Originally posted 25/7/23

History

Envirotecture have been carbon neutral in operations since 2012. Over the years we have used various tools to calculate our footprint and different entities to offset our emissions.

In late 2021 we partnered with a startup firm who provided calculations and offsetting for a fairly small fee, we blogged about that here. When it came around to renewing for the year, their business model had evolved and the fees had increased to the point whereby the fees were 2-3 times the cost of our offsets. This seems to be the evolving nature of the carbon world but also ironic considering we had chosen them because of the balance between fee and cost of our offsets.

We looped back around through the same dilemmas as we had in 2021 and this time arrived at a different place…..

We have decided that the nature of the various calculation providers and their need to cover costs do not sit well with our scale of operations. We have reverted back to using free online tools to calculate our footprint. We believe them to be about as inaccurate as the paid-for tools, we then offset our emission with certified credits and then offset them again through Fifteen Trees, a Ballarat-based organisation that Talina and the Victorian office have been supporting for many years.

Prior to our merger, Talina Edwards Architecture had engaged with Pangolin Associates to calculate their carbon footprint; 10.5 tonnes. They purchased 33 tonnes of offsets for a wind farm project verified through the Verified Carbon Standard, this was to cover the three years ending in December 2022. This is in addition to the trees through Fifteen Trees.

Calculations

We opted for the Carbon Positive Australia tool which had carbon rates for the various activities that covered most of our operational carbon impacts.You can download our Excel version of our calculations here. We are happy to engage in a debate as to the accuracy of them, please do get in touch. We strongly believe that there is a market for calculations and offsets for companies at our scale, although so far that demand is not being met.

Our current footprint across both offices is ~20.3 tonnes CO2.

As both the TEA offsets through Pangolin and those through ourtrace both covered to the end of 2022, we are now going to use the calendar year for our offsetting. We are also going to offset in advance using the data from the year prior i.e. our offsets for 2024 will get paid for in December 2023.

Our Offsets

In December 2022 we purchased 60 trees through Fifteen Trees, this is ~16 tonnes of carbon sequestered over their life.

We also purchased 21 tonnes of offsets through Carbon Neutral. We chose two projects, one a project in Rwanda that reduces greenhouse gas emissions through replacing cooking stoves not only does it reduce GHG emissions, it also has a huge positive health impact on the health of the women and children in the homes. You can read more about it here. The second project protects rainforests in Borneo and can be read about here.

Reducing our carbon footprint

We are doing our best to reduce our own operational carbon impact.

Our NSW office runs on 100% GreenPower. Our Victorian office does not have the ability to change electricity providers as this is controlled by our tenant-neighbours. The previous tenants were not interested in switching however in June 2023 we got new neighbours so that conversation has started again (no luck so far)

The vehicle that the company currently owns is electric. As it resides in NSW and is charged at the office the electricity is also 100% Green Power.

We are in the process of purchasing a new electric vehicle in Victoria. Due to the office location (no off street parking) this vehicle will be charged at Talina’s home, this also runs on roof-top solar PV generated power, and 100% GreenPower. (Note; this has happened now)

Whenever we fly, we opt for the carbon offsets offered by the airline; we trust in their calculations and offset systems.

The majority of our carbon impact stem from office operations, while we think we are probably lower impact than ‘standard’ offices, we are not able to easily prove that so we continue to use the averages provided by Carbon Positive Australia.

In the meantime, we continue to reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible. All printer paper we purchase (not that much) is certified carbon neutral and FSC certified. Our toilet paper is 100% recycled paper and has a social benefit too (see here). We use hand soaps that come as small tablets to reduce packaging and freight, see here. As visitors to the NSW office will know, we take our mugs to the local cafe rather than have single use takeaway cups; it also allows us to support the local economy (and they make better coffee than we do!)

The Victorian office has a compost bin for our tea-leaves and coffee-grinds, and other food scraps. In NSW these are thrown in the bush!

If you have products or ideas that could help us further reduce our impact, please do let us know…..

Scope 3 emissions

These are our indirect emissions generated in the wider economy that are from sources that we do not own or control (read more about these definitions here).

In our current understanding this covers the impacts of the projects we design. It would include both the embodied carbon (also known as upfront carbon) as well as the operational energy they consume.

While we believe the majority of our projects are carbon neutral in operation due to a combination of their energy efficiency and the provision of photovoltaic systems, we do not yet have adequate data to make those claims for all projects.  We are currently working on a system/approach to allow us to report on this over time.

The hardest aspect of Scope 3 emissions is the upfront carbon. Along with the entire design and construction industry, we are currently struggling to accurately measure this or create tools to allow us to make informed design decisions to reduce the amount of upfront carbon.

Our Little Pot of Gold project calculated an average for 172 tonnes of carbon for a 117m2 home (~1.5tonnes/m2). Based upon the carbon sequestration on average trees in Australia (268kgC/tree) it would take around 650 trees to offset the construction of one 117m2 home.

We are currently working both internally and with external industry partners to find better ways to measure these upfront impacts as well as reduce them!

2025 Update

Even with some growth in the team we are holding fairly steady at 17 tonnes of CO2 equivalent for the year. Once again we have purchased offsets through tree planting with the lovely Fifteen Trees, we have also supported this project via Carbon Neutral. The project funds the creation of boreholes in Uganda, the project brings great benefit to women who, without the boreholes, are subject to long journeys to source water that then requires boiling for disinfection. The boiling previously occurred on open fires exposing them to particulate matter and other health impacts.

We chose this project not only for its carbon savings but also for its positive impacts on health; a timely reminder that burning things and inhaling the by-products is not good for anyone!

What’s next?

We’ll continue to design the best buildings we can, reduce our own impacts as much as possible and to share what we learn #strongertogether

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