opm

The Office for Public Management (OPM) – Reporting

‘Carbon Smart gave us clear direction; we’ve made cost savings, gained promotional opportunities and got our staff involved.’ Franck Nicolas, Office for Public Management.

Client name: Office for Public Management

Sector: Public

Project: Carbon footprinting and resource efficiency improvements

When: Ongoing since 2006

Summary

The Office for Public Management (OPM) works to create a positive impact on public services and to achieve improved social results. They provide innovative services in consultancy, people development and research. They also help organisations that want to make a greater social impact, meet the needs of their communities and respond to change.

OPM made a commitment in July 2006 to take responsibility for their contribution to climate change. To improve their environmental performance they decided to have their carbon footprint calculated and take the necessary practical actions to reduce this, thereby reducing their energy bills and other resource costs. They have worked with us since then to achieve Carbon Smart Blue, Silver and Gold, as well as ISO 9001 and 14001.

Client’s Objectives

OPM was aiming to achieve resource and cost savings in the office environment by addressing lighting, heating/cooling, office equipment, business travel, waste, sustainable procurement and carbon offsets. They chose Carbon Smart for our expertise in these areas and have continued to work with us for 5 years as the relationship has proved so successful.

Process

Carbon Smart arranged an initial meeting with OPM and confirmed their requirements. We then undertook a resource review to assess potential areas for financial and resource savings, including purchasing, energy, water and waste. Carbon Smart identified and prioritised key actions to reduce OPM’s carbon footprint in a bespoke report and action plan. We’ve completed this process on three occasions, leading to OPM’s Blue, Silver and Gold certifications. The key actions have included:

  • Ensuring office equipment is managed correctly (e.g. eliminating energy consumption out of business hours).
  • Virtualisation of IT infrastructure.
  • Replacement of all CRT monitors with LCD monitors.
  • Installation of building insulation.
  • Replacing old boilers with high-efficiency condensing boilers.
  • Installation of T5 fluorescent tubes and other energy efficient lighting.
  • Incorporating energy efficiency in maintenance and purchasing guidelines.
  • Bottled water phased out and plumbed-in coolers installed.
  • Installation of new cisterns to reduce the amount of water used in the toilets.
  • Implementing a cycle to work scheme.
  • Sourcing a green energy tariff.
  • Sourcing sustainable stationery.
  • Reducing overall waste, improving recycling rates and adopting a zero to landfill policy with our sister company, Paper Round, which incinerates non recyclable materials to generate electricity.
  • Contributing to Trees for Cities to offset part of the carbon footprint.
  • Planting an OPM legacy wood with the Woodland Trust.

Carbon Smart helped OPM to understand and action the contents of their report, and to engage all their staff in the process through training and events. OPM have an Environmental Manager and they have set up a “Green Group” within the team which helped to inform and involve other members of staff. All OPM staff are now fully committed to environmentally sustainable work practices.

As part of the national Carbon Smart Programme, OPM have received ongoing assistance, including use of a sustainability hotline and email support. They have chosen to recertify with us to achieve Carbon Smart Silver, then Gold – at each juncture their carbon footprint was measured again and progress was assessed against previous years, highlighting cost and carbon savings already made, and potential for further savings.

Success

The results have been very impressive, with OPM’s total energy spend and carbon footprint both reducing by 15% over the five years of Carbon Smart’s intervention. As part of their environmental initiatives, OPM succeeded in introducing a zero to landfill policy, they now recycle organic food among other consumables. 100% of the electricity they purchase is generated from renewable sources. Furthermore, the organisation has achieved a paper consumption reduction from 9,700 sheets per employee per year to 8,000 sheets; an 18% reduction. In recognition of their ongoing commitment to environmental improvement OPM are now recertified as a Carbon Smart Gold organisation for the 3rd year in a row.