There are many factors that impact on an organisation’s sustainability and all of these will need to be measured.

Initially, most organisations focus on their own environmental impact but, increasingly, it is also necessary to extend sustainability criteria to the supply chain and the environmental impact of suppliers. It is also becoming increasingly common to include sustainability as a criterion in the selection of suppliers and procurement of goods and materials.

The following are all factors that contribute to environmental impact:

Energy consumption

Energy consumption has the highest profile of all sustainability elements, for a number of reasons.

Firstly, the energy consumption of the UK’s building stock makes a significant contribution to our overall CO2 emissions and the UK’s ability to meet its obligations under the Kyoto Protocol(1).

Secondly, and partly as a consequence of the above, there is extensive legislation pertaining to energy consumption of buildings, with considerably more in the pipeline.

Examples include:

  • The Carbon Reduction Commitment Energy Efficiency Scheme
  • Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) and Display Energy Certificates (DECs)
  • Building Regulations, Part L – (new version 2010)
  • The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (new version 2010)
  • Mandatory inspection of air conditioning systems BREEAM (BRE Energy Assessment Method) - applies only to new build and major refurbishment projects


Thirdly, energy consumption has a direct impact on an organisation’s overheads and this is set to grow as a proportion of total overheads. It has been estimated that 21% of the total spent by UK businesses on energy is wasted – amounting to around £2.4bn.