Sustainability BT s Carbon Impact Assessment. Real world solutions from a world class practitioner

Transcription

1 Sustainability BT s Carbon Impact Assessment Real world solutions from a world class practitioner

2 2 Introduction Sustainability has come of age as a core business issue. For some time it has been on the periphery for many companies, a nice-to-have element of corporate responsibility. This is now changing. Responsible organisations are recognising that positive action is not a reluctant reaction to regulation or a cosmetic brand campaign, but a significant business opportunity that has real and far-reaching benefits in efficiency, in reputation, in staff and customer relations, and in operating cost reduction. Making sustainability part of your company s DNA makes sense from several different angles. Customers increasingly demand that they buy from organisations they respect and sustainability is high on their agenda. Buying decisions are a very real way in which they will reward or indeed punish businesses for their sustainability record. Increasingly, sustainability credentials are key qualifiers in contract bidding. BT itself has provided its credentials to support bids worth a potential 2.2bn to BT in Good sustainability practices will bring significant and lasting cost benefits. As the cost of raw materials and energy are spiralling, the savings sustainability can offer completes the case. BT, for example, has saved 365 million over 5 years through environmental efficiencies. Also, stakeholders in a business are influenced by sustainability practices. Recognition of genuine action will reap rewards in investor relations as sustainable becomes increasingly synonymous with well-run. Finally, corporate culture has an enormous influence on the success of a company and the positive effect of sustainability policies will reap dividends. Staff motivation, recruitment and retention will benefit due to the bigger purpose within the organisation. An organisation s relationship with its employees is crucial to business success. In a recent BT survey, we found that 66% of employees felt more proud to work for the company as a result of our CSR activities. Sustainability has indeed become bottom-line

3 3 ICT a key factor in sustainability ICT lies at the very heart of sustainability. There are two reasons for this: ICT is a great consumer of raw materials and energy, and also a key source of solutions Global CO 2 emissions from ICT are roughly on a par with those of the airline industry, and are increasing each year. The energy costs associated with ICT are already high, and as energy costs escalate, so too does the cost of running your ICT estate. But more importantly, ICT offers solutions. A recent report 1 notes that ICT solutions could contribute to as much as 15% of global emissions reductions in That is about $946.5 billion in cost savings. The European Commission has recently championed ICT as a key enabler in bringing down carbon emissions for example, greater use of flexible working and teleconferencing alone could save over 44 million tonnes of carbon emissions per year. That s 1.7% of Europe s entire carbon footprint. Cutting down on energy costs on the scale that ICT sustainability policies can offer makes ICT a cornerstone of cost containment, and the subject of Board level interest. BT s Environmental Credentials The following are just some of the key commitments made by BT to help tackle global warming in 2007: BT plans to develop wind farms aimed at generating up to 25 per cent of its existing UK electricity requirements by This scheme represents the UK's biggest corporate wind power project outside of the energy sector BT is implementing recommendations such as fresh air cooling that will make substantial carbon emissions savings in its data centres BT has developed procurement principles that help buyers to include the impact on climate change and CO 2 emissions in buying decisions BT has achieved ISO14001 status in the UK, Ireland, Belgium and Italy and is currently looking globally at further implementation of environmental standards. 1 SMART 2020: Enabling the low carbon economy in the information age, available at smart2020.org

4 4 But where do you start? It s an old saying, but true: in order to reach your destination, you need to know where you are. Establishing a base line for your carbon emissions is the first step in taking stock of your situation so that you can establish and implement strategies for change. Best practice in change and business transformation can make a significant contribution to lower emissions and energy costs. Companies can learn from those who have real-world experience. BT is one of those practitioners. BT has been implementing sustainability programmes since 1992 and has not only built up wide experience but also made considerable cost savings in that time. We ve taken that best practice knowledge and wrapped it into our Carbon Impact Assessment, which has been developed to assist organisations in identifying where they can make specific improvements in their business, and how to implement these changes. It s that important first step establishing a base line from which you can plot out your specific journey towards a more sustainable business model. Stadium House A mixed-use building in Cardiff. BT s sustainability practice conducted an assessment using the BT Carbon Impact Assessment methodology. This provided detailed analysis of the carbon emissions produced by the building, it occupants and services. As a result of the Assessment, a number of recommendations were made, including opportunities to optimise and rationalise the server estate and adopt more fresh air cooling recommendations fed into a separate corporate carbon reduction programme. Other recommendations ranged from the use of thin client working which can be as little as 10% of the carbon footprint of the traditional model to turning off equipment at night saving 21 tonnes of carbon per year in this one location.

5 5 BT s Approach: the Carbon Impact Assessment BT s Carbon Impact Assessment can form the basis of significant reductions in your carbon footprint and leverage cost savings. It s a business-centric consultancy-based programme that s tailored to your specific needs and objectives. The first step is to determine the extent of the assessment so that you can define the parameters of the project and maximise stakeholder buy-in throughout your organisation. Second is a data gathering phase to gain insight into three vital elements: People, Buildings, and External IT services: People: categorises worker types within your organisation e.g. home workers, mobile workers, office workers, together with use of transportation resources during work and commuting, use of IT resources, etc. Buildings: looks at your buildings and the contribution each makes to carbon impact through heating, lighting, and the use of equipment. External IT Services: examines the carbon impact of services that may be shared or even outsourced, and establishes where carbon responsibility lies in delivering the business on a departmental level. The framework follows industry standards*, identifying emissions as being: Scope I Direct burning of fossil fuels, through diesel powered electricity generators, for example; Scope II Electricity and the carbon created in using it; or Scope III Indirect activity such as staff commuting to work. An average Carbon Impact Assessment takes between six and ten weeks to complete, depending on the complexity of the site. The resultant report gives you real-world strategies with which you can reduce your carbon impact. You ll be able to quantify your own individual corporate carbon footprint and you ll also be armed with a set of recommendations to reduce it and your operating costs. If you re looking for a partner to help put them into practice, BT can help drive them forward through implementation. Agile Working By 2007, BT had 11,000 home workers with a further 64,000 equipped to work flexibly almost 50% of the workforce taking advantage of home working, flexible working and teleconferencing on a daily basis. Not only has absenteeism reduced by 63%, but productivity of home based workers on average is 20% higher than office based colleagues. *CO 2 is categorised following the standard set by the GHG Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard ( World Resources Institute and World Business Council for Sustainable Development 2004).

6 6 Benefits of the Carbon Impact Assessment The report from the Assessment will provide you with the basis of a business case to lower energy consumption, reduce your carbon footprint and reduce operating costs. It will help you make the necessary changes in the behaviour of your people and adopt smarter, more energy efficient and cost effective business processes. The diagram below demonstrates the timeline at which improvement strategies can be implemented in an organisation. It takes into consideration that not all changes can be implemented immediately and that a roadmap for future infrastructure development needs to be built, harnessing opportunities like collaboration, shared services, data centre consolidation and remote working months 1-2 years 2-5 years 5 years + <6 months

7 7 Why BT? 9 BT is especially well placed to help, because we re not just another ICT provider we re a major practitioner of implementing sustainability strategies. BT s track record in the area of sustainability is long standing and enviable. In 1992 the Earth Summit was held in Rio and out of it came the Kyoto Protocol. In that same year, BT established its first CO 2 target. So we re no last minute converts to the idea of carbon reduction. The Dow Jones Sustainability Index has rated BT as the world s leading company for sustainability in the telecoms sector for eight years running. BT has won the 5-yearly Queen s Award for Enterprise for Sustainable Development in 2003 and again in 2008: BT Group plc receives the Award.proving itself to be one of the global elite for its sector and beyond. The experience BT has gained from facing the challenges of carbon reduction in the past has provided the foundation of the. As a practitioner BT s approach to sustainability has led to greater efficiency, lower operating costs, and a reduction in our carbon footprint. As a provider of ICT solutions BT also has world class credentials. Present in 170 countries and with over 111,858 people and 3300 Points of Presence (PoPs), BT is a leader in Gartner s Global, Asia and Europe Network Services Magic Quadrants. 69% of the Fortune 500 are BT customers. That joint pedigree and expertise is your advantage we can help you achieve similar results in your business. The first step is the Carbon Impact Assessment. BT is one of the early movers in this area (climate change) and its track record is excellent. BT is one of the very few companies to have reduced its overall emissions while growing the business. It has adopted a positive approach and is looking for solutions for itself and for customers. If everyone was doing what BT is doing, we d be on our way to solving the climate problem. "People everywhere are keen to learn how a global organisation like BT is helping to protect the environment. Its Carbon Impact Assessment service is a great example of how BT is demonstrating leadership on this issue by using its technology and experience to help customers understand and reduce their carbon footprints and the energy hotspots of their networks". Jorgen Randers, Academic Norwegian School of Management, Oslo Dame Ellen MacArthur If you would like to know more about BT s Carbon Impact Assessment and other sustainability solutions, please contact your account manager and visit

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