B.9 Ecologically Sustainable Development

Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment

The directorate provided information to the Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment on actions against the relevant recommendations of the State of the Environment Report and the Climate Change and Greenhouse Gas Reduction Act 2010. The directorate was also involved in the ongoing implementation of the Carbon Neutral ACT Government Framework.

Access Canberra Environment Protection officers worked with the Commissioner’s Office in April 2017 in respect of the development of the environmental accounts for the State of the Environment Report. On 9 May 2017, the Commissioner personally acknowledged that the expertise provided real insights into how the accounts should and could be designed and had been of enormous assistance.

The Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment was consulted in the development of the Haig Park Masterplan. The Commissioner has provided a written submission to the project.

Contribution to Ecologically Sustainable Development

During the reporting year the directorate updated its Resource Management Plan to incorporate Administrative Arrangement changes, and updated its Action Plan. The Resource Management Plan sets out the key principles of integrating efficient and effective use of resources within our operations, including energy, water, waste and recycling, sustainable transport, procurement and events.

To align to the Carbon Neutral ACT Government Framework to achieve carbon neutrality in government by 2020, CMTEDD has identified actions and initiatives to improve energy efficiency across priority facilities. The directorate has actively monitored progress against set targets via the Carbon Budget Quarterly Reports provided to the Carbon Neutral Government Implementation Committee, and reporting to the directorate’s Executive Management Group.

Summary Performance Against 2016-17 Cmtedd Carbon Budget:

The Carbon Budget for CMTEDD is set annually for the forward financial year based on the previous calendar year’s results. CMTEDD’s 2016-17 Carbon Budget target was for a 1 per cent reduction in electricity, with the directorate achieving a reduction in its total electricity usage of 4 per cent when compared to the 2015 calendar year, or 1.2 per cent compared to the 2015-16 financial year.

Actions to Improve Ecologically Sustainable Development Performance

Individual business units within the directorate have undertaken a range of activities to support ecologically sustainable development. These activities are summarised below.

Improve energy efficiency

Facility upgrades within the CMTEDD portfolio

LED Lighting upgrade within the Revenue Management tenancy at 220 Northbourne Avenue;
installation of motion-activated lighting in Canberra Nara Centre (meeting and conference rooms, kitchens and bathrooms). Canberra Nara Centre has also achieved a 4.5 stars NABERS energy rating;
continued LED lighting upgrades at the Canberra Stadium and Exhibition Park in Canberra;
roll out of LED lighting along the National Arboretum Canberra Events Terrace and Gallery of Gardens. The National Arboretum Canberra also has secured a Carbon Neutral Loan Fund to install a solar PV system to replace the existing diesel generators at the work depots;
GIO Stadium has 72 solar panels installed;
Winyu House in Gungahlin was built with a 74kW solar PV system which feeds into the base building, and uses an energy efficient intelligent lighting installation which includes zone controls, motion sensors, and timers. Winyu House has achieved NABERS energy rating 5 stars for both tenancy area and base building; and
CMTEDD has rolled out ABW environment in Canberra Nara Centre (Level 4 and 5) and Cosmopolitan Centre. This environment is conducive to more efficient use of office space.

Facility upgrades by ACT Property Group

ACT Property Group (ACTPG) provides accommodation services on behalf of the ACT Government. The agency conducted capital works on ACTPG custodian facilities to improve energy efficiency of major plant and equipment.

Energy efficiency and advisory services

ACTPG hosts four staff focussed on providing support to directorates in implementing and managing energy efficiency initiatives. These staff are part of the cross-directorate Carbon Neutral Government team. In 2016-17 the team:

worked with ACTPG staff to develop and implement a project replacing existing gas driven heating services with an innovative all-electric system at North Building;
conducted feasibility studies at numerous facilities to identify energy efficiency opportunities and assisted directorates in implementing suitable projects;
conducted LED lighting upgrades at over 20 facilities tenanted by CMTEDD and other directorates achieving significant energy savings, including government work depots, 20 schools, North Building, and Capital Linen Services; and
was a key participant in the Streetlight Energy Performance Contract (EPC), contributing to a strategic and novel contracting approach (first EPC for the asset class in Australia). It is expected the contract will result in substantial energy savings for the government.

ICT Infrastructure

During the reporting period, Shared Services ICT has been planning for the replacement of the old inefficient data centre in Macarthur House with a new state-of-the-art data centre. The new data centre (DC2) is estimated to have an improvement of approximate 29 per cent in Power Unit Efficiency (PUE), meaning 29 per cent less electricity is consumed to operate the same ICT workload.

ACT Government’s purchase of Renewable Energy

ACTPG purchased 7,700 MWh (megawatt hours) of GreenPower on behalf of the ACT Government, representing an indicative 5 per cent of the ACT Government’s energy consumption for 2016‑17.

Improve water efficiency

Actions taken for water efficiency during the reporting period included:

Active Canberra continued to employ water minimisation strategies as part of a sustainable approach to effectively managing the ACT Government’s sportsground assets, including the use of a computerised irrigation management system to better regulate watering across the asset base, the use of non-potable water sources where possible, application of synthetic turf surfaces, use of drought tolerant couch grasses and soil carbon enhancement practices;
The National Arboretum Canberra used non-potable water to irrigate the collection at the Arboretum; continued to follow mowing regimes that maintain adequate ground cover to reduce erosion and improve the quality of water captured in dams; and maintained the Discovery Garden at the Arboretum to educate and inform the community about managing water use in the home garden;
The National Arboretum Canberra worked closely with the University of Canberra (UC), as part of the 'Smart Cities and Suburbs Program' on future water efficiency strategies. This included the use of site specific soil moisture sensors, developed in-house by UC ICT technicians; the sensors will enable accurate automatic irrigation, based on individual tree species requirements. This initiative will both save water and ensure the improved health of individual tree species; and
Irrigation controllers were used in GIO Stadium and at Stromlo Forest Park.

Reduce waste and improve recycling

Office locations

the majority of ongoing CMTEDD locations are ACTSmart Business (recycling) accredited;
all new staff are required to undertake ACTSmart recycling training following the CMTEDD Induction Program;
shared general and shared comingled waste bins have been in place within workspaces and kitchens as well as the removal of individual waste bins;
CMTEDD offices have a range of recycling options available including:
- comingle recycling bins;
- paper and cardboard recycling facilities;
- organic worm bins;
- battery recycling stations;
- mobile phone recycling;
- toner recycling; and
- green waste recycling to mulch (at Major Venues and Active Canberra sites).

Events and Venues

EventsACT participates in the ACTSmart Public event program and works closely with them to reduce the waste generated to landfill for all major events, such as Floriade, Canberra Day and the Balloon Spectacular;
the major venues (Canberra Stadium, Manuka Oval, Exhibition Park in Canberra, and National Arboretum Canberra) are ACTSmart Business members and have recycling bins located around the venues for use by participants and attendees. Additionally event organisers, caterers and the general public are encouraged to reduce waste, recycle, and to use recyclable and reusable packaging;
Venues Canberra continues to install water bubblers and bottle fill stations at major venues. In 2016-17, installations were made at Exhibition Park in Canberra, GIO Stadium and Stromlo Forest Park. In addition to contributing to community health outcomes, this initiative also assists in reducing the number of disposable water bottles sold in the ACT;
to protect the natural environment, site users at Stromlo Forest Park are required to take all rubbish away; and
the National Arboretum Canberra has a green waste recycling facility on site.

Disposal of ICT assets

The method in which the Territory disposes of ICT devices and associated consumables is crucial in minimising our environmental waste footprint.

The rate of turnover of ICT assets (such as obsolete computer and television equipment, old cables and other ICT hardware) presents a significant waste impact. The responsible management of asset disposal requires a lifecycle assessment approach to evaluating the potential environmental impacts of products. This includes maximising the useful life of ICT equipment, and appropriately recycling, reusing and disposing of ICT waste.

To help address this, the Territory has a contracted provider, Reuse RecycleIT, to manage the resale and disposal of ICT Assets on behalf of the Territory. The method in which the Territory disposes of ICT devices and associated consumables is crucial in minimising our environmental waste footprint.

Since the initial engagement of Reuse RecycleIT no ICT equipment processed has been sent to landfill. The 2016-17 return to consolidated revenue from disposed assets is $500,000.

Reduce office paper consumption

In 2017-18, as part of the Smart Modern Strategic Procurement Reform Program, Shared Services ICT is implementing a whole of government ecologically sustainable business improvement to install the PaperCut software program. PaperCut is a printing system which only prints when the staff member accesses the printer using their ACT Government pass. This improvement is already in use at CIT, with a successful reduction in the number of prints being observed. CIT is now able to report on: Co2 saved; Trees saved; and Value saved (from cost per page).

CMTEDD uses 100 per cent recycled paper in its document printers wherever possible, and printer default settings have been set to print documents as double-sided and in black and white.

Reduce transport emission

Actions taken during the reporting period included:

as part of the whole of government fleet contract a standardised matrix of vehicles in different categories has been developed, including at least one hybrid vehicle in the hatch/sedan category;
a whole of government fleet policy has been drafted which incorporates the appropriate level of environmental considerations in leasing decisions, and allows for a weighted criterion of sustainability to be included in value-for-money evaluations before vehicles are leased;
the directorate leases five electric vehicles, which have no direct greenhouse gas emissions, using no fuel; additionally the directorate leases five hybrid vehicles to reduce the amount of fuel used;
the directorate ensures that any replaced vehicles are more fuel efficient to reduce emissions, and considers fuel use and carbon emission in any new fleet lease;
most fleet vehicles have electronic logbook system installed to more easily monitor distance travelled;
the directorate has participated in the ACT Government e-bike fleet trial project, and has two electric pedal assisted bikes (e-bikes) located at Canberra Nara Centre for staff to use for work travel. 81 CMTEDD staff have completed e-bike induction training in the reporting period. CMTEDD has also developed shared e-bike access arrangement with other agencies;
staff are encouraged to use sustainable transport options, including walking and riding e-bikes to travel to close meeting locations, and car pool or use buses to travel to meeting locations served by ACTION buses through the availability of MyWay Cards at a number of sites;
a suite of technology options is available to assist staff connecting without the need to travel, this includes Meet-Me phone conferencing and WebEx for use with stakeholders outside the ACT Government, and Jabber, teleconferencing and internet-based video conferencing for use within government; and
end of trip facilities are available in most facilities to encourage staff to ride, walk or run to work.

Sustainable Infrastructure

The City Renewal Program is a key element of environmentally sustainable development. It supports increased density within the city precinct and along major transport corridors, encouraging increased active travel and patronage of public transport.

While the majority of the City Renewal Project is in its early planning stages, construction of stage 1 of the West Basin waterfront commenced during the reporting period and included:

the West Basin design comprises multiple paths for active travel at different speeds. By improving the quality, accessibility and amenity of the West Basin waterfront, this project supports increased pedestrian and cyclist activity, and health and wellbeing outcomes; and
water sensitive urban design is a key feature of the West Basin waterfront project. Site planning currently incorporates a combination of treatment technologies that are sequentially placed to provide an efficient way of targeting a range of environmental pollutant reduction measures and have a positive impact on the environment.

The Public Housing Renewal Taskforce (now within EPSDD) is implementing the Public Housing Renewal Program which will improve the overall quality and energy efficiency of the public housing portfolio. The Public Housing Renewal Program will also support the renewal of Canberra’s urban areas, with increased density along major transport corridors to encourage increased patronage on public transport.

Other sustainable infrastructure managed by PCW included:

for new site developments, requirements related to ecologically sustainable design were included in the functional brief for the accommodation of local arts organisations at Kingston Arts Precinct. These requirements related to building design, construction and operation; and
soil conservation works at Stromlo Forest Park were completed in 2016-17. Through careful design these works will assist in protecting the park's natural environment from the impact of erosion on the mountain bike trail system.

Sustainable Procurement

In 2016-17, PCW developed and promulgated a new whole of government Sustainable Procurement Policy, as an action under the Carbon Neutral Government Framework. The Policy is principles-based rather than prescriptive, and provides guidance to ACT Government directorates and agencies to incorporate sustainability into their procurement activities.

PCW has begun work on its action in the Climate Change Adaptation Strategy Implementation Plan to introduce minimum sustainability requirements for capital works;
PCW works in collaboration with directorates to develop construction project briefs that include sustainability criteria. For example, buildings may include a number of measures, such as solar passive design, energy efficient building engineering services, solar panels, rainwater harvesting, air quality monitoring, and water efficient landscaping. Briefs for all construction projects include waste management plans. Tenderers are asked to describe what actions they will take to reduce waste, such as disposal methods and using recycled materials. Project briefs seek advice from tenderers regarding ways to decrease the use of potable water, for example by installing alternative grass mixtures (that use less water) and planting Australian natives or drought tolerant plants; and
PCW also works in collaboration with directorates to include ecologically sustainable criteria in both the assessment criteria and product or service specifications in Goods and Services procurements where applicable and possible.

Sustainable Development Performance: Current and Previous Financial Year

Directorate/ public sector body staff and area
Indicator as at 30 June	Unit	Current FY¹	Previous FY	Percentage change
Directorate/public sector body staff²	FTE	2,358.3	2,422.5	-2.7%
Workplace floor area (office based only)³	Area (m²)	29,651	34,086	-13.0%

Stationary energy usage
Indicator as at 30 June	Unit	Current FY¹	Previous FY	Percentage change
Electricity use^{4, 5, 6}	Kilowatt hours	13,131,166	13,285,521	-1.2%
Natural gas use^{4, 7}	Megajoules	12,234,608	10,611,805	15.3%
Diesel⁸	Kilolitres	6.7	n/a	n/a

Transport fuel usage
Indicator as at 30 June	Unit	Current FY¹	Previous FY	Percentage change
Electric vehicles^9,10	Number	5	5	0%
Hybrid vehicles^9,10	Number	5	3	66.7%
Other vehicles (that are not electric or hybrid)⁹	Number	215	220	-2.3%
Total number of vehicles¹⁰	Number	225	228	-1.3%
Total kilometres travelled	Kilometres	3,110,957	3,441,140	-9.6%
Fuel use – Petrol	Kilolitres	66	106	-37.7%
Fuel use – Diesel	Kilolitres	308	284	8.5%
Fuel use – Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG)	Kilolitres	0	0	n/a
Fuel use – Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)	Cubic Metres (Cm³)	0	0	n/a

Water usage
Indicator as at 30 June	Unit	Current FY¹	Previous FY	Percentage change
Water use¹¹	Kilolitres	1,160,515	1,335,140	-13.1%

Resource efficiency and waste
Indicator as at 30 June	Unit	Current FY¹	Previous FY	Percentage change
Reams of paper purchased¹²	Reams	98,791	113,882	-13.3%
Recycled content of paper purchased¹³	Percentage	81.4	83.1	-2.0%
Waste to landfill^{14, 16}	Litres	2,645,936	3,110,543	-14.9%
Co-mingled material recycled¹⁴	Litres	2,406,980	2,374,465	1.4%
Paper & Cardboard recycled (incl. secure paper)¹⁴	Litres	1,717,060	2,071,230	-17.1%
Organic material recycled¹⁴	Litres	309,562	248,571	24.5%
Waste to landfill¹⁵ (Major Public Events)	Litres	177,000	n/a	n/a
Co-mingled material recycled¹⁵ (Major Public Events)	Litres	61,900	n/a	n/a
Paper & Cardboard recycled (incl. secure paper)¹⁵ (Major Public Events)	Litres	3,220	n/a	n/a
Organic material recycled¹⁵ (Major Public Events)	Litres	6,970	n/a	n/a

Greenhouse gas emissions
Indicator as at 30 June	Unit	Current FY¹	Previous FY	Percentage change
Emissions from stationary energy use	Tonnes CO₂-e	8,012	10,400	-23.0%
Emissions from transport	Tonnes CO₂-e	1,040	1,070	-2.8%
Total emissions¹⁷	Tonnes CO₂-e	9,052	11,470	-21.1%

Note:

Organisational change occurred during the reporting year: the Asbestos Response Taskforce was transferred to EPSDD in November 2016.
The directorate’s data (for both years’ measures with the exception of FTE) include the ACT Insurance Authority and Superannuation Provision Account as it cannot be readily separated.
For details of FTE figures refer to section B.8 Human Resource Management.
For details of workplace floor area for office locations refer to section C.4 Asset Management.
Energy and water data was extracted from the Enterprise Sustainability Platform (ESP) on 22 August 2017. In some instances data for the prior year has been updated from that previously reported to allow for updates to agency occupancy and historical consumption data and to annual adjustments to ACT specific electricity emissions factors.
The indicator ‘renewable electricity use’ is discontinued in 2016-17. ACTPG purchased 7,700 MWh (Megawatt hours) of GreenPower on behalf of the ACT Government, representing an indicative 5 per cent of the ACT Government’s energy consumption in 2016-17. Reported electricity usages do not include any renewable energy from solar PV systems on site, such as Canberra Stadium, Winyu House base building, and Canberra Nara Centre solar hotwater system.
The reduction in electricity consumption is due to the consolidation of office accommodation sites, the transfer of the Asbestos Response Taskforce in 2016-17, and various energy efficiency measures applied during the reporting year, including LED lighting upgrades, installation of sensor-controlled lighting, and optimising temperature control and HVAC system in various CMTEDD facilities.
Gas use for space heating is predominantly weather dependent. It is reported that the number of heating degree days (HDDs) in 2016-17 was higher than the previous year, which contributed to increased gas use for space heating.
It is expected that, unrelated to weather considerations, the directorate’s gas consumption will reduce next year due to the closure and decommissioning of Macarthur House and the Dickson Motor Vehicle Registry – two significant users of gas.
Diesel use under stationary energy usage is a new indicator in 2016-17. Diesel is used for on-site generators at the National Arboretum Canberra work depots, and for major public events held by Events ACT (eg 1,687 litres of diesel used for generators for Enlighten in March 2017). For the Arboretum it is estimated that 20 per cent of the diesel purchased is used for the diesel generator for the depots, with the remainder used for equipment such as lawn mowers, scissor lift, trailers, which are included under the transport diesel fuel usage.
Indicators on the numbers of electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles are new for 2016-17 reporting. The numbers for 2015-16 have been provided for comparative purposes.
The net reduction in total vehicle numbers and total distance travelled, relate to the transfer of Asbestos Response Taskforce vehicles to EPSDD, the non-renewal of vehicles in a number of business areas offset by an increase in inspection vehicles by Access Canberra. The reduction in fuel use is related to the reduction in size of the vehicle fleet and a focus on leasing higher fuel efficiency vehicles including the transition of more vehicles to diesel; and the promotion/uptake of sustainable transport options.
Over 90 per cent of the water used by the directorate was to irrigate and maintain ACT Government sportsgrounds and ovals. The demand for irrigation can vary significantly on an annual basis, subject to a number of parameters including rainfall, timing of rain events, evaporation rates, wind, maintenance activities and asset growth. Active Canberra is required to irrigate sportsgrounds and ovals to ensure they remain fit for purpose.
Reduced water use for irrigation was mainly due to increased rainfall in 2016-17 compared to the previous year. The Bureau of Meteorology reported that rainfall in Canberra during 2016 was 28 per cent above average at Canberra Airport, the wettest year since 2010; and the four months from June to September 2016 were the wettest such period on record.
Reported water use for both years includes non-potable water supplied from the North Canberra Treated Water Supply to irrigate some Government sportsgrounds and ovals at Ainslie, Campbell, O’Connor and Reid.
The decrease in purchase of paper relates to the increased use of Electronic Document Records Management Systems, the increasing use of laptops/tablets reducing the need to print papers such as for meetings, and a general move towards ‘paper-lite’ working, such as in the ABW environments at the Canberra Nara Centre and the Cosmopolitan Centre.
The decrease in recycled content of paper purchased largely reflects one large business unit’s change of process to purchasing 50 per cent recycled paper rather than 100 per cent. The business unit has now changed their practice to again purchase 100 per cent recycled content paper. Quarterly monitoring of purchases and communication of the priority of purchasing 100 per cent recycled paper continues.
Waste and recycling data has been collected from all CMTEDD locations and has been calculated on a basis of Total (L) = capacity of bins (L) x No. of bins x No. of times emptied during the reporting year. Data related to locations that have been accredited under the ACTSmart Business (recycling) Program is extracted from the ACTSmart scorecards provided by the ACTSmart Office at EPSDD. Waste to landfill and cardboard recycling is managed by building owners, and the data is reported in proportion of occupancy by CMTEDD. Green waste collected and recycled as mulch by the National Arboretum Canberra and Active Canberra are excluded in this report.
Waste and recycling data related to major events held by Events ACT (including the Canberra Nara Candle Festival, New Year’s Eve in the City, Australia Day Fireworks Spectacular, Symphony in the Park, Canberra Day, Canberra Balloon Spectacular, and Floriade) is reported the first time this year, as a separate line item for each recycling stream. Events ACT participates the ACTSmart Public Events Program and ensures recycling is in place in all major events. Food oil recycling data is excluded in this report.
The significant reduction in waste to landfill is due to the consolidation of office locations during the reporting year, continued emphasis to staff of recycling options, and that GIO Stadium undertook three major clean-up activities in the prior year (2015-16).
The decrease in paper and cardboard recycling is broadly in line with the reduction in paper purchased during the year, and the transition towards Electronic Document Records Management Systems, and towards ‘paper-lite’ working.
The increase in organic material recycled is encouraging, and is considered to be reflective of almost all CMTEDD locations being accredited through the ACTSmart Business Recycling program, which requires organics recycling to be implemented.
The reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions is largely due to the increased proportion of renewable energy purchased by the ACT Government. GHG emissions for electricity consumption have been calculated using the following emissions factors based on the latest (April 2017) ACT Electricity Emissions Factor Report:
1. In 2015-16 a factor of 0.732 kilogram (kg) CO2-e/kilowatt hour (kWh) or 0.32 tonne (t) CO2-e/megawatt hour (MWh). This is based on actual historical data and is a retrospective adjustment of -0.041 (5.3 per cent reduction) of the 0.773 factor original used for 2015-16 annual reporting.
2. In 2016-17 a factor of 0.549 kilogram (kg) CO2-e/kilowatt hour (kWh) or 0.549 tonne (t) CO2-e/megawatt hour (MWh).The emissions factors include total GreenPower purchases for the ACT calculated in the third quarter of the respective financial years and are specific to the ACT. These emission factors (Scope 2 + Scope 3) reflect the increasing contribution of renewable electricity generated under the ACT’s 100 per cent Renewable Energy Target (RET). Consequently they are lower than those reported in the latest National Greenhouse Accounts (NGA) Factors.

Further information can be obtained from

Sue Hall
Executive Director
Corporate
+61 2 6207 0569
Sue.Hall@act.gov.au