Client Name: ETNA Community Centre
Type of Project: Eco-Audit
Location: 13 Rosslyn Road, Twickenham, London
Scope of Eco-audit
Sustain Quality were instructed to carry out an Eco-Audit for ETNA Community Centre, a third-sector organisation focused on creating a warm and welcoming space where people of all ages and backgrounds can come together and connect. The purpose of the project was to outline their current practices and building state and recommend actions to improve their environmental performance.
Furthermore, we developed a tailored Environmental Policy, Sustainable Procurement Plan, Carbon Emissions Report, Renewable Energy Statement, and an Environmental Awareness Presentation.
Tools for Implementation
An Eco-Audit was conducted to measure, analyse, and report this organisation’s environmental impact and outline their social impacts. The purpose of the Eco-Audit is to assess the environmental performance of organisations, highlighting current practices and providing recommendations for improvement.
The process begins by carrying out a site visit where we ask the client about their existing practices and review their building facilities. Thereafter, we prepared a report outlining these impacts with recommendations for improvements.
Impacts are structured thematically in an Eco-Audit Report into the following themes: Policies, Energy, Waste, Water, and Health and Wellbeing. Within these themes, recommendations to reduce these impacts are provided.
We are passionate about a whole-rounded approach, and so following the Eco-Audit, we carried out additional supporting activities. Among them is a Carbon Emissions Report, which accounted for Scope 1, Scope 2, and material Scope 3 emissions. Furthermore, we also carried out various supporting activities as outlined above.
Challenges for Task
Collecting data for the defined reporting period proved to be challenging as this process had not yet been explored by ETNA Community Centre. Consequently, the data from different periods was included in the calculations, hindering their accuracy.
Staff primarily walk or cycle to work, take public transport, or drive. Nevertheless, the lack of detailed information on transportation methods challenged the accurate estimation of carbon emissions from staff commuting.
Solutions to Task
We made estimations to allocate data to the reporting period, utilising additional calculation methods to ensure the most accurate result with the data available.
To ensure the most appropriate conversion factor was utilised in the staff commuting carbon emissions calculations, we assumed the bus was ‘London buses’ and the car was ‘Average car’ and the fuel ‘Unknown’.
Key Project Achievements
Following the actions recommended in the Eco-Audit Report, ETNA Community Centre implemented an Environmental Policy and a Sustainable Procurement Policy for new goods and services. To ensure transparency and foster a culture of sustainability, these policies were communicated to all staff members and made publicly accessible by publishing them on the Centre’s website.
Benefits for Clients
The Eco-Audit identified both positive and negative environmental and social impacts and suggested tailored recommendations for improvement. This provided our client with the opportunity to improve transparency, accountability, awareness and engagement of staff and community members, as well as identify areas to make significant reductions in resource consumption, carbon emissions and costs.
Location
13 Rosslyn Road, Twickenham, London