The Gold Charter is only awarded to companies that, in addition to having achieved significant reductions in their carbon emissions, are also using their position to influence their communities, whether through their supply chain, customers or staff.
The panel felt that Specialized Print hit all of the required targets in order to meet the Gold level of accreditation. The panel admired its active role in promoting the benefits of the green approach to other businesses, both within its own supply chain and in the wider business community.
The panel were also impressed with the strong evidence of actions taken to reduce resource and energy consumption, sustained over the long-term. They stated ‘responsible use of resources is clearly an intrinsic part of the way Specialized Print does business and this has directly translated into financial benefits to their operating model’. The panel noted also our strong approach to community engagement, reflecting your understanding of the importance of the social aspects of a sustainable approach.
For more information: www.greensuffolk.org/charter
Q&A with Specialized Print
- Why did you originally aim to achieve the Suffolk Carbon Charter Award?
To reduce our Carbon Footprint – We are committed to improving resource and energy efficiency & take our social responsibility very seriously.
Initially we wanted help calculating our carbon footprint and assistance developing a practical action plan. We needed impartial & expert help to identify potential ways to save energy & support putting our action plan into practice and taking our environmental performance to the next level. - What progress has the business made since it began its engagement with the Suffolk Carbon Charter? We have the carbon and energy based information, instead it would be good to hear about the practical things the business feels it has achieved:
The award has given Specialized Print recognition that we are committed to reducing our carbon footprint and providing a safe and healthy environment to live and work in.
It shows our customers and tenants that we are playing our part in creating the Suffolk Greenest County whilst also making savings on our utility costs.
As a direct result of our involvement we have also gained publicity which in turn has helped to raise our profile. We have enjoyed our working & supporting local community projects and seeing the positive effects that they have had on the local community: provision of fresh fruit and vegetables, a place for wildlife, improved play areas, an outdoor classroom and safe public spaces that are well-maintained.
The Energy Audit has helped us to identify ways that we could improve the efficiency of the building and reduce our running costs; we have now implemented the following:
- Lighting: We have replaced all of the lighting throughout our building with LED. Installed sensors in communal areas and only use the lights we need.
- Heating: Installed a smart zone heating system which enables us to set the temperature in every office in the building, schedule our heating to come on and off, and control our hot water. Every radiator has an individual thermostat. We turned all of the radiators down & try to keep a gap between office furniture and radiators to ensure heat circulates.
- Insulation: We replaced the flat roof with an insulated environmentally friendly rubber roof. Installed double glazing and draught proofed the entry doors.
- Water: We have a water meter and water conserving toilets
- We replaced our office & kitchen appliances with energy efficient ones. Our printers, computers and monitors now automatically shut down & our fridge has been replaced with one that offered the best energy rating.
- We Reduce, Reuse & Recycle. Purchase locally & buy Fairtrade products wherever possible.
Rev Active, Grants 4 Growth and West Suffolk Greener Business Grant
The Charter has raised our environmental awareness and helped us & our tenants to commit ourselves to behaviour changes.
We have updated our action plan clearly setting out objectives and defining the measures and actions we need to implement in order to meet our new set target.
The Charter networking events are inspirational, informative and help to keep us motivated
We believe that Eco-friendliness is a standard parameter to measure our company’s performance, success and value.
The Charter has helped us to achieve significant reductions in our carbon emissions, we are also using our position to influence our local community, our supply chain, customers & tenants.
Everyone has a responsibility to reduce their individual carbon footprint, and there are lots of ways to do so. We encourage everyone to think about their lifestyle decisions and find opportunities to reduce their climate impact.
By becoming a green company our company’s reputation benefits – we need less energy, which in turn leads to lower utility bills and extra money that can be invested in other projects.
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