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  Channel NewsAsia 24 Nov 06
Four companies awarded 'Green Office Label' for environmental efforts
By Yvonne Yong

Today 24 Nov 06
Go 'green' at work
IT doesn't take much effort, time or money to make an office more environmentally friendly, says Mr P H Tan, real estate operations director for Hitachi, which has won the Singapore Environment Council's Green Office Label for its commitment to preserving the environment.

Said Mr Tan: "We use recycled paper for printing and photocopying. Toner cartridges are reused and refilled."

The British High Commission, which also won the award, not only buys recycled paper but makes sure none of its furniture has been produced through illegal logging. High Commissioner Alan Collins said going green has helped reduce expenses.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) and the company Olympus were the other two winners. NEA chairman Simon Tay said every company would need to develop its own approach to being more environmentally-friendly. 938Live

Channel NewsAsia 24 Nov 06
Four companies awarded 'Green Office Label' for environmental efforts
By Yvonne Yong

SINGAPORE: Doing their bit for the environment involves more than just recycling paper, according to Howard Shaw, Executive Director of the Singapore Environment Council (SEC), who together with City Developments Limited have this year awarded four companies in Singapore with the Green Office Label.

Olympus, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (GST), Senoko Incinerator Plant (SIP) and the British High Commission are the second batch of organisations to receive the award, following in the footsteps of last year’s pioneer winners including Ricoh Asia Pacific and the National Environment Agency.

The awards form part of Project Eco-Office which since 2002 has promoted the green movement in offices across Singapore.

“We look at it holistically across the board, not just simply recycling paper but looking at energy use, monitoring water use and importantly setting targets for improvement”, says Mr Shaw in describing the stringent on-site audits used to assess the companies.

“Most of us spend at least eight hours a day at work, and our offices have often replaced our homes where we spend most of our time. Since administrative operations are common to every organisation, everyone should endeavour to keep their office environment green. There are ample eco-friendly resource-saving opportunities within the four walls of offices such as energy-efficient office equipments, effective paper recycling system, motivated staff with conservationist attitudes.”

One company which has strongly embraced the 3Rs of environmental conservation – “Reduce, Reuse and Recycle” - is current recipient of the Green Office Label, Hitachi GST.

All staff in the Hitachi GST office undergo an environmental induction programme as part of their orientation, and they are encouraged to take part in environmental events organised by the company such as talks on Hybrid cars, family outings to the Tree Top Walk, and coastal clean ups.

In the office, desks are flanked by two types of bins, one of which is for recycling. There are also more potted plants along the corridors and on office shelves than in other offices since Hitachi GST staff are urged to grow plants.

As part of corporate policy, business cards are printed on recycled paper, network printers are set and defaulted for double-sided printing, printer toner cartridges are sent for refills so as to be reused and staff are regularly sent email reminders to be mindful of waste created in the office.

To save energy, the company put in fewer fluorescent lights and set them to automatically turn off during lunch and non office hours, and puchases energy-efficient office appliances for administrative purposes.

“It’s not difficult to bring about change, because it is cultivated in the employees’ awareness, so Hitachi employees are very aware of the environment. In fact implementing things like switching off lights in the office - everyone welcomed it and it was more like, we could have done it earlier”, says Tan Puay Hwee, Director of Real Estate Site Operations Department, Hitachi GST Singapore.

He is pleased that their efforts to protect the environment are being recognised, “I feel that this award is actually quite a motivator for companies to look at eco-office – because in a lot of manufacturing plants, the emphasis is on manufacturing products and processes so sometimes offices are left behind, so this is a good motivator”, says Mr Tan.

The number of companies looking to become green is rapidly increasing, “We have a sizeable number of companies, close to a hundred that are in the process of starting up their environmental projects, so it’s a progressive scheme”, says Mr Shaw. “We see more and more firms starting up projects, educating their staff, creating awareness, installing energy saving devices such as motion sensors in the toilets, so we are fairly far ahead and moving forward very rapidly”.

The SEC are encouraging small-to-medium size enterprises in particular to take on the green challenge so that Singapore can continue to pave the way in terms of environmental awareness, “In Asia, Singapore really is leading the movement in terms of going green in the office, particularly in the area of energy efficiency,” says Mr Shaw. - CNA
links
Eco-Office on the SEC website all about how to get your office eco-certified.
Related articles on Singapore: reuse, reduce and recycle
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