Sydney, NSW, Australia

Colliers International Chief Executive John Kenny has announced that the company is joining the national expansion of the world leading sustainability programme CitySwitch Green Office aimed at helping commercial tenants improve their energy efficiency, following the company’s significant success in Sydney.

Colliers International was an inaugural signatory to the program which began as a joint initiative between three Sydney councils.  The company was the first signatory to achieve a best practice 5 Star Australian Building Greenhouse Rating (ABGR) in its tenancies across all three Sydney markets as part of the programme. 

Mr Kenny said he hoped that their actions would encourage other companies to consider the environmental impact of their operations.

 “We cannot expect our clients to take our advice on making their new developments, existing buildings and tenancies more sustainable without setting an example of best practice within our own business,” said Mr Kenny.

“We have been advocates for practical changes in the approach to environmental sustainability in the property industry for some time,” Mr Kenny said.

 “The programme played a big role in helping us achieve our goals by providing a framework to set our targets, which was reinforced with practical ongoing advice and support to help us achieve them,” said Mr Kenny.

Mr Kenny said the company had established its own national Green Office Programme to reduce the environmental footprint of the company as a whole.

 “The experience and knowledge we gained from the programme in Sydney was invaluable in helping us plan our national initiatives,” said Mr Kenny.

The company’s North Sydney office at Northpoint Tower was the first to receive the five star ABGR in 2005, followed by the company’s national headquarters in the CBD at Grosvenor Place in March 2007 and its Western Sydney office in Parramatta in October last year.

Mr Kenny said the Green Office Programme was an important part of Colliers International’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Programme.  The company was the first property services provider in Australia to be listed on the recently published 2007 Corporate Responsibility Index (CRI).

The Green Office Programme is lead by a network of Green Office Managers in each office who are in charge of raising awareness of the impacts of the company’s day-to-day activities, implementing operational procedures to enable improvements, and measuring and reporting on outcomes.

The programme aims for accredited 5 star ABGR ratings in all offices larger than 300sqm and includes leasing specifications for new offices and specifications for new fitouts and fitout works.

Fitout specifications cover everything from lighting systems, carpets, timbers, paints, adhesives and water equipment used, to the minimisation of demolition and construction waste and the quantities of materials used.

When searching for new office space, Colliers International’s specifications include a preference for buildings in which the landlord has an established programme to improve the environmental performance of the building, and also those which require removal of materials such as light fittings and carpet.

Initiatives to be undertaken in all offices to increase energy efficiency include ensuring lights are off in unused or unoccupied spaces and that all computers and other electrical appliances are off or on energy saver mode if available. 

The company also has a procurement policy that includes preference for high energy efficiency when procuring new electrical equipment.

Initiatives to reduce the company’s total environmental footprint include aims to reduce the amount of paper ordered in each office, the use of recycled, non chlorine bleached paper and a paper recycling systems that have seen every desk receive a paper recycling bin and a ratio of one waste bin per eight desks.

Other initiatives include recycling facilities for glass, metal and plastic, printer and copier cartridges and mobile phones being provided in all offices possible, and a policy for all reusable items (eg. furniture and computers) to be disposed of through sale or gifting rather than waste.

About Colliers International

Colliers International is a global affiliation of independently owned commercial real estate firms. The organization's 10,092 employees span the world in 267 offices in 57 countries. On a worldwide basis, Colliers manages 672,945,918 square feet, and has revenue of $US 1,620,958,349.

Contact Information

Phoebe Miller
National Communications Manager
Tel: 02 9257 0276
Mob: 0402 547 484
Email: phoebe.miller@colliers.com

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