Measuring and reporting your environmental performance is a smart business move. Many businesses are now assessing their carbon, environmental and/or sustainability performance in order to cut costs and improve resource efficiency.

It is important to understand the needs and expectations of your customers, suppliers and stakeholders and to improve, manage and communicate your environmental and social performance to gain a market advantage. Business reputation has a very strong impact on brand or consumer loyalty.

The first step in managing your environmental performance is having a system to capture the information so that you have some benchmarks to work with. The key sources of information for measuring your environmental performance include:

• electricity, gas and water bills
• waste management costs
• vehicle logs
• fuel receipts
• business travel records
• your purchasing records for consumables used within your business, such as office paper etc
• your water and electricity meters - they can be used to monitor progress in between bills.

Once you have transferred the data from the bills to the spreadsheet, it is a relatively quick and easy task enabling effective recording of your ongoing performance. Any usage variations may be due to seasonal changes (i.e. an increase in electricity usage during summer as result of the use of air conditioners) so be sure to keep this in mind. It is also important to identify any significant operational changes that may impact your consumption such as:

• changes to procedures or processes
• equipment upgrades or changes
• changes to operating hours
• growth in employees and/or business

Communication with employees and customers can also be beneficial in identifying any aspects of your performance that may not have been picked up by billing data. Communication across all levels of the business and with key stakeholders can be easily achieved via simple mechanisms such as surveys or suggestion boxes.

By establishing a usage baseline, you will be able to accurately quantify and communicate improvements, such as upgrading lighting or air conditioning to more efficient technologies. With rising energy costs, the energy efficiency of buildings is becoming an increasing priority for businesses looking to improve their bottom line.

If you need assistance measuring your environmental performance, contact VECCI Sustainability Services on 03 8662 5196 or visit www.vecci.com.au/sustainability

Did you know? If you own or sublet an office space over 2,000 squared metres you are likely to now be required by law to measure and report on your building's energy efficiency through the Commercial Building Disclosure legislation. The legislation, which came into effect in 1 November 2011, requires a NABERS rating, a lighting audit and recommendations for improvements to be disclosed to all interested parties whenever a liable building is sold or let. Visit www.cbd.gov.au for more information or contact VECCI Sustainability Services on 03 8662 5196.