How to improve sustainability in business?

As we face irreversible changes in the Earth’s system, the threat of climate change has become too risky to ignore, and therefore sustainability is increasingly becoming a key priority of corporate governance and part of their long-term objectives.

But why is it really an important practice for businesses?

Essentially sustainability in business refers to the strategies and actions companies take to minimise their negative impact on the environment, society, and economy. The common mis-conception is that it is only the ‘big ticket’ items that the only way to drive decarbonization, and that this is often seen as an expensive practice for businesses.

However sustainability doesn’t have to be hard or expensive. It’s easy to start small and still make a difference.

Small Stepping Stones:

Any aspect that can reduce a company’s carbon footprint helps contribute to the common goal of lessening greenhouse gas emissions. It also helps companies commit to their energy efficiency goals and ensures that businesses consume energy responsibly.

Some very simple starting points for any size business are:

• Go paperless. Running your business digitally reduces waste and costs
• Provide recycling bins for returnable bottles, non-returnable bottles, aluminium cans, paper, and food scraps
• Use electricity meters to find which equipment uses the most energy, and if necessary switch to energy-efficient alternatives.
• Try not to buy everything new – reuse stationery, binders and folders
• Provide real kitchenware rather than disposable cups, plates, knives, and forks.

Next Steps:

It can also very easy to integrate practices that promote environmental awareness, social responsibility, and economic viability into the core operation of a business. However there is no specific strategy that fits all businesses, so researching which sustainable aspects can work in the sector that your business is in is a good starting point.

Once you’ve identified areas for improvement and recognised sustainable opportunities, set goals, a timeframe, and a way to measure and monitor progress. These goals may include:

• reducing energy consumption by changing to lighting and heating strategies
• implementing water management systems, like rainwater harvesting to help conserve resources
• changing your energy supply to Air Source Heat Pumps (ASHP)
• and/ or installing solar panels
• Provision of electric charging points

These strategies are largely tied to company values and must be tailored specifically to each unique circumstance with the goal to integrate sustainability with business policies.

Standards:

As Governments strive to meet their Net Zero targets to safeguard the planet and our future, the regulations and policies are tightened to ensure that all companies commit to meeting these environmental regulatory requirements and compliance deadlines, while for businesses to proactively and constantly engaging in sustainable strategies  does help comply with these requirements.

Which may at the outset appear to have a large financial implication and inconvenience to individual businesses, but the long term advantage is it helps companies maximise resources, which ultimately improve resource consumption and eventually does result in lower production costs.

But just like any other business project, what works for a big company may not be as effective for a smaller business you need a plan to make it work.

At Harvey Wright Architects, we place sustainability at the heart of everything we do.

To find out more about Harvey Wright Architects, call 020 3239 6044 or visit hwarchitects.co.uk.