The Asprea team in Sheffield - Travel plan
The Asprea team in Sheffield - Travel plan | |
Business: Carillion Facilities Management - Asprea Date: 2007 Location: Sheffield Business Benefits: Reduced environmental impact Increased understanding of employee travel patterns and needs Strengthened office relationship Community benefits: Action to reduce emissions in an Air Quality Management Zone |
Climate change is increasingly recognised as a major environmental and business challenge. It is widely accepted that greenhouse gas emissions such as CO2, can result in a negative impact on the environment. The Carillion Sustainability Excellence Model (SEM) includes a KPI for transport carbon emissions reduction, which required action from Asprea and additionally, emissions from transport were identified as a significant environmental aspect in the Asprea Environmental Aspects and Impacts register. Asprea has 134 full time car-driving surveyors, and approximately 276 office- based staff. The Sustainability Coordinator, Neville Pottinger, needed to establish exactly what impact the commuter and Surveyor journeys were having and exactly how much greenhouse gas was being produced as a result of these journeys. New initiatives were implemented to monitor these outputs and control measures needed to be developed to reduce these impacts. It was decided that establishing a carbon footprint was the first step towards reducing emissions. |
Travel Survey – Impact of commuting A travel survey was considered the most efficient way to establish the impact of employee commuting. A web-based survey was generated and distributed to employees via an email link. The survey’s aims were to determine:
To ensure a good response rate, effective communication was essential so prior to distribution, a memo was distributed and a series of posters were created, to outline the aims of the survey, expressing the benefits of travel data gathering and encouraging everyone to respond. Following distribution the results were gathered, with a 62% response rate, demonstrating a significant sample size and excellent employee engagement with the initiative. In collaboration with South Yorkshire Transport Executive and Sheffield Business Park (in which Asprea Sheffield is situated) the data was analysed and respondents’ locations mapped. A travel plan was drawn up, to include all participants. The travel plan will be extended and new initiatives introduced, to encourage a reduction in Asprea’s carbon footprint, associated with travel. Initiatives will include mapping cycle routes to and from the office, coupled with promotion of the “Cycle to Work” tax credit scheme offered by Carillion. Consideration is being given to the provision of high quality cycle storage facilities and the upgrading of washing and changing facilities. The Sustainability Coordinator joined the Sheffield Business Park Residents’ Association, which meets monthly to discuss park provisions and to implement new initiatives, encouraging collaboration between the businesses in the park. The travel plan is to be extended, to incorporate all the members in the park, which will dramatically increase the flexibility of the plan and create more transport alternatives for individuals, making it even easier for staff to car share or leave the car at home altogether. This pilot will be extended to create plans for all six Asprea offices, over the coming months. | |
Asprea Carbon Foot print From the information obtained from the survey, Asprea is determining its employees’ commuting carbon foot print. This information will be consolidated with the surveyor mileage details and office energy usage, for which information is currently being gathered, to create an Asprea Carbon footprint. A programme of new initiatives will be implemented to ensure that business reduction targets are met. This is an example of how the continual environmental performance improvement requirements of ISO.14001 are being addressed within the Asprea contract. | |
