Krystyna Rawicz FSCSI FRICS
Chartered Building Surveyor
Managing Director at KRA Visionary Project Partners
Today we have access to a wealth of information on the need for sustainability in our businesses, along with endless suggestions on how we can do this. While this information is incredibly helpful, it can also feel overwhelming for business owners just beginning their journey to sustainability.
Daunting long-term targets can sometimes prevent us from taking any steps at all. If you find yourself in this position, I encourage you to not be discouraged by the amount that can be done but keep your focus on what you can do now and how you can take steps forward. There are great simple steps you can take today to begin to make changes that really impact our surrounding environment.
At KRA, what we’ve done has been to implement as much as we can right now while continuing to make plans for future additions. Don’t allow the long-term targets to keep you from doing what you can today. For surveyors or business owners just beginning a journey towards sustainable practice, I encourage you to figure out what you can implement today and then make plans for further initiatives.
We each have an important part to play and that begins with taking a first step and doing what we can. We’ve compiled a list of 12 simple sustainable steps we’ve begun to implement at KRA. If you are unsure where to begin I’d encourage you to take a look at the list below and find a few things you can begin to adopt in your practice.
12 Simple Sustainability Steps we have taken :
- Moved to paperless systems as far as possible
- Any paper needed (including business cards, memo pads etc) sourced from suppliers who use 100% recycled paper
- Choosing sustainable office supplies, including “Who gives a Crap” toilet paper, Fair Chain coffee from Moyee, and environmentally friendly cleaning products
- Installed a hot water tap to eliminate repeated kettle boiling (thereby reducing our energy consumption)
- Replaced director’s petrol and diesel cars with EV’s, with the intention of rolling out EV’s across the entire company
- Provided “free to use” bikes at head office
- Offset all business and director’s personal flights
- Bought 5 acres of degraded bog in Donegal, which we will restore and preserve going forward
- Replaced office lighting with LED’s
- Introduced recycling station in office with segregation of recyclables (including crisp packets) as well as implementing a composting system
- Office refit undertaken using the most sustainable materials available, and paid for removed carpet to be taken for recycling by Interface
- Aim to bring sustainability into discussions with clients about all projects and properties wherever possible and “nudge” behavioural change