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The environmental accounting sector is rapidly changing and we are constantly researching developments to stay up to date. The “Best Foot Foreword” page shares some of our findings on recent developments in the sector, media reports and our news. If you would like to be kept up to date on our blog, subscribe to our RSS feed.
Showing entries 1 to 10 of 36
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Chicago 2016 runs with Footprinter
Fri 14 Nov 2008
Chicago’s bid to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games is taking carbon footprinting seriously. They have turned to Footprinter™, Best Foot Forward’s web-based carbon management tool, to help them measure, monitor and reduce the likely environmental impact of hosting the Games.
BFF Director Craig Simmons said: “We are delighted to be supporting Chicago in their bid to host the 2016 Games and encouraged by their early commitment to tackling their footprint.”
Footprinter™ is available in several version for application in different sectors. A custom version was produced for Chicago 2016 based on Construction Footprinter™. Find out more about Footprinter at www.footprinter.com
ZEDbook wins prestigious RIBA President's Award
Mon 10 Nov 2008
Co-authored by BFF Director Craig Simmons, leading architect Bill Dunster and energy expert Bobby Gilbert, 'The ZEDbook: solutions for a shrinking world' has won the prestigious RIBA President's Award for Research 2008. The judges' citation stated "this is a serious body of work well researched and documented, with the ideas having been refined constantly over the years."
The citation continues: "Their approach covers both building component and design output. As a summative product of this research The ZEDbook records about 10 years of development from 'Bedzed' onwards looking at the building physics and the component elements of a range of projects. The ZEDbook is clearly written, well illustrated and referenced and allows the reader to dip in to specific subject areas. The book presents a body of work that has served the profession and the cause of sustainability extremely well."
Purchase a copy here: The ZEDbook: solutions for a shrinking world
Compare2Offset reply to BFF criticism
Tue 28 Oct 2008
Last week we posted a critique of Compare2Offset.com, a price comparison site which buys carbon offsets with some of the commission it receives from online retailers. We thought this was sending the wrong message about consumerism and climate change. Well, the founder of the company saw our entry and has responded with his counter-argument on the company's own blog - which we think it only fair to promote! All part of the healthy discussion around promoting more sustainable behaviour...
Save the planet ... by consuming more?
Tue 21 Oct 2008
It now appears that one of the symbols of modern consumerism - the price comparison website - is getting in on the offsetting act (it was only a matter of time). Compare2Offset.com uses some of the commission they get from retailers to buy carbon offsets from a well known provider - and claim that by buying enough stuff (e.g. plasma TVs) you can become carbon neutral! It's really as easy as that!
From our point of view there are a couple of problems with this model of tackling climate change ...
Firstly, on a purely technical level, they have quoted the average UK resident footprint of 4.48tCO2 - which is Defra's figure for home and personal travel only. The actual footprint of an average UK resident is likely to be at least double this when taking into account imported goods, public services, food consumption etc (kind of ironic when this website is promoting increased consumption of imported goods!).
Secondly, supporters may argue that it's better for someone to purchase goods and contribute to some sort of benefit (depending on how you view the true effectiveness of carbon offsetting). However, in reality, money saved on such a sites would be spent on more products/services (each with their own embodied and in-use carbon impact) ...
BFF feel this sort of initiative is sending the wrong message to consumers - that you can effectively neutralise your impact by consuming more. Unfortunately, consumption is still coupled to environmental damage and so the message must be for us to reduce consumption - while looking for new ways of decoupling our economies.
(PS See the blog post above for Compare2Offset's response!)
US wine maker announces BFF carbon study
Mon 20 Oct 2008
US wine producer Fetzer has announced the results of a study undertaken by BFF into the carbon savings associated with the lightweighting of their bottles. The new design eliminates the punt — the concave indentation on the bottom of bottles — and reduces the thickness of the glass.
The study, which concentrated on the manufacturing and transportation stages of bottle production, highlighted annual potential savings of 3,000 US tons of greenhouse gases (c. 14% of the footprint associated with current claret and burgundy-style bottle production & transportation). The news has been picked up by Green Biz and Packaging Digest websites.
What if the credit crunch billions went to green energy?
Mon 20 Oct 2008
Technical Director Craig Simmons hypothesised with The Guardian on what the billions so quickly invested in the UK finance sector could deliver if channelled to renewable energy generation. He concluded that real long term investment in securing our future seems to have taken backstage once again.
An equivalent injection of money would provide at least 32 TWh (terawatt hours) of clean, green electricity – about 8% of the UK’s total demand, putting the country well on track to achieve the EU’s 2020 renewables target. Carbon dioxide savings would be around 14 millions tonnes and energy security would take a great leap forward. Charging for the energy would, at current prices, give a reasonable return on investment of 6%.
New courses tackle product footprints & carbon pricing
Tue 14 Oct 2008
What might the current economic turmoil mean for corporate environmental initiatives? Whilst climate change and the associated pressures from government and the consumer will remain, it is likely that green spend will be more scutinised than ever. To limit risk, organisations will also want to ensure that environmental measures are compatible with evolving standards. To better equip organisations to deal with these challenges BFF have developed two new training courses that support decision-making.
Decision Making using the Price of Carbon (25th Nov 2008) is relevant to both environmental specialists and finance directors/managers involved in investment decisions in this area.
Product Footprinting to Emerging Standards (26th Nov 2008) will introduce key product footprinting concepts and standards - and enable organisations to effectively procure and get the most value from such studies. The course will focus on the new PAS2050 specification and draw on BFF's unrivalled experience in delivering product footprints over the past ten years.
Both courses will be held at BFF's Oxford office in our dedicated training room. For more information see our website www.bestfootforward.com - or to book a place contact Helen Tyrrell at mail@bestfootforward.com or 01865 250818.
GHG Protocol to be extended
Thu 02 Oct 2008
BFF recently joined a practitioners and users group which is advising the World Resources Institute and World Business Council for Sustainable Development on extensions to the international GHG Protocol for company greenhouse gas reporting. This influential protocol formed the basis for ISO14064 (launched 2006) and is now set to offer better guidance on how to account for indirect, supply chain GHG emissions (so called 'Scope 3' impacts), and advice on accounting for the carbon footprint of goods and services. If you want to be kept informed of developments in this area, keep your eye on this blog and join our newsletter mailing list.
ENDS report features BFF cartridge footprint
Tue 30 Sep 2008
The September issue of The ENDS Report features a full review of BFF's work with the Centre for Remanufacturing and Reuse on the eco-efficiency of remanufacturing printer cartridges. Our study concluded that a remanufactured cartridge has a 46% lower carbon footprint than a new one, saving approximately 2.8kg of CO2 per cartridge.
The study, which was based on the assumption that cartridges are remanufactured an average 3.5 times, only looked at production versus remanufacturing. It did not examine questions over apparent poorer print quality of refilled cartridges - something manufacturers say will make these savings less impressive as paper wastage would be increased. However research in this area is still ongoing and so this debate is likely to continue for some time!
"Ecolicide"
Mon 29 Sep 2008
It may not have made it into the Oxford English Dictionary yet but the term "ecolocide" has been picked up by staff in our Oxford office. First heard on BBC Radio 4, the word refers to humankind’s apparently natural tendency to commit ecological suicide by living beyond natural limits. The term links in directly with BFF’s longstanding commitment to promoting and using the ecological footprint as a measure of sustainability. The ecological footprint goes beyond an assessment of greenhouse gas emissions and tries to capture a broader range of environmental impacts (see Sharing Nature’s Interest; ecological footprints as an indicator of sustainability).