Aardvark project
British Red Cross Carbon Accounting
| Location: UK and Overseas | Client: British Red Cross |
| Date: 2007 to date | Sector: Carbon and Energy |
Why Aardvark?
We have worked with Aardvark for the last 4 years. They know what they are talking about in all things carbon, energy and renewables and provide innovation and commitment to us as an organisation that is of the highest level. They are available 24/7 if we wanted them, the costs are fixed and they deliver great results.
What benefits have you found?
We understand fully our foot print, and can see how this has changed over the last 4 years as the organisation has evolved. The use of carbon as a business management tool is powerful and has enabled us to see where we spend carbon, and consequently money across our organisation. With a portfolio of over 1000 properties in the UK, 2,500 staff and over 30,000 volunteers it’s pretty extensive, so having one metric has been a great help.
The level of detail and analysis provided by Aardvark enables us to target where we can make the biggest change, for example we know that 1 tonne of CO2 emission from our electricity use costs us £168, where as 1 tonne of CO2 from diesel use costs us £568. Visualising carbon costs in these terms focuses where we can make the biggest savings. We estimate, with their help, we will save over 12,000 tonnes of CO2 from 2008 to 2012, the saving in financial terms is about £1 million.
What changes has this enabled you to make?
We have changed how we managed our properties and the supply contracts to provide more accurate billing and investigated and resolved where we had wasted energy use using the Power Cloud app. We have lowered the emissions across our car fleet to under 120g/km, reduced the number of flights by installing video conferencing, and where we support emergency relief operations overseas we now supply logistics in more energy efficient ways.
Importantly we have engaged across our whole organisation, each division and area has a carbon champion that meets regularly to review performance and push through change. We are just about to undertake a renewables programme where we can utilise our assets to better effect.
What do you plan for the future?
We see at first hand the effects of our changing climate. It’s clear that adaptation is going to be vitally important if we are to limit the distress and conflict that large climate related events have on this planet. The BRCS consider that it is vital that we control greenhouse gas emissions, and utilise our resources efficiently. To this end developing a low carbon economy seems the best way forward. We see great leaps in engineering and science that will enable developing nations to meet their energy needs, and the Society will support this related climate adaptation.
Closer to home there is still a lot more we can do. We are looking at transport, fuel and building use options, we also see that staff and community engagement is the key to driving this forward. Responsibility has no boundaries in this sector.
November 2011