Case Study

Tenant Awareness of ISO 14001 – 100 Longwater Avenue, GreenPark, Reading

Overview

PRUPIM’s team of property managers at 100 Longwater Avenue, GreenPark Business Park (Reading) engaged with tenants to better enable the delivery of an Environmental Management System (EMS) in line with the internationally recognised ISO 14001 (2004) standard.

What we did

ISO 14001 certification (the internationally recognised EMS) was initiated at 100 Longwater Avenue, GreenPark (Reading) in March 2006. From an early stage the management team worked hard to engage tenants in the implementation process.

A presentation was delivered to tenant representatives in August 2006, on behalf of PRUPIM by White Young Green. The presentation was designed primarily to provide tenants with an introduction to the benefits of the EMS and to identify key environmental risks. In particular, it outlined:

• What an EMS is and the business case for implementing one.
• The relevant environmental issues at 100 Longwater Avenue.
• What this would mean for tenants at GreenPark.

The presentation sparked a lively debate, in which tenants asked for advice on how to reduce impacts directly within their occupied areas. Typically, these focused on low cost quick wins rather than more substantive environmental efficiency retrofits.

For instance, with tenant approval, management at 100 Longwater have changed the times that heating comes on and goes off each day. Now it comes on at 7.30am rather than 6.30am and goes off at 5.30pm rather than 6.30pm (reducing heating usage by two hours a day). Air conditioning operation has also been cut by one hour a day during the summer. With these and other quick wins in mind (and as part of ISO 14001 certification), a one year 5% energy reduction target has been set for 2007. Tenants are also being actively consulted on plans to increase on-site waste segregation and recycling. A one year 10% recycling improvement target has been set for 2007 in light of these plans.

100 Longwater Avenue successfully secured certification to ISO 14001 in February 2007 and tenant engagement continues to form an important part of the operational system. A regular environmental slot has been introduced into the Tenants Meeting Agenda and information notice boards are used to communicate the site’s environmental policy and other important information.

The benefit

It is too early to quantify precisely the benefits of ISO 14001 certification. However, the management at 100 Longwater Avenue have clearly recognised that efforts made to reduce environmental impact of the site (including delivery on ambitious targets) can be more effectively implemented if all relevant parties, including tenants, are actively involved.