Commitment to achieving Net Zero

T Sumner Smith is fully committed to reducing our carbon output to net zero by 2035, which is 15 years’ ahead the Government target of 2050.

We have reduced our total annual carbon emissions from 86.46 in 2018/19 (Base Year) to 59.07 for 2022/23 (Current Year) which has resulted in a 31.67 percent reduction in our carbon emission.

We also anticipate that we will secure a further 5 to 10% reduction of 4.3 to 8.6 tCO2e against the baseline within the next 5 years’.

Progress against these targets can be seen in the graph below:

 

Carbon Reduction Projects

Completed Carbon Reduction Initiatives

The following environmental management measures and projects have been completed or implemented since the 2018/19 baseline. The carbon emission reduction achieved by these schemes equate to 27.39 tCO2e a reduction against the 2018/19 baseline measures. These measures will therefore be in effect when performing the contract.

Our completed carbon reduction initiatives include:

• Office rationalisation: reduction from two to one office – thereby halving energy costs (Pre-Baseline)
• Instantaneous hot water: for tea/coffee making facilities
• Low energy Lighting
• Sectional/ area & personal lighting.
• Movement Sensors (PIR): movement enabled lights in toilets and corridors
• Low energy dishwasher: with usage limited to single daily use (IE Full Load)
• Paperless office: photocopying is limited and staff have to record and justify the number of copies produced, provision electronic notebooks, PDAs and bespoke/inhouse smartphone applications etc.
• Travel Policy: priority for use of public transport and car sharing.
• Waste Minimisation: ban on disposable items and single use plastics, standardisation of office and electronic equipment to reduce level of replacements (EG Phone Charges)
• Waste Recycling: all our office paper (PAMs), plastic, cans and packaging waste are all recycled
• Removal of bottled water facility: use of chilled tap water
• Reusable Water/Drink Vacuum Bottles:
• Electronic Waste: all our redundant electronic items are reused (donated) or recycled
• Working from Home: reduction in commuting travel
• Electronic meetings: reduction in business travel
• Video enabled site/inspection meetings: use of pre-prepared and live video links and photographs to enable video meetings to take place – thereby reducing travel by project team members
• ISO 14001: Certificate Number : 198922012

Planned /Proposed Carbon Reduction Initiatives

A major planned investment is for the renewal of the roof to our office. We are therefore taking this opportunity upgrade the roof insulation and to install solar panels.
We are also proposing to implement the following initiatives within the next 5 years in striving to achieve net zero by 2035.

Planned Initiatives:

• Solar Panels: renewal of office roof covering, upgrading of roof insulation and provision of solar panels
• Green Electricity: we intend to source 100% green electricity when our current contractual arrangements expire
• Scope 3 Carbon Footprint: Grey Fleet
• Electric Cars: provision of electric powered pool car for business travel
• Recharging Point: provision of car recharging facility in office car park
• Bicycle: provision of office bike for short journeys (EG sandwich shop)
• Home /Remote Working: extension of home / remote working and investment in requisite technologies etc.
• Commuting Travel Audit: Identification of initiatives such as car sharing, start/completions times.
• Adoption of Science Based Targets: identification of further initiatives /3rd Party Audits
• UK Climate Hub: seek membership

Read our full Carbon Reduction Policy here