Marshalls Chartered Surveyors - Environmental Management Policy

Marshalls Chartered Surveyors are committed to a policy of minimising our impact on the environment.

This is achieved through minimising waste, where possible, and by seeking to make the most efficient use of our resources.

IMPACTS

Our most significant adverse environmental impacts are:

Emissions to atmosphere from the use of carbon based energy in offices and fuel in transport.
Consumption of resources by our use of energy, water, raw materials, office supplies and furniture etc.
Production of waste materials.

OBJECTIVES

We have identified the following objectives, which combined together make up our overall environmental management policy:

Set objectives targets and programmes to continually improve our environmental performance, including the reduction of pollution.
Comply with the spirit and the letter of environmental laws, the regulations, and Codes of Practice.
Reduce pollution levels and aim to utilise alternative fuel technologies/policies that lead to cleaner air, wherever practicable.
Adopt environmentally sound waste management practices, including recycling, and environmentally conscious waste disposal. Marshalls Surveyors will also seek to adopt the use of energy efficient resources.
Review the acquisition of its materials and equipment where practicable. Preference will be given to items, which cause the least amount of harm to the environment, and where during production, the least amount of waste is produced.
Provide training for all staff so that they are familiar with our environmental systems and procedures.
Strive to achieve continuous improvement in its Environmental Performance. This will include taking corrective action, where necessary.
The Partners at Marshalls Chartered Surveyors have joint overall responsibility for its environmental affairs and will review this policy at periodic intervals.

PRACTICAL STEPS

We will employ the following initiatives in order to achieve our stated objectives:

We will offset our carbon emissions.
We will obtain stationary from suppliers, produced using re-cycled materials, where possible.
We will encourage the use of e-mail to minimize material usage.
We will seek to operate vehicles, which have favorable ratings on fuel emissions and continually assess alternative fuels. Where possible appointments will be grouped to minimize travelling.
We will employ the use of energy efficient lighting and, where practicable, heating systems in our office premises.
We will seek to occupy office premises, where practicable, that incorporate good levels of thermal insulation, reducing the levels of energy required for heating.
We will encourage employees to contribute towards reducing the amounts of electricity used where possible. This will be achieved by switching off computers, monitors and other office equipment, where this is not in use for periods of one hour or more.
We will continually seek to identify new ways in which savings and reductions in the use of both water and electricity can be made and encourage input from its employees as to how this might be achieved.
Waste paper will be re-used as notepaper, rather than immediately disposed of (sensitive documents must be shredded).
We will purchase cleaning materials which are biodegradable and do not cause harm to the environment.
The office lighting within our premises will be switched off overnight, unless this is required for security reasons. In which case, low level, energy efficient lighting will be utilized

FACTS

Avoid unnecessary lighting by making maximum use of daylight. Ensure that the last person out switches off all the lights: lighting an empty office overnight wastes enough energy to heat water for 1,000 cups of coffee.

One tonne of paper from recycled pulp saves 17 trees, 2.3 cubic metres of landfill space, 31,400 litres of water, 4200 kWh (enough to heat a home for half a year), 1600 litres of oil, and prevents 26 kgs of air pollutants.

If every household in the UK installed one low energy lamp then we could shut down a 2,000MW power station.

It is a myth that leaving fluorescent lights on uses less energy than turning them on and off. Always switch lights off where possible.

Lighting an empty office overnight wastes enough energy to heat water for 1,000 cups of coffee.

Improvements in office lighting practices can reduce annual lighting costs from £3 per square metre to £1 per square metre.

Switching from T12 38mm to T8 26mm diameter fluorescent tubes uses 8% less energy for the same light output.

A PC left running 24 hours per day would use £59 worth of electricity over a 12 month period and result in emissions of 716Kg of carbon dioxide a year.

Just leaving on a computer monitor overnight wastes enough energy to laser print 800 A4 pages.

Two thirds of the energy used by a PC/VDU is used by the VDU. Screen savers may save screens but not energy.

Recycling one glass jar can save enough energy to light an energy efficient light bulb for 24 hours. Nearly 50% of household waste could be diverted from landfill by making compost from kitchen and garden waste.

Regulated by RICS