If you’ve been following our posts on the Hub, you’ll have seen how focused we are on helping increase awareness about what we can all do on the road to Net Zero.
It’s a complex story and my colleague Chris Newman in particular has written about the recent parliamentary debate on the Part Z proposal to amend the Building regulations.
He’s also talked about how local plans affect what businesses are being asked to do around the country.
Another colleague, Dan Smith has written about the dangers for building owners ending up with the stranded asset of a building that they cannot let or sell.
So, I hope it is clear that here at Mitsubishi Electric, we are doing all we can to help increase understanding of the challenges and opportunities that Net Zero presents, and the solutions that are available to help.
The calculation was based on the guidelines of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard
Rachel Lekman Channel Marketing Manager for Sustainability and Construction
Measure, reduce, offset
We are also working closely with our partners to help them find ways to decarbonise their own businesses, and this has resulted in one of our Diamond Quality Partners (DQP) Closewood Air Conditioning investing to offset their emissions.
This is the first of a special funded carbon audit programme, which is now available to all of our partners. Closewood has now measured, reduced and offset its carbon footprint and chosen an investment in the wind farm in Brazil.
“We’ve always been conscious of the need to reduce our carbon emissions and have introduced several measures within the business to minimise energy use and waste, so when Mitsubishi Electric offered us a free carbon audit we jumped at the chance,” explains Dean Kirby, Managing Director of Closewood.
The company offers full in-house design, installation and maintenance services for domestic or commercial clients across Hampshire and the rest of the UK and installs heating, ventilation and air conditioning in a wide variety of commercial and residential buildings.
Reduce your emissions
Closewood worked with ClimatePartner, who are our preferred solution provider for corporate climate action, to calculate the carbon footprint of their business, which then allowed Dean and his team to look for ways to reduce their emissions further.
“One of the ways of offsetting the emissions that come from running a business in the UK was to invest in schemes that will improve the lives of others around the world,” adds Dean.
“By helping create a wind farm in Brazil, we are helping bring power to remote areas and reducing the amount of carbon they need to produce there. It’s a win-win all round.”
Closewood are the first of our Partners to receive Accreditation from ClimatePartner, with the framed certificate taking pride of place on the office wall.
Working with ClimatePartner, Closewood calculated their corporate carbon footprint (CCF), which reflects the operations CO₂ emissions released by the company within defined system boundaries over a specified period of time, in this case a full year.
The calculation was based on the guidelines of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol Corporate Accounting and Reporting Standard (GHG Protocol).
Transparent and open
“We work with companies on four crucial steps of measure your emissions, set and meet plans to reduce your future facing emissions, compensate for what has retrospectively been emitted through funding projects that reduce or remove the amount of emissions in the planetary boundaries, and then crucially disclose this climate action transparently and openly.” explains Jack Warren, Commercial Sustainability Manager at ClimatePartner.
“The foundation for any climate action starts with calculation, as the company that knows their carbon footprint also knows which parts of their business cause emissions and how high the emissions are. If these emissions are offset by funding high quality projects that meet all the critical safeguards like additionality and permanence, the company can credibly claim carbon neutrality.”
Closewood now plans to undergo an annual CCF report with ClimatePartner to check progress and identify areas where emissions can be further reduced.
Rachel Lekman is Channel Marketing Manager for Sustainability and Construction
