Over the last year we have worked hard to reduce our consumption of electricity, gas and water, as well as transportation, waste and procurement of products. This has generated a reduction in our carbon footprint by more than 5% per employee of the company.
Whilst we have been measuring the carbon impact of our operations as far back as 2009, we have been using the CHG Protocol for Corporate Emission Reporting since 2020 to provide a certifiable measure of our carbon emissions via the independent third party, PlanetMark.
In addition to reducing our carbon emissions via clean energy procurement, waste reduction and sustainable transport use we have offset our Scope 1 & 2 emissions using independently verified UK based carbon credits. Whilst the impacts of carbon offsetting is a widely debated topic, we feel it appropriate to commit financial resource to carbon reduction programmes in the short term, whilst we continue our efforts to reduce emissions and seek more effective ways of controlling carbon emissions.
We continue to target 10% carbon reduction in our Scope 1 & 2 baseline emissions annually to support a pathway to Net Zero by 2035.
Increasing Ambition
Recognising the urgency in confronting climate change, we are now measuring Scopes 1, 2 & 3 carbon emissions and aligning with Science Based Target initiative (SBTi) Net-Zero Standard and have committed to a minimum 90% reduction in Scope 3 emissions. Accordingly, we have reorganised our procurement approach to prioritise suppliers who are Net Zero or low carbon suppliers of goods and services.
Reducing Carbon through Design
We continue our efforts to support our client’s carbon reduction objectives by designing buildings that make best use of natural resources and minimise the impact on the planet. As we start 2023, we have reflected on some of the progress made last year:
- Delivering the University of Oxford’s first Lifecycle Carbon Assessment on the Institute of Global Health Passivhaus project
- Recruiting our second Certified Passivhaus Designer
- Starting two new EnerPHit refurbishment projects
- Achieving planning consent for our first BREEAM Outstanding project
- Rollout of LCA Oneclick lifecycle carbon measurement tools
We hope that by taking this approach ourselves, we can inspire other companies to do the same.
