Sydney leads green business initiative

By Jennifer Lush

It’s been two years since the CitySwitch Green Office initiative kicked off and CO2 emissions have been slashed by 62,000 tonnes.

The program, which was introduced in 2005, is a combined effort between the City of Sydney, Parramatta and North Sydney councils and encourages businesses to reduce their emissions, saving on energy costs in the process.

The program uses NABERS Energy, an industry recognised tool, to help tenants across Australia benchmark their greenhouse performance. Ratings go from one to five stars, with five stars representing an exceptionally high level of energy efficiency.

DTZ, a company which builds and leases out office buildings, was one of the first businesses to sign up to the scheme in 2005. Since then it has improved its energy rating from three stars to five.

Regional Director John Preece said that people often disassociate their green initiatives at home from those at work.

“I’m generalising, but a lot of people treat that as someone else’s environment, ‘It’s not my problem if that light’s left on’, ‘It’s not my issue if I don’t recycle’,” he said.

DTZ is aiming to decreases its emissions by 375,000 kg over an eight year period and has introduced a range of different energy saving techniques to achieve this.

Preece said the targets were particularly simple to reach thanks to technology: “What I say to our clients is the key to saving energy is automation in the office environment.”

Daylight sensors, automated lighting, high-rating white goods and a timed air conditioning system are just some of the initiatives DTZ have introduced. Lower energy costs have saved the company an estimated $3,500 a year – a 40 per cent reduction in operating costs.

City of Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore has praise DTZ and the other 195 businesses signed onto the scheme.

But Greens Councillor Chris Harris said the number of businesses that joined the program in the last quarter was disappointing: “I’m very concerned about how small the increment is”.

“One of the questions I have is whether we’re resourcing it [CitySwitch] properly and whether in fact we’re putting enough behind it to really kick some big goals there,” he said.

“I really think the City has got to get proactive on this and look at a way of getting some funding happening.”

Nevertheless, Harris says the scheme is worthwhile in that it helps to highlight the issue of climate change: “It puts it in front of people’s faces and by getting big businesses to sign up we get a bit of embarrassment factor. If you don’t sign up you’re kind of on the outer.”

To find out more about the scheme visit www.cityswitch.net.au