icontact Environmental Audit of 2009 Operations

Size: px
Start display at page:

Download "icontact Environmental Audit of 2009 Operations"

Transcription

1 Materials and Recycled Inputs Since our products are marketing software and customer service, icontact does not have any direct input materials that are present in a final product, as defined by the Global Reporting Initiative 1. However, we believe it is important to track indirect materials that we consume over our regular course of business. Paper For the purpose of this audit, we will focus on consumption of paper, which icontact uses for both inhouse purposes and for direct mailings. We use approximately five cartons of paper per month for our regular operations, or about 25,000 sheets of 8.5 x11 office paper. At the same time, our Marketing and Communications Department sends out about 20,000 direct mail pieces per quarter, or approximately 6,667 glossy 6 x11 postcards per month. For its office operations, icontact s uses FSC certified paper, while the direct mailings are made using non-recycled, non-fsc cardstock. On a volume basis, about 79% of the paper consumed by icontact is FSC certified. Other icontact also procures environmentally friendly kitchen materials and buys soda for its employees in aluminum cans, which are all then recycled. In Q2 of 2010, icontact switched to environmentally friendly janitorial supplies, soaps and paper towels. We are currently exploring other changes that can be made to our materials and looking to expand our measurement of the items we procure to improve our environmental performance even further. 1 Global Reporting Initiative Indicator Protocol Set

2 Energy Consumption and Energy Savings icontact does not consume any energy directly from primary sources. However, we do consume intermediate energy. Headquarters Indirect Energy Consumption First, icontact has operational control and an operating lease over its headquarters in Durham, NC 2. Intermediate energy is purchased for use at the facility in the form of electricity. For the purposes of this audit, icontact was able to access data on energy consumption for the past 24 months. To measure icontact s energy efficiency as the company has grown, we look at the energy we have consumed both per employee and per square foot of occupied space. The building that houses icontact s headquarters has a total of 62,382 square feet and over time icontact has increased its share of the rented space. Over the seven months of data we have for 2008, icontact utilized an average of 46% of the total space, or about 28,700 square feet. At 60,356kWh/month, we consumed about 2.1kWh/square foot per month. With an average of 113 employees over that time period, icontact used about 535kWh/month per employee. In 2009, icontact increased its share of the building to 56% (35,055 square feet) and consumed approximately 70,600kWk/month, or 2.01kWh/square foot per month. With an average of 169 employees, icontact consumed 419kWh of intermediate energy per employee. For the first the five months of 2010, icontact s energy efficiency has improved further still as we utilized more of our space and spread fixed energy costs over more employees. Now at almost 59% of the building (36,582 square feet), icontact has consumed an average of 67,120 kwh/month or 1.83kWh/square foot per month through May of With an average of 190 employees over the period, icontact consumed 353kWh of intermediate energy per employee. Chart 1 displays how as icontact has grown in size, it has used its space more efficiently (fewer square feet per employee) and energy more efficiently (kwh per employee, kwh per square foot). Figures are calculated based on total energy consumption for icontact s building multiplied by the percentage of the building space that we occupy. 2 Note: icontact will be relocating in fall 2010 to a new location where we will be the sole tenant

3 CHART 1: icontact Electricity Use Chart 2 shows how electricity consumption has increased slightly on an absolute basis. CHART 2: Intermediate Energy Usage Q vs. Q , , , , ,000 kwh 50,000 - Q Q1 2010

4 Jun-08 Jul-08 Aug-08 Sep-08 Oct-08 Nov-08 Dec-08 Jan-09 Feb-09 Mar-09 Apr-09 May-09 Jun-09 Jul-09 Aug-09 Sep-09 Oct-09 Nov-09 Dec-09 Jan-10 Feb-10 Mar-10 icontact Environmental Audit of 2009 Operations Another measure of icontact s increasing energy efficiency is evident when comparing intermediate energy consumed and revenue, as seen in Chart 3. As an marketing firm, we are able to increase our sales without the proportional incremental increases in energy consumption experienced by companies in manufacturing and other sectors. CHART 3: Intermediate Energy Use as a Percent of Revenue 6.00% 5.00% 4.00% 3.00% 2.00% Energy as % of Revenue 1.00% 0.00% The total amount of electricity consumed by icontact at its headquarters in 2009 was 847,681kWh, which translates to 3,051,652 mega joules of intermediate energy. We will compare this figure to our 2010 consumption when we release our end of year sustainability report. All energy is purchased from Duke Energy, and is produced from primary sources in the proportions shown in Table 1. The table also shows the primary energy required to produce the intermediate energy consumed by icontact.

5 TABLE 1: Source, Proportion and Primary Energy - Headquarters Source % of Total Total Primary Energy Consumed by Source (mega joules) 3 Non-renewable energy sources 8 coal fired plants 38.5% 1,174,886 3 nuclear stations 26.0% 793,429 Gas-fired combustion 15.8% 482,161 turbines Renewable energy sources 31 hydro stations 16.1% 491,316 Other Other 3.6% 109,860 Other Indirect Energy Consumption Looking into our supply chain, icontact also consumes electricity via its offsite servers which are managed by Hosted Solutions. Hosted Solutions estimates that icontact uses 14,232kWh/month 4, 170,787kWh/year (614,833 mega joules/year). Hosted Solution also relies on Duke Energy for power. Hosted Solutions has not broken down energy consumption by client in the past, so it is difficult to estimate energy use retrospectively. Table 2 presents the source and our best estimate of total primary energy required to support icontact through hosted servers at this time. TABLE 2: Source, Proportion and Primary Energy Hosted Servers Source % of Total Total Primary Energy Consumed by Source (mega joules) 5 Non-renewable energy sources 8 coal fired plants 38.5% 236,711 3 nuclear stations 26.0% 159,857 Gas-fired combustion 15.8% 97,144 turbines Renewable energy sources 31 hydro stations 16.1% 98,989 Other Other 3.6% 22,134 3 Does not account for energy lost as waste heat during generation of electricity 4 Based on one day reading in June 2010, annualized 5 Does not account for energy lost as waste heat during generation of electricity

6 Total Indirect Energy Consumption Between our headquarters facility and energy use through our hosted servers, icontact consumed 1,018,468kWh (3,666,485 mega joules of energy) in Water Total volume of water withdrawn 6 Nearly all of the water icontact uses in its operations is for sanitary purposes such as restrooms and for our kitchen. As icontact has grown, we have seen an expected growth in water consumption. In 2008, icontact used about 1,270 cubic feet per month of water, compared to 2010 where we have used over 2,500 cubic feet per month thus far through May (Chart 4). CHART 4: icontact Average Monthly Water Use This increase in consumption has been driven primarily by the increase of employees (Chart 4), but also by a slight uptick in consumption per employee (from 11 Ft 3 /month per employee in 2008 to 14 Ft 3 /month in 2010). The figures are calculated based on total water consumption for icontact s building, multiplied by the percentage of the building space that we occupy. Chart 5 shows fluctuations in monthly water consumption as the number of icontact employees has grown, and shows how per employee use has remained relatively constant. 6 icontact has also consumed water for irrigation, which is at the discretion of the property manager and has varied wildly, most likely due to variance in rainfall. For instance, Renesas deployed 1,087 cubic feet of water per month in 2009 while only an average of 5 cubic feet per month through May of 2010.

7 Aug-08 Sep-08 Oct-08 Nov-08 Dec-08 Jan-09 Feb-09 Mar-09 Apr-09 May-09 Jun-09 Jul-09 Aug-09 Sep-09 Oct-09 Nov-09 Dec-09 Jan-10 Feb-10 Mar-10 Apr-10 May-10 icontact Environmental Audit of 2009 Operations CHART 5: icontact Water Use icontact Water (Indoors) Ft3 Employees Ft3 by Employee (Indoors) 0 0 Water source Water is provided by the City of Durham, NC. All water used by the city comes from two sources, Lake Mickie and Little River. Water is then pumped to two treatment plants, the Brown Plant and the Williams Plant, with the former supplying 75% of Durham s water and the latter 25%. icontact draws water from both of these plants. There is no indication that either of the water sources is significantly affected by icontact s use of water.

8 Carbon Footprint Total Indirect Greenhouse Gas Emissions 7 Since icontact consumes no electricity from primary sources, it produces no Scope 1, or direct emissions. Rather, the intermediate energy consumed at icontact s headquarters produces Scope 2 emissions 8. The energy consumed by offsite servers hosted for icontact produces Scope 3 emissions, since icontact does not have operational control over the assets. To calculate the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from icontact s operations, we first narrow our focus to only CO 2, which accounts for 99% of GHG emissions. Next, to estimate emissions at our headquarters facilities, we utilize the building-specific data estimation method of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative. In using the method, we multiply our level of activity data (kwh) by the default emission factor for North Carolina s power pool, South East Virginia/Carolina, as calculated by the North American Electric Reliability Council 9. We use the same emission factor-based methodology to calculate CO 2 emissions stemming from our hosted servers, though the building-specific method does not apply. Our hosted servers were responsible for 90 metric tons of CO 2 emissions in Other Indirect GHG Emissions: Air Travel and Commuting In 2009, icontact employees traveled approximately 533,547 miles by air for business purposes in short, medium and long haul distances. Using the Mobile Combustion Emissions Calculations tool of the WRI/WBCSD Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative, we estimated that the total CO 2 emissions resulting from icontact travel in 2009 was 8,413 metric tons. In Q1 of 2010, icontact employees traveled 93,466 miles by air for business purposes. If this level of volume continues, icontact is on track to fly 373,864 miles in 2010, a significant reduction. Next, icontact employees commuted approximately 1,139,000 miles per year to work in Assuming that the average icontact employee drives a 2001 model of a passenger vehicle and using default emissions factors from the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative, we estimate that icontact employee commuting produced 452 metric tons of CO 2. 7 Excluding travel and commuting. 8 Global Reporting Initiative Indicator Protocol Set 9 GHG Protocol Tools 10 Estimate uses geo-coding from employee home addresses to icontact headquarters. Also assumes number of employees constant, that average employee takes 13 days PTO and 10 holidays per year, and that employees drive to their volunteer activities, along with other simplifying assumptions.

9 TABLE 3: 2009 CO 2 emissions (metric tons) CARBON FOOTPRINT: GLOBAL GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS Separated into scope one, two, and three Scope 2009 UNITS Scope one: Direct emissions from icontact-owned sources 0 Metric Tons CO 2equivalent Scope two: Indirect emissions from electricity use 417 Metric Tons CO 2equivalent Scope three: Business air travel 8,413 Metric Tons CO 2equivalent Scope three: Employee commuting 452 Metric Tons CO 2equivalent Scope three: Indirect emissions from icontact's outsourced servers 90 Metric Tons CO 2equivalent TOTAL 9,372 Metric Tons CO 2equivalent

10 Conservation, Efficiency and Mitigation Energy Saved due to Conservation and Efficiency Improvements Recent efforts to improve efficiency by educating employees and providing fact sheets about energy conservation seem to be paying off as evidenced by the leveling off of absolute electricity consumption seen in Chart 2 (Energy Consumption and Energy Savings) and the decrease in energy consumption relative to revenues (Chart 3). However, while icontact has always been intentional about energy conservation, this audit represents our first attempt to measure our actual energy consumption and carbon footprint. We expect that it will provide a benchmark for the future and put us in a better position at the end of 2010 to measure the success of our present efforts to conserve energy, including our move to a new location built to green building standards. Other Initiatives to Reduce Carbon Footprint In addition to conserving electricity, icontact is seeking other ways to reduce its carbon footprint. To begin, we are updating our travel policy to set a higher bar for when employees can travel for meetings and conferences. We have an account with Carpool World to encourage employees to carpool to work, which we intend to promote actively. Now that we have measured our travel for 2009 and are discussing goals to reduce our carbon footprint in this area, we expect to be able to report on quantitative improvements in our 2011 report. What we cannot reduce, we will partially mitigate through offsets. For example, icontact has offset 5% of all of its 2009 emissions stemming from electricity consumption, air travel and commuting. TABLE 4: Carbon Offsets Purchased for 2009 Emissions Total Offset (Metric Scope % Offset Tons) Scope two: Indirect emissions from electricity use 5% 22 Scope three: Travel and commuting 5% 478 TOTAL 500

11 Energy Management With a new staff person dedicated to sustainability, an active employee Changemakers working group, a committed leadership team and engaged employees, icontact is committed to developing a formal Environmental Management System and addressing our environmental impact in a comprehensive and systematic fashion. We have the organizational structure and resources to develop, implement and maintain good environmental policy.