Our performance during the finanical year 2008/2009
As a responsible business, we look to minimise our own direct carbon footprint. We also know that we can and help our suppliers drive further reductions, help to reduce the environmental impact of our customers through the products we provide them, inspire positive action on climate change on a scale far greater than our operational footprint. We measure all these impacts so that we can track the progress we’ve made and plan how to drive further carbon reductions. Our net emission sources are detailed in the diagram below.
Energy
Carbon emissions from energy use accounts for around 53% of our net carbon footprint. As a result, this year we decided to install "smart" electricity meters in all the buildings we own, to measure electricity use floor by floor and help us identify potential energy savings. We’ll be rolling these out during our 2008/09 financial year and letting our employees know how they can use them to reduce their energy use in the office.
Other improvements we’ve made include installing chilled beam technology air conditioning systems that use less energy, solar powered lighting, and controls that automatically switch lights off when a room is not being used.
Data centres can consume a lot of energy. So we’re reducing the number of data centres we use from thirteen to two, and making energy efficiency a priority at these sites. Steps we’ve taken so far include replacing older servers with newer machines that can store up to 10 times more data without increasing power consumption, and an innovative cooling system that directs cold air to exactly where it’s needed.
The implementation of a number of energy efficiency initiatives, including the installation of efficient chillers, variable speed pumps, and the continued investment in energy efficient lighting and smart metering our main sites including Osterley, Chilworth, Dunfermline and Livingston has contributed to a 5% reduction in electricity use and a 21% reduction in gas consumption during 2008/09.
We purchase all of our electricity requirements for UK owned sites from a renewable energy tariff with Scottish and Southern, which includes the energy output of a wind farm on the Isle of Skye. Scottish and Southern, on behalf of Sky, retain the appropriate certificates linked with the power / KWh purchased in the form of Levy Exemption Certificates (LECs) and Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGOs).
Carbon emissions from energy use accounts for around 53% of our net carbon footprint. As a result, this year we decided to install "smart" electricity meters in all the buildings we own, to measure electricity use floor by floor and help us identify potential energy savings. We’ll be rolling these out during our 2008/09 financial year and letting our employees know how they can use them to reduce their energy use in the office.
Other improvements we’ve made include installing chilled beam technology air conditioning systems that use less energy, solar powered lighting, and controls that automatically switch lights off when a room is not being used.
Data centres can consume a lot of energy. So we’re reducing the number of data centres we use from thirteen to two, and making energy efficiency a priority at these sites. Steps we’ve taken so far include replacing older servers with newer machines that can store up to 10 times more data without increasing power consumption, and an innovative cooling system that directs cold air to exactly where it’s needed.
The implementation of a number of energy efficiency initiatives, including the installation of efficient chillers, variable speed pumps, and the continued investment in energy efficient lighting and smart metering our main sites including Osterley, Chilworth, Dunfermline and Livingston has contributed to a 5% reduction in electricity use and a 21% reduction in gas consumption during 2008/09.
We purchase all of our electricity requirements for UK owned sites from a renewable energy tariff with Scottish and Southern, which includes the energy output of a wind farm on the Isle of Skye. Scottish and Southern, on behalf of Sky, retain the appropriate certificates linked with the power / KWh purchased in the form of Levy Exemption Certificates (LECs) and Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin (REGOs).
Business Travel
Transport accounts for 42% of our total net carbon footprint.
Around 92% of our van fleet is now warranted to use sustainably-sourced B30 biodiesel, and we’ve also introduced hybrid vehicles for our regional managers. We use a route planning system and a training programme to help engineers get the best fuel economy from their vans. Emissions increased in 2008/09 due to the expansion of our van fleet (due to increased demand for our products from customers), and increased business car travel.
Although our fleet has expanded by 25%, our vans have become more efficient with a 15% reduction in CO2e emissions per van since last year.
Business travel is another important focus, especially flights between Edinburgh and London, the two areas where most of our staff are based. We use an HD virtual meeting service to replace flights where possible. We also designated April 2009 a ‘Travel Challenge’ month, encouraging employees to reduce business air travel by using alternatives such as trains and video conferencing. Flights reduced by 60% during the month and we gave out awards to the departments who did most to reduce air travel. Over 2008/09 there has been a 35% decrease in business air travel and we’ll be looking to continue this trend going forward.
Waste
We’ve increased recycling by more than 85% and reduced waste sent to landfill by over 42% over the past two years. In 2008/09, we made recycling even easier for our employees by introducing mixed recycling bins. Waste is sorted by our contractor and employees no longer need to worry about which waste goes in which bin. We ran an internal publicity campaign to let everyone know about the change. In 2008/09, we recycled 71% of the waste we generated, up from 55% in 2007/08.
Also in 2008/09, our sites in Livingston and Dunfermline diverted 91% of their waste from landfill through the introduction of composting,
Our customers can use our free take-back service to recycle their old Sky equipment, and we include information on this service on the packaging for all new set top boxes.
The UK’s Environment Agency audited our compliance with the Producer Obligation (Packaging Waste) Regulations and the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations this year and was satisfied that we comply with all requirements.
We also comply with the Batteries and Accumulator Regulations and the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation & Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) Regulations which has now come into force.
Water
As a company we are not a significant user of water but nevertheless think it important to monitor and reduce our use. This year we have reduced our water consumption by 22% from 9.59 m3 per full time equivalent member of staff (FTE) in 2007/08 to 7.51 m3 per FTE.
At our Osterley campus we achieved a reduction by working with Thames Water to review and improve our water infrastructure. In Scotland we have reduced the number of water dispensers and are introducing additional water saving devices throughout our buildings.
Products
Increasing the efficiency of our products benefits the environment and saves money for our customers. We’ve set up a Product Environment Group to make low-energy technology a feature across all Sky products.
We pioneered automatic night-time standby for our set top boxes in 2007. We updated this feature so boxes switch to standby mode after four hours of inactivity during the day in addition to turning themselves off at night. All our customers have had this software downloaded to their boxes during the year.
In total this is expected to cut our customers’ energy bills by an estimated £20 million a year, and will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by around 90,000 tonnes per year 2: more than our own net carbon footprint.1
From 2010, the EU Energy Using Products Directive requires equipment to use no more than 1 watt in standby mode or have an off-mode. We’re implementing an off-switch to our boxes, to comply with the new requirements. However, we believe the total annual energy consumption (TEC) is a more important measure of energy consumption than standby energy, and have worked with other companies to develop a voluntary code limiting the total energy consumption of set top boxes.
Supply Chain
In 2008/09 we completed a high level review of the carbon emissions of our supplier base. We believe this to be a very important step in understanding the impacts of our business beyond our own direct influence. The next stage of this project will be to work with 50 of our most carbon emitting suppliers, which were identified by the first stage of the project, to further understand their CO2 emissions and identify ways we can work together to reduce these emissions.
We sponsored in 2009 the Prince’s May Day Summit, the UK’s largest gathering of businesses committed to taking action on climate change, and our Chief Executive, Jeremy Darroch, hosted one of the roundtable discussions.
These provided participants with the opportunity to share achievements from the past year; discuss current challenges and solutions; and identify collaborative activities to lead and participate in over the coming year. Jeremy’s discussion focused on how to engage small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in efforts to tackle climate change. Solutions identified included rolling out our Carbon Copy mentoring scheme through which large businesses share knowledge and training with their suppliers or customers.
Other ideas included incentivising suppliers by giving preferential treatment and terms to carbon compliant businesses, and developing SME climate change awards to showcase good practice.