This approach allows organisations to make informed decisions their waste management options based on the wider carbon impact of different disposal routes. Organisation XX used this calculator to evaluate the wider impact of the management of their waste using Zero Waste Scotland’s Carbon Metric calculator. The results are outlined in XX below: Table XX: Carbon Metric: carbon impacts of waste management Headline category impact (tCO2e) Impact per tonne (tCO2e per tonne) Overall carbon impact of waste Baseline year (20XX) XX Reporting year (20XX) XX Difference XX (xx%) For reporting year Impact from prevention XX XX Impact from recycling/composting XX XX Impact from incineration XX XX Impact from landfill XX XX Whilst is currently no mandatory requirement for measuring the carbon impact of waste, the Scottish Government has stated that it “expects that a number of exemplar organisations will be early adopters of the metric as a way of better understanding and reporting the impact of their waste management practices.” Future carbon footprinting: organisational processes XX aims to expand the operational boundary of the carbon footprint in the future to include emission sources currently excluded such as Business Travel by public transport. This will increase the accuracy of the calculated footprint and enable better measurement of progress in emission reduction. Currently, any progress made by the organisation in reducing emissions from excluded sources will not be reflected in a reduced carbon footprint.
Table XX: Examples of key internal and external factors impacting on BAU External factors Internal factors Electricity grid carbon factor factor applied to convert units of kWh of electricity consumed to a figure of carbon dioxide equivalents emitted. Grid factor changes year on year due to a variety of external factors outside of the organisation’s control including relative of different fuels for power generation. Over a longer period of time, the grid factor changes due to energy policy and the relative contribution of different fuels and sources of generation e.g. renewables. The aim of energy policy is to reduce the carbon intensity of the grid and this will have a large effect on the overall footprint Energy intensity of service provision The energy used per XX is likely to change over time, due to changing nature of services and also changing efficiency of equipment. This is one of the areas that are particularly difficult to model at this point in time and it is likely that this will require further studies to effectively model Population growth/changing demographics The need for the organisation’s services depends on both the size and structure of the population served and therefore changes to this population may need to be incorporated Estate changes Over time organisations build and decommission estate in order to meet the requirements of population served. The more this can be modelled with real data e.g. known floor areas or energy efficiency data, the more accurate this forecast can be. Why is it important to model BAU? As carbon management has become more sophisticated, organisations have become aware that the use of a single annual percentage growth to represent BAU is not necessarily accurate. Furthermore, by failing to model BAU, carbon managers cannot clearly demonstrate progress against targets and value for money for the carbon management programme, which in turn has a knock-on effect on internal investment. If an organisation’s BAU carbon footprint is actually increasing faster than anticipated, the efforts of the carbon management team would be underestimated – this is especially true when the measured footprint appears to be flatlining or even increasing and senior managers might question the impact of investment; however a more accurate model of the BAU could show that without the efforts of the CM team, the footprint would have risen even more steeply.
Description Impact Mitigating actions 1 Timing If CMP is not completed on time and is not sustainable in its implementation and long term goals then projected carbon savings will not accrue within the expected timescale and could lead to failure of entire exercise H L Liaise with Project Sponsor to ensure sufficient time and resource available 2 Negative Financial implications If finance is not made available as required and is resistance to the implementation of major schemes then the expected scope for carbon reduction will be greatly minimised H M Ensure projects identified are approved through Capex Committee and Carbon Management Committee 3 Resistance to Cultural change Whilst many staff appear to embrace the general “sustainability” agenda the need to change behaviours with regard to energy efficiency in the workplace needs to be embraced. If behaviours do not change then the overall reduction in CO2e will be impacted on by 3-5% of the target. H M Liaise/lobby staff, colleagues and XX Departments Awareness Campaign 4 Legislative Changes Forthcoming legislative changes are likely to enhance opportunities both for investment and also technical improvement of buildings and related energy efficiency. If this is delayed or shelved, there may be less leverage with certain departments to ensure change. H L Ensure that legal ramifications of regulatory changes are fed through early in any communication and are understood by all participants 5 Development Team Interfaces If the Estates Development Team fail to incorporate exemplar design business decisions into The Capital Works Programmes the Carbon Plan savings will be compromised. M L Ensure Estates Development Managers embedded the Energy and Carbon management brief into all design for new build and major refurbishments
6 Continuity of Project Managers If the Carbon Plan Management is to be delivered effectively the key personnel involved must be fully engaged and retained on the Project. The most important personnel are the Carbon Management Committee, project sponsor, Carbon and Energy Manager and Carbon Management Team. M M Ensure succession planning is in Ensure PDP’s/Objectives reflect the CMT needs. Consider OD input. 7 Carbon Plan Looses Priority There is a risk that the Carbon Management Plan may not always have the level of priority currently assigned to it within the organisation. This will be impacted upon changing national policies andust governance. If the Plan is considered low priority this will affect the ability to deliver the savings. L L Communicate aims and objectives in sound business terms to gain maximum response in all areas to delivery of the Plan. 8 Etc