Carbon comeback

The government introduced the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC): Energy Efficiency Scheme as a new mandatory emissions trading scheme for the UK in April 2010. The CRC is core to the UK for improving its energy efficiency and reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. For organisations with annual half-hourly metered (HHM) electricity consumption over 6,000 megawatt hours (MWh) there is a legal requirement to submit carbon footprint data to the regulator of the scheme – the Environment Agency. Carbon Standards can help companies achieve both the data requirements and early action metrics under the scheme.

For landlords that fall under the CRC, the implementation of a Carbon Standard helps to gain vital early action metrics, improving their position in the league table to be published annually by the Environment Agency.

Under the CRC, the Environment Agency will be publishing an energy efficiency performance league table to leverage reputational drives to focus business on reducing emissions and improve efficiency and to calculate the annual recycling payments.  This league table will  attempt to rank participants according to their scores in three differently weighted metrics, the early action metric, the absolute emissions reduction metric and the growth metric.

The importance of implementing a Carbon Standard is clearly defined in the table on this page:
An Early Action Metric (EAM) has been included for the first phase of the Scheme to give initial credit to those organisations who have been undertaking good energy management practices previous to the scheme being introduced.

The credit given for the EAM is based on two equally weighted factors – the percentage of non-mandatorily half hourly metered electricity and gas suppliers which are covered by voluntarily installed Automatic Meter Readings (AMR) by 31st March 2011 and the percentage of CRC emissions covered by a Carbon Trust Standard or equivalent scheme certificate on 31st March of each compliance year.

Action stations
An accessible, user friendly standard which has been approved by the Environment Agency for early action metrics is the Carbon Action Standard Plus. The Carbon Action Standard Plus is a recognised as an equivalent standard to the Carbon Trust Standard. For landlords that have to comply with the CRC by achieving the Carbon Action Standard Plus demonstrates that they are taking early action and will receive a discount against the cost of carbon credits, therefore achieving substantial and widespread financial savings.

The Carbon Action Standard Plus has been developed to encourage organisations to measure their carbon footprint and develop an action plan to reduce their energy consumption and CO2 emissions. The Standard is in three parts, each containing a series of specific indicators:

1. Strategy development and understanding
This element of the standard contains 12 indicators including elements on strategy and planning, understanding the organisations carbon footprint and developing different carbon action plans for the organisation.

2. Taking action
This part of the standard covers technical and operational measures, raising awareness, effective monitoring and ensuring corrective actions.

3. Review and reporting
The final aspect of the standard covers reviews including current trends, new and upcoming legislation and business planning along with annual reporting to external stakeholders.

Assessment time
For organisations that wish to gain the Carbon Action Standard Plus the following steps can be taken.

1. Make the commitment
Once an organisation has committed to Carbon Action it is issued with a Certificate of Commitment which is valid for 12 months and can be displayed at your premises.

2. Scope and quote for assessment
The next step is to agree the scope of your assessment with the Centre for Assessment (The Certification Body) and your Assessor to gain a quote for the work. At this point it is helpful to diary in enough time for the assessment.

3. Document check
Prior to the on-site Assessment, the organisation is asked to submit three documents, the Carbon Footprint, a Self-Assessment Form and an updated CO2 reduction plan. By signing up to Carbon Action Standard Plus companies receive a CD-Rom toolkit to help them with these items.

4. Site visit and assessment
This is carried out by a registered assessor who will carry out the site visit, meet with your key contacts and talk to a small sample of staff across the organisation to find out about their involvement, levels of awareness and action taken.

5. Feedback and reports
Your assessor will provide verbal feedback at the closing meeting of the on-site assessment and confirm the recommendations he or she will make to the panel, based on the findings of the assessment. The organisation receives a written report detailing the findings.

The CD-Rom contains a carbon footprint calculator approved by the Environment Agency, which uses up to date DEFRA conversion factors. Templates for the Carbon Reduction action plans are also provided.

New beginnings
In order to achieve the Carbon Action Standard Plus, the organisation must be found to be compliant with all 23 indicators. If any areas are non-compliant, “essential action” is agreed with the assessor which must be taken within 6 months. In most cases, evidence of action can be forwarded to the assessor by email and discussed over the phone. In some cases a follow up visit may be necessary.  Once all essential actions are closed out by the assessor, the organisation will succeed in being certified against Carbon Action Standard Plus.  The certificate is valid for 2 years and then subject to re-assessment.  If more than 12 indicators are found to be non-compliant, the organisation will be asked to carry out more work and then re-apply to be assessed once again.

It is important to note that even if a company does not come under the CRC, the benefits of implementing a Carbon Standard are very powerful. This includes staff engagement on environmental issues, cost reduction by reducing electricity consumption on site and positive publicity by demonstrating commitment to take action to reduce carbon emissions.