DLA Piper, the global commercial law business with offices in both Glasgow and Edinburgh has introduced a Global Sustainability Initiative covering waste, energy, water and travel with support from Envirowise Scotland. Support has been gained through Envirowise BigSplash and Measurement and Benchmarking visits, seminars and events to which DLA Piper have benefited to date from savings in excess of £45,000.
The Sustainability Initiative has lead to DLA Piper introducing a number of new measures, practices and cost saving devices. For example, through the BigSplash audit, which reviews an organisation’s water efficiency, Envirowise were able to identify an incorrectly sized water meter, which has since been replaced with a reimbursement of over £36,000. The new water meter will also save the company approximately £150 per quarter. DLA Piper will now use a spreadsheet to track their water consumption and associated savings as part of the Global Sustainability Initiative.
Other resource efficient devices that have been installed include making changes to heating and lighting which has lead to reduced wattage lamps and Passive Infra-Red sensors being fitted as well as time programmable and zone heating temperature controls being installed.
Policies have been instigated throughout both offices, which involve the need to Switch-off electrical appliances and lights when not in use. A recycling policy has been adopted with an overall 26% recycling rate, which is above the UK national average rate of 18% (Defra 2007).
Finally DLA Piper have made a significant effort to reduce business air miles by offsetting associated air travel carbon emissions through the purchase of carbon credits. These balance out the effect of air emissions by funding projects that reduce the amount of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere. In 2007, DLA Piper offset 54.5 tonnes of carbon at a cost of £270.