Unit 18: Manage the environmental impact of work activities
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Assess and report on the environmental impact of work activities
Having looked at how to assess impacts of environmental activities in Topic guide 18.2, you now need to be able to demonstrate how to do this in your own area of activity. If you are already employed in construction, manufacturing engineering or building services engineering, then you are in a good position to use the techniques discussed in Topic guide 18.2. If you are not yet employed in one of these sectors, then you may need to use a tutor-derived vocational scenario, or you may be able to shadow a colleague who is already employed in the industry and make an assessment of the environmental impacts of their job. If you work for a listed company, then you may be required to assist with, or prepare, the company’s report on emissions; this may even form part of a wider environmental report. This topic guide will cover: •• how to assess the environmental impact of work activities and resource use •• how to report on the environmental impact of work activities and resource use, making recommendations for improvement.
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Unit 18: Manage the environmental impact of work activities
Links
1 How to assess the environmental impact of work activities and resource use
HNC in Construction and the Built Environment: Unit 47 Energy utilisation and efficiency for building services engineering, learning outcome 1, assessment criteria 1.2 and 1.3; learning outcome 3, assessment criteria 1.2 and 3.1; learning outcome 4, assessment criteria 4.1–4.3.
To assess the environmental impact of your own work activities, you will need to look at the six areas discussed in Topic guide 18.2.
HNC in Manufacturing Engineering and Building Services Engineering: Unit 11 Supply chain management, learning outcome 1, assessment criteria 1.1; Unit 52 Energy management, learning outcome 1, assessment criteria 1.1–1.3; learning outcome 2, assessment criteria 2.1– 2.3; learning outcome 3, assessment criteria 3.1–3.3; learning outcome 4, assessment criteria 4.1–4.3; Unit 65 Utilisation of electrical energy, learning outcome 4, assessment criteria 4.1–4.3.
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Greenhouse gases
2
Water
3
Waste
4
Materials and resource efficiency
5
Biodiversity/ecosystem services
6
Emissions to air, land and water
Greenhouse gases There are a number of resources available to help you assess greenhouse gas emissions due to work activities. The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs provides an online tool to help companies make detailed calculations of greenhouse gas emissions for a wide variety of work-related activities such as transport fuel use, electricity use, waste disposal, air travel, and water use and treatment. This online tool is available at:
www.ukconversionfactorscarbonsmart.co.uk. Example As a building services engineer you drive to clients’ commercial properties in a medium-sized diesel van. Over a week you log that you have travelled 435 km to jobs. Estimate the CO2 emissions caused by your van for: (i) the week logged (ii) a year at this rate of travel. Answers There are many CO2 calculators available online and from manufacturers. Using government data we can determine a figure of 198 g/km. (i) For the week logged: 435 km x 198 g/km = 86 130 g (or 86.13 kg) (ii) For a year: 435 km x 52 weeks = 22 620 km
22 620 km x 198 g/m = 4 478 760 g (or 4478.76 kg)
Source: http://vanfueldata.dft.gov.uk
Activity Consider the questions below carefully and make estimates for each, if applicable. Use a carbon conversion tool to estimate the quantity of greenhouse gas emissions these activities are responsible for. •• Does your work activity involve the emission of any of the greenhouse gases? •• Does your work activity involve driving a road vehicle? If so, for what distance per year? •• Do you use electricity derived from the burning of fossil fuels? •• Do you send materials to landfill, or to be incinerated without energy recovery? Retain the information you have gathered for use in the portfolio task at the end of this topic guide.
18.3: Assess and report on the environmental impact of work activities
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Unit 18: Manage the environmental impact of work activities
Water Consider the following questions. •• How much water do your work activities use? •• Do you use water in your day-to-day activities? If so, how much in litres? •• Is your water use managed or controlled in any way? •• How is your water supplied? •• Do you abstract water locally, then return it to source? If so, what is its condition on return? •• Is your site surface water managed along with foul water? •• Do you use any water harvesting systems?
Activity Water is metered to any commercial site. 1 Find the water meter at a site you are currently working on and monitor it for a week by recording the reading each day. 2 Log the activities taking place on site that use water. If your site returns water to the environment, then also monitor the amount returned and any quality indicators. Retain this information for use in the portfolio task at the end of this topic guide.
Waste Consider the following questions. •• Do you know how much waste your activities are responsible for? •• Do you know how much waste your company has generated in the last year? •• Do you produce waste material directly in your day-to-day work? •• How much waste is produced as a direct result of your activities? •• Can you reuse any of the waste that you produce in your activities? •• Do you know how waste from your work activities is treated and disposed of? •• Do you or your company know about, and apply, the waste hierarchy?
Figure 18.3.1: How much waste is generated at your company?
18.3: Assess and report on the environmental impact of work activities
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Unit 18: Manage the environmental impact of work activities
Activity 1 To help minimise the effects of waste from your company’s processes, find out what exactly is being sent to waste. Explore which materials can be reused, or have energy recovered from them. 2 Determine the volume or weight of waste generated. 3 Investigate whether any of the material can be separated and sold to recyclers. Retain this information for use in the portfolio task at the end of this topic guide.
Materials and resource efficiency Consider the following questions. •• How well do you use materials and resources? •• Could you make more efficient use of the materials you consume? •• Do you use extractive materials such as metals and aggregates? •• Do you cut pieces from sheet materials such as plywood, plasterboard or metal plate? •• Do you make full and efficient use of the full sheet, and is spare material retained or recycled on site? •• Are there low impact materials you can use in place of the materials you are currently using? •• Is there a more energy-efficient way to carry out your work?
Activity Calculate how much raw material your company uses in a year – find out the volume of metals, aggregates, water and other basic materials that have been ordered in the last year and use a carbon calculator to estimate the embodied energy of these materials. Retain this information for use in the portfolio task at the end of this topic guide.
Biodiversity/ecosystem services Consider the following questions. •• Do any of your work activities impact on the local ecosystem? •• Are you involved in property or land development? Do your work activities alter the natural environment? •• Do your work activities alter natural waterways or increase the risk of flooding? •• Do you know the environmental receptors that are present in your local area of operations? •• Are there any protected species or local organisms that are particularly vulnerable to changes in the environment? •• Are you operating in a Site of Special Scientific Interest, a National Park or National Trust property?
Emissions to air, land and water Consider the following questions. •• Do your work activities cause emissions into the natural environment? •• Do your work activities create particulate matter that is emitted into the air? •• If you are involved in construction or demolition, do you use dust suppression techniques?
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Unit 18: Manage the environmental impact of work activities •• •• •• •• ••
Does your site have wheel wash facilities for vehicles leaving the site? If you use road transport, do you know the emissions rate of each vehicle? Have you logged vehicle mileage and calculated total emissions? Do you use volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in your day-to-day activities? Is there any likelihood of a spillage of dangerous material into the natural environment? If so, are you and other staff aware of what to do?
Figure 18.3.2: Do you know the emissions rate of road transport vehicles that leave your work site?
Activity Reread the questions on biodiversity/ecosystem services and emissions to air, land and water. Then look at the questions below. Estimate answers where appropriate. •• Are there improvements in record keeping that you could make in your operations? •• Are there any improvements that you could make on how work activities are carried out to reduce impacts in either of these areas? Retain this information for use in the portfolio task at the end of this topic guide.
2 How to report on the environmental impact of work activities and resource use, making recommendations for improvement You have examined how to assess the environmental impact of work activities and how to minimise these effects. You now need to know how to make detailed calculations of your environmental impacts and report on them. If you work for a listed company, you are required to report on greenhouse gas emissions under the Climate Change Act 2008. The report on emissions should be included as part of the required annual directors’ report for the company.
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Unit 18: Manage the environmental impact of work activities
Reporting on environmental impact To report on the environmental impact of your work activities, review the sections discussed earlier and analyse the impact under each of the following areas.
Key term Key performance indicators – environmental key performance indicators (KPIs) are quantifiable data on environmental performance in the key areas of greenhouse gases, air pollution, water, biodiversity/ ecosystem services, materials and waste.
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Greenhouse gases
2
Water
3
Waste
4
Materials and resource efficiency
5
Biodiversity/ecosystem services
6
Emissions to air, land and water
Once you have assessed the activities that create environmental impacts, you will need to research and use conversion factors. These factors are published figures that will help you convert work activities into equivalent carbon emissions. The data is available from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs and the website contains a downloadable tool for calculating emissions using conversion factors. You can access this tool at:
www.ukconversionfactorscarbonsmart.co.uk. Your report should include a base year to provide a consistent comparison of emissions over time for your key performance indicators. The report should also provide indicators expressed as a total volume and as an intensity ratio, i.e. emissions per unit of sales or floor space. All sectors should use an intensity ratio of tonnes of CO2 per £m revenue. The manufacturing industry may also use tonnes of CO2 per million tonnes of production, and the property sector tonnes of CO2 per square metre. The report should be clear and transparent, and must include the following. 1
A summary of how you have collected the data, including methodologies adopted, progress against targets, expenditure on environmental technology, training or processes.
2
An explanation of which management system is being used for the reporting and who has responsibility for the system.
3
An identification of any risks arising from your company’s environmental performance, including any environmental prosecutions or fines. The date, location, reason and amount of fine needs to be stated.
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The internal processes for the management of environmental performance and risk.
Figure 18.3.3 (on the next page) shows a simplified example report of total emissions for a manufacturing company.
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Unit 18: Manage the environmental impact of work activities
Company information: F&G Manufacturing Engineering Limited Summary Emissions have fallen this year due to a number of measures put in place including: 1. Segregation of wase and implementation of new internal recycling procedures 2. introduction of low energy lighting fittings throughout office areas 3. introduction of resource saving techniques in office areas 4. water efficiency techniques in production area 5. materials’ use efficiency in workshop area 6. redesign of product packaging We have continued to use verified carbon offsetting. However, due to ongoing improvements in our own environmental performance we are offsetting less carbon emissions elsewhere. We are continuing to make progress towards our target of a 15 per cent reduction on our 2012 emissions by 2015. Emissions data for company F&G Manufacturing Engineers 1 January 2012–31 December 2012
Figure 18.3.3: An example of a report showing total emissions for a manufacturing company.
Link NVQ Unit 1: Ensure compliance with legal, regulatory, ethical and social requirements.
Tonnes of CO2
Base year 2010
Scope 1 Scope 2 Scope 3 Total gross emissions
21 525 18 960 12 050 52 523
25 395 22 185 15 980 63 560
Carbon offsets
(7 500)
(10 000)
Total annual net emissions
45 035
53 560
Recommendations for improvement Your report should include current data against the base year to show a comparison over time. It should also include targets and how much progress is being made against company targets and national or international benchmarks, for example the 2020 carbon emissions target or the Kyoto Protocol. Where targets are not met, you will need to look at why they have been missed and what actions can be put in place to improve performance in these areas.
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Unit 18: Manage the environmental impact of work activities
Link NVQ Unit 1: Ensure compliance with legal, regulatory, ethical and social requirements.
Areas of poor performance should be reviewed in terms of the key performance indicators discussed earlier. You should be able to analyse work activities sufficiently to determine whether more can be done to minimise the environmental impacts, or if the targets were too ambitious. Staff may require further training in work techniques or there may be a requirement for capital investment to provide better-performing equipment or to replace old equipment. It may also be the case that metrics were not applied properly and actual measurements given are incorrect, leading to inaccurate reporting. In this case, further staff training should be used to ensure accurate readings are made and recorded for all key performance data. Remember that an environmental management system using ISO 14000 uses the plan–do–check–act system to ensure periodic review and improvement – use the data relating to any missed targets in this cycle to develop and improve the next cycle. Do not forget to include areas where your company may be performing well. The report could also indicate where there may be a possibility of making yet more improvements.
Portfolio activity (3.1, 3.2) Revisit the studies of the environmental impacts of your work activities that you carried out earlier in this topic guide, either on an individual or a company-wide scale, depending on the exact nature of your role. Using the guidance in this topic guide, make a detailed assessment of the actual environmental impacts under the following headings. 1 Greenhouse gases 2 Water 3 Waste 4 Materials and resource efficiency 5 Biodiversity/ecosystem services 6 Emissions to air, land and water •• Using a reliable conversion factor, make an assessment of the carbon emissions attributable to your activities. Present your findings as a formal report, similar to, but preferably more detailed than, the example in this topic guide. •• Tabulate the emissions data and include any compensation measures you or your company have used. •• Provide a summary report on the data using appropriate formal language and style, and make broad recommendations for improvement to your own or your company’s environmental performance.
Checklist At the end of this topic guide you should be familiar with: how to make an environmental assessment of your work activities how to report on your environmental performance.
Further reading and resources www.gov.uk/government/publications/environmental-reporting-guidelines-includingmandatory-greenhouse-gas-emissions-reporting-guidance
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Unit 18: Manage the environmental impact of work activities
Acknowledgements The publisher would like to thank the following for their kind permission to reproduce their photographs: Pearson Education Ltd: Coleman Yuen (5); Shutterstock.com: Silverblack (1) All other images © Pearson Education Every effort has been made to trace the copyright holders and we apologise in advance for any unintentional omissions. We would be pleased to insert the appropriate acknowledgement in any subsequent edition of this publication.
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