www.environmentalchoice.org.nz

NZ Ecolabel Proposes Green Office Guidelines

Offices wanting to operate in an environmentally better way are about to get a new tool - a set of standards which are also, in effect, free guidelines to going green. The government-backed ecolabelling organisation, Environmental Choice New Zealand, is finalising a comprehensive specification which will allow complying offices to display a badge proving they operate in a sustainable way. As workplace quality and environmentally better business practices are rising in corporate consciousness, the move is timely.

Robin Taylor, general manager of The NZ Ecolabelling Trust which runs Environmental Choice for the government, says anyone is welcome to download the draft (www.environmentalchoice.org.nz/and give comments to ensure the final published specification is relevant and achievable for as many offices as possible. He says assessments for the seal should be affordable, as they will be based on actual cost, and the annual licensing fee for using the ecolabel will be scaled to encourage small offices (minimum five people) to aim for the standard. It is expected that Environmental Choice will begin taking applications early in the New Year.

Among the considerations for licensing an office are energy consumption, materials used in the fit-out, consumables, waste generated (including e-waste), air and water quality, cleaning chemical usage, and emissions generated by imaging equipment and company vehicles. “It’s an office environmental fitness check,” says Robin Taylor, adding that the Office Activities specification is about how an office operates rather than its building. “Being inside a high green star-rated building is not essential, although it would be a helpful climate for aspiring to a green office operation.”

The use of suppliers with products and services carrying the Environmental Choice label is a good start towards having a green office. Over 2500 qualifying products and services are listed on the label’s website and they include paint, furniture and partitions, flooring, stationery and cleaning services. They have all been scientifically third-party assessed and are proven environmentally better.

An Australian study estimates that office paper consumption can be as high as 20,000 sheets per year – rising in the banking sector to 40,000 sheets. Double-side (duplex) printing, imaging cartridge recycling, and use of draft quality printing where appropriate are all ways to improve the environmental impact (and cost) of running an office, where up to 10 percent of the power bill may be generated through printing, says the ecolabel.

Office IT components use around 11 percent of all commercial electricity in New Zealand and for computers and other categories where there are not yet any locally certified products, the draft specification asks for preference to be given to products and equipment with a kindred, internationally-recognised ecolabel such as Nordic Swan or Sweden’s TCO label, already found on some laptops in New Zealand. Office multi-function imaging devices and consumables are already covered in Environmental Choice New Zealand specifications, offering offices a wide choice.

Offices that apply will need to show commitment to recycling and waste management, with recorded ongoing improvement, including correct disposal of electronic equipment waste, of which New Zealand generates an estimated 80,000 tonnes a year.

Using an ECNZ-licensed cleaner, or holding other cleaners to account for their chemical use and practices, is another area where improvements and even savings may be made in the office environment.

The “environmental fitness check” is comprehensive, requiring an office travel plan to minimise peak-time urban motoring and encourage more environmentally desirable transport. When it comes to the office car, the label prefers efficient petrol vehicles over diesel if their use is mainly urban, due to the wide range of harmful emissions from diesel engines.

The Office Activities specification, even in its draft form, is practically a manual for creating an environmentally preferable workplace. Environmental Choice is suggesting that management serious about creating a better office environment should download the information, propose it for a staff discussion, then offer a response to the ecolabel. Those submitting ideas will be the first to receive notification when the specification is finalised.

ENDS

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