking owners and occupiers and are ideally placed to appreciate and promote the environmental aspirations of both parties and facilitate cooperation. The policies adopted by the Managing Agent for a building can have a dramatic effect on its environmental impact, as well as the drive to reduce CO2
emissions across the sector.
The BBP felt it was important, therefore, to produce the ‘Managing Agents Sustainability Toolkit’ which sets out a full range of sustainability services which an owner should consider requiring its managing agent to provide. It also provides detailed guidance notes for Managing Agents on how best to meet such requirements. GVA were commissioned by the BBP to develop the work.
“Commercial property owners are increasingly recognising the importance of ensuring that their properties are managed in a way which takes account of a full range of sustainability issues. At the same time, Managing Agents appreciate that this is a key service they can provide, both to owners and occupiers. Business risks for owners associated with property management are increasing, however engaging a managing agent with the relevant skills to incorporate sustainability into the management process should reduce these risks and any additional costs will often be outweighed by the resultant savings. “I hope that this Toolkit will be widely used as a practical reference guide to stimulate change in how agents manage properties on behalf of their clients.” said Keith Bugden, Programme Director of the BBP.
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