The Office Group - Camden Climate Change Alliance

The Office Group
Helping tenants to reduce their
environmental impact
The Office Group manages buildings throughout
London, providing low cost office space for
businesses in five London boroughs. They
employ 9 staff and currently provide office space
for 23 companies in King’s Cross and 34 in
Farringdon.
Key Achievements
1.
Waste sent to landfill has reduced by 20% following the
introduction of recycling.
2.
Recycling is now available for paper, card and plastics. The
Office Group organise a pick up for hazardous and electronic
waste, including batteries, IT equipment and printer toners.
3.
7-day timers have been installed on water coolers so they
automatically switch off out of work hours, saving over 4300
kg C02 and over £500 in energy bills per year.
4.
The Office Group are investigating moving to a green energy
tariff for their electricity supply.
5.
Eco kettles that minimise water wastage and power use are
used in all kitchens and all kitchens are only supplied with
Fairtrade tea and coffee.
“Through SmartWorks and
Better Climate for Camden,
we've strengthened our
relationship with our
tenants and demonstrated
we are serious about
helping them to reduce
their impact, and running
costs of the building.”
Corina Degani,
The Office Group
The Office Group
How have The Office Group
achieved these savings?
The Office Group worked with Better Climate for
Camden to identify the need to engage with tenants
around environmental issues, conducting a survey to
find out about current practices, such as purchasing
recycled paper, switching equipment off at night and
whether they would be willing to take part in waste &
energy audits. Green goody bags were provided as an
incentive for tenants to return the surveys, and as a
result of the information collected The Office Group
hosted a screening of ‘An Inconvenient Truth’.
SmartWorks assisted The Office Group to follow up on
the surveys carried out by BC4C, helping tenants to
reduce their energy use and increase recycling rates in
the buildings. To assess current behaviour, after hours
energy and waste spot checks were carried out by
SmartWorks with the help of Global Generation. Results
showed:
• Equipment left on standby out of work hours at King’s
Cross resulted in unnecessary carbon emissions of 1.6
tonnes per year - equivalent to 8 hot air balloons!
• At Farringdon, equipment on standby out of work
hours was resulting in carbon emissions of 2 tonnes per
year - equivalent to 10 hot air balloons of CO2!
• Waste spot checks showed that 60-80% of the waste
going to landfill could actually easily be recycled.
To engage tenants to switch off equipment out of
working hours, SmartWorks carried out a survey of
equipment left on, leaving a chocolate reward for those
that switched off their PC and monitor. Bins were
checked to find out how much recyclable waste was
being thrown away and this helped to make the case for
installing and using new recycling bins.
This exercise has clearly made tenants consider their
power usage. There was an instant reduction in the
number of monitors left and the paper in the recycling
bins has increased.
The Office Group maintain frequent communication with
tenants on these issues to keep up the tenant’s fantastic
efforts and new environmental standards.
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The Office Group’s green roof at their King’s Cross
office
The Office Group are also taking the lead in providing a
service to their tenants that encourages environmental
awareness through schemes such as constructing a
living roof to promote biodiversity (with help from
Global Generation), recycling grey water and holding a
water awareness day at their King’s Cross site.
Better Climate for Camden and SmartWorks collaborated
on the project, allowing staff to share ideas and
information and develop best practice reporting styles.
This will help engage and support other businesses to
improve environmental performance through the
respective projects in the future.
What’s next?
The Office Group continues to communicate positively
with tenants and work with them to explore further
opportunities for energy conservation and waste
reduction, in both existing buildings and new centres.
The company is also committed to installing ambitious
technology such as solar panels, wind turbines, and
rainwater recycling for the benefit of their tenants.
Further Information
1.
2.
http://www.globalgeneration.org.uk/
http://www.theofficegroup.co.uk/sustainablespaces.html
The Camden Climate Change Alliance has been formed by Camden Council and organisations in Camden that are committed to
reducing their carbon dioxide emissions and helping to tackle climate change. For more information visit
www.betterclimateforcamden.org, tel: 020 7974 5657 e: better.climate@camden.gov.uk to join the mailing list.