Key information
Request reference number: MGLA220221-6538
Date of response:
Summary of request
Your request
1. Could you provide the following environmental information on the authority's offices and
administrative buildings, as well as identifying if this information is based on actual or
estimated data for all years from 2016 to 2020:
- Environment Indicators
- Electricity (MWh) of which renewable electricity
- Heating natural gas (MWh)
- Water consumption (m3)
- Business travel (km)
- Total all activities (tCO2e)
- Total per FTE
- Carbon offsetting commitment (tCO2e)
- Net carbon commission (tCO2e)
2. How much of the energy the council purchases come from renewable sources?
3. Please could you also provide the split in percentage terms between renewable and non- renewable energy to Question 2?
4. Does the council have an energy-efficient LED system, controlled by automatic presence
detectors and perimeter dimming to take account of daylight levels?
5. Does the council have Photovoltaic panels on rooftops to supplement the supply of
purchased electricity?
6. If yes, how much energy does the council generate in this way?
7. Does the council have a complete greywater system, whereby non-contaminated waste
water is harvested from plant machinery, hand basins and rainfall? Therefore, allowing it
to reduce consumption of mains water.
8. Does the council have recycling awareness campaigns across its main office locations?
9. Does the council have facilities to separate out paper, glass and plastics used in its
offices for recycling?
10. Are non-recyclable materials from council office locations sent to a special processing
plant, where they are used to generate heat and power, reducing waste that is sent to
landfills.
11. In internal cafeterias, does the council refrain from providing single use items and
provide employees with reusable crockery and cutlery?
12. Does the council offer a discount to customers with reusable coffee cups in their
cafeterias?
13. Does the council send food waste to an anaerobic digestion plant where it can be used
to produce electricity as well as organic fertiliser?
14. How much has the council invested in video conferencing across its offices?
15. The number of video conferences held in a typical month?
16. To help cut paper consumption, has the council replaced any ageing office printers
across its locations with new eco-friendly photocopiers?
17. Do employees engage in an active ‘Sustainability Network’ of volunteers that, among
other activities, decides which project to support as part of a carbon offsetting program ?
18. Please could you provide information on any new environmental initiatives you have
introduced.
Our response
Please see our answers to each question in turn below.
1. Please see the following tables:
*please note the Mains Water figure for April 2020 to March 2021 does not include March 2021
Business travel data which includes flights, train, motor car and bicycle:
Please note we do not offset motor vehicle emissions.
2. City Hall Electricity is obtained from 100% renewable supplier, using only sun, sea and wind sources. City Hall Gas supply sourced from 100% renewable sustainable source using grass cuttings. See the supplier website.
3. There is no split between renewable and non-renewable sources.
4. The building lighting has not been fully upgraded to LED but we do use a lighting control system that operates with PIR sensors. This system does not have the function of perimeter dimming to take account of daylight levels.
5. Yes. Please see further information about our buildings.
6. Between 40,000 to 50,000 kWh of energy is generated per year.
7. We use borehole water to cool the building which is then recycled and used to flush the toilets. Please see further information about our buildings.
8. Recycling information is displayed at each waste point in our buildings and further detailed information is available for staff on the GLA intranet. Previous to the pandemic, recycling engagement events would take place in public areas over lunch times at City Hall.
9. The GLA recycles paper, glass and plastics as well as other items including batteries, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment and food waste.
10. The GLA operates a ‘Zero Waste to Landfill’ policy. Waste which is not recyclable or not
segregated for recycling is sent to be incinerated to generate power.
11. Due to the pandemic and reduced attendance at City Hall, the cafeteria at City Hall is no longer operational and the public are not permitted onsite. Previously, the cafeteria menu was served using crockery, metal cutlery and glassware. If food was being taken for consumption elsewhere, disposable containers had to be requested by the customer. There is a water fountain for staff and public to refill bottles.
12. Due to the pandemic and reduced attendance at City Hall, the cafeteria at City Hall is no longer operational. Previously, the café offered a small reduction in price of hot drinks to customers requesting crockery or bringing their own reusable cup.
13. Yes. Food waste is sent to be processed at an anaerobic digestion plant to create electricity, biomethane and fertiliser.
14. £118,000 has been invested in video conferencing across its offices.
15. We do not collect this specific information. However, in the last 90 day period there were 48,657 meetings organised on Teams. Each of these had the potential to be video conferences but we do not gather those statistics. This illustrates usage over a 90 day period while most people are working from home due to lockdown conditions.
16. To help cut paper consumption the GLA uses multi-functional devices that incorporates printing, scanning and copying. The GLA encourages a paperless working environment and actively monitors the amount of printing undertaken with a view to driving it down.
17. Through the GLA’s contribution to London’s recovery programme (overseen by the London Recovery Board), environmental sustainability is embedded across a wide range of work areas, and staff from across the organisation have the opportunity to feed into this cross-cutting approach. For example, staff from across City Hall contribute to the Responsible Procurement Steering Group, which ensures GLA Group procurement creates a fairer, greener and more equitable city.
18. General information on the GLA’s work relating to the environment and environmental initiatives can be found on our website. You can also search recent press releases and filter for environment related information and follow us on Twitter.
If you have any further questions relating to this matter, please contact us, quoting reference MGLA220221-6538.