Create a Green Office Towards the Goal of Net Zero Green Living

On March 30, 2022, Taiwan’s National Development Council led the Environmental Protection Administration, (now upgraded to the Ministry of Environment, MOENV) the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, and the Ministry of the Interior to announce "Taiwan’s Pathway to Net-Zero Emissions in 2050." Based on the four transformation strategies, including "energy transformation," "industrial transformation," "life transformation," and "social transformation," and the two governance foundations of "technology research and development" and "climate legislation," supplemented by "twelve key strategies," the Government formulated action plans for important areas of expected growth in energy, industry, and life transformation, to realize the goal of net-zero transformation.

Targeting at the key strategy of "Net Zero Green Life" among the "Twelve Key Strategies," the MOENV specifically formulated relevant measures/specific actions to promote life transformation and life style changes l from the aspects of "Green Travel", "Green Dining," "Green Consumption," "Green Home, ""Green Energy" and "Green Office." This article will introduce how CTCI promotes energy conservation and carbon reduction in response to the "green office" initiative.

Promote the concept of “green office” in three stages

The concept of "Green Office" is to adopt environment-friendly facilities and measures in the office from the procurement of supplies, equipment use, working environment, employee diet, business travel, etc., and to lead the staff in joining the initiative to lead a green lifestyle. In short, the objective of green office is to encourage office workers to conserve energy and resources (water, electricity, paper, and fuel), use less paper or print on both sides, hold meetings online, sort waste and reuse materials, conduct environmental greening, prioritize green procurement of office supplies, organize staff trips for environmental activities, and enhance staff environmental awareness. Business owners or supervisors are encouraged to create an eco-friendly office and motivate staff to implement the concept of “green office,” thereby practicing green lifestyle in daily life.

To enhance the awareness of general public, encourage more people to participate in the green office initiative, and further understand how to respond and practice the concept of green office, the MOENV has established a "National Green Life Movement Information Platform." It adopts a three-stage implementation strategy comprised of "response," "declaration," and "verification."

Implement green office initiative and declare measures for energy saving and carbon reduction

In order to promote the simple practice of green living in daily office environment, the MOENV compiled 100 simple and easy-to-do environmental protection measures for office work.  With regard to the five major indicators of "saving energy and resources," "reduction at the source,” "green procurement," "environmental greening," and "Promotion initiatives,”35 items were selected as the main measures in response to the green office initiative. Enterprises, institutions, schools or organizations, etc., may become a member of "green partners" as long as they are in compliance with over 25 (inclusive) of the above items and promote messages about green life to their employees.

CTCI Group's affiliated companies in Taiwan have unanimously responded to the initiative, and have passed the review of the "National Green Life Movement Information Platform" for green offices, becoming a member of the "Green Partner." Furthermore, it announced the following energy saving and carbon reduction measures at the press conference.

1.The Group's first headquarters building adopts energy-saving measures such as elevators dispatching, energy management systems, smart temperature control systems, inductive lighting, and video conferences. In 2022, electricity consumption has decrease by 7.5% compared with 2021, equivalent to a reduction of 155 tons of CO2e.
2.Announce energy-saving measures from time to time to enroot sustainability concept into the DNA of CTCI people.
3.Reduction at the source: Measures such as the promotion and announcement of the classification of lunch boxes, installation of food waste bins in public area, and the use of eco-friendly lunch boxes at children's sustainable study sharing sessions
4.Green procurement: Priority is given to purchasing green products such as office supplies, office paper, various consumables, spare parts and cleaning agents.
5.Environmental greening: Reduce plastics and waste at the coffee bar,  use less disposable containers; greens the public space, and set up a stress-relieving massage space.
6.Promotion of low carbon and initiatives-: At CTCI Group Strategy Consensus Camp, we adopt the following measures, such as using repeatable and recyclable materials for exhibition venue layout; electric buss for reducing carbon emissions; select reusable food ware and cups.
7.Promotion of Office 5S initiatives: In order to improve the overall environmental quality of offices at headquarters building and create a friendly, safe, comfortable, orderly, clean and clear office environment, regulations on 5S management, originated from Japan, are formulated, referring to sort (seiri), set in order (seiton), shine (seiso), standardize (seiketsu), and sustain (shitsuke).
8.Promotion of Tamsui River Environmental Initiative for the Protection of Guandu Wetland: In order to empower employees, the ESG Office cooperates with the Welfare Committee and the Leisure Club to carry out environmental actions for the Tamsui River Initiative, making ESG a daily practice through firsthand experiences.
9.Promotion of the Green New Life Movement: 15 sustainable manufacturers were selected by employees to support sustainability though consumptions in cooperation with public welfare efforts. The production process of these green new life manufacturers had been examined. Specifically, the process of raw material acquisition (either direct purchase from small farmers, organic planting, or procurement of special products), product selection (reduction of additives, repeated use), and employee selection (considerations include care for the disadvantaged, equal employment, and fair trade) have been checked thoroughly.

Become a model enterprise for the green office promotion

The MOENV is expected to complete the formulation and announcement of the "Specifications and Standards for Environmental Protection Labels for Offices" in 2023. Afterwards, CTCI will continue to publicize and complete the relevant verification standards for green office, as a way to be in line with the international standards, and guide domestic offices to change their previous office behaviors, creating a green and friendly office environment.

CTCI was selected by the MOENV as the representative of the engineering industry in line with the policies of the MOENV. It will actively promote green office-related measures in accordance with the specifications and standards announced by the MOENV. By sharing its energy-saving achievements with the industry, and enhancing the atmosphere of green offices in Taiwan, it aims to achieve the policy of the MOENV to lead the small with the big.

Reference:
https://greenlife.epa.gov.tw/
https://www.ndc.gov.tw/