Our year 2014/15 | Caring about our communities page | 33
We believe in not just talking about the importance of being green but acting on our convictions. For
example, our new grade A London office has a BREEAM Excellent rating over all floors and we have an
established national network of 'greene champions' who are tasked with driving our environmental
and sustainability strategy across all our offices.
'greene' is the new 'browne'
We also work in partnership with our suppliers to make
further energy savings and efficiencies. A number of our
key suppliers are ISO14001 accredited, ensuring they
meet stringent environmental procurement standards.
We also work with these companies to recycle products
such as batteries, toner cartridges and UPS units.
But for us, it is more than making sure we meet exacting
environmental standards. It is about encouraging our
people to embrace a positive lifestyle change, so
we actively promote a cycle to work scheme as well
as having annual work place challenges encouraging
employees to leave their car at home. Each year sees
more participants taking part and, in turn, encourages
people to think about the energy they use.
No44, our catering facility on site in our Nottingham
office, is committed to sourcing locally produced fresh
products alongside using biodegradable and reusable
supplies. Going forward, there are proposals to
introduce re-cycling of food waste, the development
of a herb garden and a 'grow your own' campaign to
encourage colleagues to share their home grown excess
produce for use in No44.
Other initiatives across our office network have
included:
• using zip taps instead of kettles for hot water
• replacing individual waste bins with communal bins
• separating recyclable and non-recyclable waste
• installing extensive VC equipment connecting each
office and externally to reduce the amount of travel
required.
Over the coming months we will be taking part in the
government's Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme,
designed to find ways to reduce our carbon footprint
and, in the process, become less 'Browne', and more
'Greene' Jacobson.
The roof terrace at 6 Bevis Marks