Appendix F: Office-based environmental impact

We have continued to monitor key indicators of our environmental impact in 2018–19. Since 2017–18, some indicators have increased while others have decreased. Our full-time equivalent (FTE) count has also decreased over this period, and when this is considered most indicators, show a decrease in our environmental impact per FTE.

Overview of performance, 2018–19

Category	Quantity used	Quantity per employee	Greenhouse gas emissions (tonnes C02-e)
Energy consumption (MJ)	487,801	4,234	171
Waste management (tonne)	7.42	0.06	13
Paper procurement (reams)	938	8.14	4
Transport use: car (litres of petrol)	1,048	9.10	3
Transport use: aeroplane (km)	64,974	564	13
Water consumption	N/A	N/A	N/A
Total greenhouse gas emissions			203.18

Energy

Energy consumption data is taken from our energy retailer billing information. In 2018–19, energy use for one of the two floors we occupied was estimated assuming our staff made up 85% of total staff on that floor. In 2018–19, we assumed our staff made up 53 per cent staff on that floor.

Usage per employee is based on an annual employee average for the whole year. In financial year 2018–19, our energy usage decreased, but our usage per FTE increased.

This table uses estimated data only.

Indicator	2018–19	2017–18
Total energy use segmented by primary source (MJ)	487,801	488,784
Greenhouse gas emissions associated with energy use, segmented by primary source and offsets (t CO2-e)	171	171.1
Percentage of electricity purchased as Green Power	0	0
Units of energy used per FTE (MJ/FTE)	4,234	4,073
Units of energy used per unit of office area (MJ/m2)	289	220

Waste

We conduct a single waste audit each year. As the audit only measures waste production for one day, this day may not be representative of average waste production. To account for this potential inaccuracy, the figures displayed in the following table represent the average for all waste audits up to and including the year in question. Relative to 2017–18, our waste production decreased in 2018–19, and our waste production per FTE decreased.

This table uses estimated data only.

Indicators (estimates)		2018–19 (tonnes/year)	2017–18 (tonnes/year)	Difference compared to previous year (%)
General waste/landfill	Total units of waste disposed per year by destination	2.22	2.29	-3%
General waste/landfill	Units of office waste disposed per full-time equivalent	0.02	0.02	1%
Co-mingled recycling	Total units of waste disposed per year by destination	0.78	0.90	-13%
Co-mingled recycling	Units of office waste disposed per FTE	0.01	0.01	-9%
Organic recycling	Total units of waste disposed per year by destination	0.67	0.74	-9%
Organic recycling	Units of office waste disposed per FTE	0.01	0.01	-5%
Paper and cardboard recycling	Total units of waste disposed per year by destination	3.75	5.10	-26%
Paper and cardboard recycling	Units of office waste disposed per FTE	0.03	0.04	-23%

Paper

The paper data is based on supplier billing information and paper storage auditing. In 2018–19, we only used recycled paper, however our overall and per-employee consumption of paper increased.

Indicator	2018–19	2017–18	Difference compared to previous year (%)
Total units of copy paper used (reams)	938	864	9%
Units of copy paper used per FTE (reams/FTE)	8.14	7.20	13%
Percentage of 75–100 per cent recycled content copy paper purchased	100%	99.4%	1%
Percentage of 0–50 per cent recycled content copy paper purchased	0.0%	0.6%	-100%
Greenhouse gas emissions associated with paper use, segmented by primary source and offsets (t C02-e)	3.56	3.27	9%

Water

Water consumption for the commission is not available. Water consumption is measured for the entire building and not specifically for the floors that we occupy. Building management is not able to provide individual water consumption data to occupants. The building, however, has a black water treatment plant with onsite sewage processing and high efficiency water fixtures and fittings. The building has been awarded a 3.5 NABERS water certification.

Transport

Transport data was collected from VicFleet logs and our air travel records. We use the Victorian Government vehicle pool for all our operational car travel, and the use of hybrid fuel vehicles by staff is encouraged. The amount of travel by plane for the commission decreased in 2018–19 however the kilometres travelled via car has increased.

Transport type	Indicator	2018–19	2017–18	Difference (%)
Car (ULP)	Total travel associated with entity operations (km)	14,640	13,571	8%
	Greenhouse gas emissions from fleet (t CO2-e)	2.55	2.53	1%
	Greenhouse gas emissions from fleet per 1000 km travelled (t CO2-e)	0.17	0.19	-6%
Aeroplane	Total distance travelled (km)	64,974	96,523	-32.7%
Aeroplane	Greenhouse gas emissions (t CO2-e)	13.22	19.63	-32.7%
Sustainable transport	Percentage of employees using public transport, cycling walking or car pooling to get to and from work	N/A	N/A	-

Summary of greenhouse gas emissions

Emission source		CO2 emissions (t CO2-e)
Emission source		2018–19	2017–18	Difference (%)
Direct emissions	Vehicle hire	2.6	2.5	1%
Indirect emissions	Electricity	170.7	171.1	0%
Optional emissions	Office paper	3.6	3.3	9%
	Waste	13.1	16.7	-21%
	Flights	13.2	19.6	-33%
Total		203.2	213.2	-5%
Total per FTE		1.8	1.8	-0.72%

Annual Report 2018-19