Actions for Business

Commercial office buildings in Australia spend around $4 billion each year on energy and produce around 13 million tonnes of CO₂ emissions. It is important to the future of our environment that this sector actively works to decrease the emissions before it is too late.

The 3CBDs Greenhouse Initiative is a partnership between City of Sydney, North Sydney and Parramatta City Council and the Department of Environment and Climate Change and encourages and engages tenants to increase their energy efficiency through a range of simple measures to reduce their climate change impact.

What does the 3CBDs Greenhouse Initiative offer?

Staff, customers, suppliers and stakeholders are demanding green credentials.

As a 3CBDs Signatory www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/3cbds/ your business can demonstrate its commitment to environmental sustainability by reducing greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.

By taking part you can reduce operating costs, gain a competitive advantage and promote your business as a greenhouse-friendly place to work.

Apart from saving money, enhancing office comfort and improving staff morale, the 3CBDs Greenhouse Initiative offers a unique opportunity for your business to demonstrate environmental leadership.

The 3CBDs Greenhouse Initiative gives your business:

• positioning and promotion as an environmental leader
• a structured way to commit to reducing greenhouse gas emissions
• networking opportunities with like-minded businesses
• a formal assessment and reporting process
• regular updates and a website resource
• public recognition of your achievements

To date 39 major businesses have committed to participate in the Initiative and demonstrate their environmental leadership. For further information on the Initiative please contact Alex Parmley on (02) 9806 5675.

Planning for Energy Efficiency in Business

The NSW Government's Tenant Energy Management Handbook advises that the main opportunities for energy savings in tenancies lie with office lighting and the power used by equipment such as computers, faxes, copies and kitchen appliances.

Upgrading equipment and lighting systems to take advantage of efficient modern technology can provide significant benefits. But strategies to improve energy efficiency are not just about new technologies. How people use equipment can have at least as much impact on energy consumption as the type of equipment used.

Staff support for your actions will be key to achieving your energy efficiency goals. And, you could make even greater improvements by getting your landlord involved in your quest for energy efficiency. Try to ensure your projects don’t fall at the first cost hurdle by investigating innovative ways to finance your project.

Energy efficiency actions can be simple, low cost and make great business sense.

1. Find out how energy efficient you already are. Use the Australian Building Greenhouse Rating (ABGR) tool to self-assess the greenhouse impact of your offices and compare yourself with other businesses.
2. Make the most of your lighting system e.g. clean light fittings and remove excess lamps where possible
3. Enable standby/sleep mode (ENERGY STAR®) on office equipment & turn equipment off at the end of the day.
4. Include a Green Power tariff in your energy retail contract.
5. Fit timers to energy-consuming equipment like supplementary air conditioners or hot water units to ensure they're only operating when needed
6. Produce a Transport Access Guide showing staff and customers how to get to your premises by public transport
7.  Find out more about energy efficient office equipment.