The offices of public and private entities are leading contributors to the creation of greenhouse gas emissions. As energy costs rise and regulatory policies are enacted to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, momentum is building to implement pro-active carbon reduction plans.

To reduce carbon emissions and save energy costs, businesses and organizations are seeking effective ways to baseline their energy usage and establish a systemic process to manage their use of carbon-based energy.

The following is offered as a guide and starting point for developing and implementing an effective and sustainable office plan to reduce carbon emissions:

 

Obtain Organizational Commitment

It’s vital to gain executive, management and employee agreement and commitment to participate in the process. They will be the key source of suggestions for improvement and the primary “change agents” to implement reforms and execute the plan. As users of energy, every team member should be considered a “stakeholder” with shared responsibility and commitment to the success of the project.

 

Appoint A “Champion”

Identify, appoint and communicate to the entire team that a member of the staff will act as the co-ordinator for the project. This person will be the project advocate and responsible for driving the development and execution of the plan. The Champion will ensure that all members of the team, executives to employees, are kept informed of the status of the project plan. As the plan is developed, other team members may be assigned responsibility to drive specific elements.

 

Conduct An Energy Audit

Conducting a gas and electrical energy audit establishes the energy usage “baseline” for the plan. The scale and scope of this audit needs to be carefully considered before data collection begins. Below are some examples of boundaries to be considered.

Will the audit be limited to carbon emissions due to:

- Activities of all or parts of the organization and it’s operations?
- Activities that can be controlled?
- Activities that are most significant and measurable?
Once the scale and scope of the audit is agreed too, they must be documented and communicated to all the project stake holders.

 

Develop An Action Plan

The energy audit will set the stage for developing a detailed action plan that will outline specific areas where improvements can be achieved. The completed action plan provides the who, what, where and when details for implementing the plan.

The first step is to gain a consensus on the goals and objectives for the plan. These should be clear, attainable and measurable. It may also be necessary to prioritize them as short and longer term.

Implementing The Action Plan

The implementation of the plan should involve all of the stakeholders.


Review The Action Plan

Commit to regularly review the plan and communicate to the stakeholders the actions taken, results achieved and plans for improvement.