Beginner's Guide to Sustainable Procurement

Sustainable procurement is the process of reviewing the items and services that your office purchases and selecting ones with lower environmental impact.

Case study: Victorian Dept. of Transport

Long-time Signatory, the Victorian Department of Transport, Planning & Local Infrastructure, has achieved a number of operational gains including a 33 per cent reduction in energy use. With the help of the CitySwitch RMIT student program, resource audits have provided useful insights into staff 'switch-off' behaviour, waste avoidance tactics and office equipment procurement to achieve ongoing environmental and economic savings.

Daylighting, de-lamping and optimisation

A number of strategies to improve lighting efficiency can be implemented alongside a technology upgrade.

Undertaking a lighting audit

By undertaking a lighting audit, you can assess usage, fixture quantity and quality and illumination and wattage levels. CitySwitch toolkits can help non-technical staff start the audit process in-house.

Undertaking a green office audit

Auditing helps identify potential energy savings and can be done internally or externally. While your capacity to efficiency assessments will depend on resources and skill sets, CitySwitch provides templates and guidance to get started.

Case Study: City of Port Phillip

As part of their 'Toward Zero' strategy, City of Port Phillip conducted energy audits across their 250 building property portfolio. By implementing an impressive retrofit program across their portfolio and purchasing 25 per cent GreenPower, they reduced total emissions by 36 per cent.

Undertaking an equipment audit

Energy equipment audits identify areas for attention and action for savings. The scope can range from a simple walk-around checking what is left on after hours to an extensive review by an energy efficiency professional.

Planning for energy savings

An Energy Action Plan identifies options for operational efficiencies and outlines your priorities and investment needs for a tenancy. The Plan spells out what to do to get more out of office equipment and technology, staff behaviours and base building.

Energy efficient equipment overview

Equipment efficiency can be improved by upgrading to new models, automation and behaviour change.