Ecologically sustainable development and environmental performance

Section 516A of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the EPBC Act) requires Australian Government organisations to include in their annual reports; the organisation’s contribution to Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD).

The Commission does not administer any legislation or have any appropriations directly related to these issues and, accordingly, the Commission’s involvement relates to practices that can improve energy management and environmental practices within the Commission.

The Commission has in place an Environmental Management System (EMS), which provides a formal structure to allow the Commission to identify and manage environmental risk. The EMS requires further development to incorporate useful reporting and monitoring tools that can measure improvements against activities.

During 2006-07 the Commission continued to be pro-active in the area of energy management and environmental best practice by incorporating:

clauses into all new leases entered into by the Commission placing obligation on both parties to endeavour to meet the targets or processes of any environmental and energy management initiatives in place
a design objective into all fit out design and construction tender and contract documentation that actively assists the Commission in working towards an environmental sustainable and energy efficient tenancy, wherever possible.

In February 2007, the Canberra Office moved into a new building at 16 Furzer Street Phillip. The new building was designed to achieve a 4.5 star Australian Building Greenhouse Rating and a 4.0 Green Star environmental rating.

The Commission will continue with its current practical energy saving strategies to address environmental issues, including:

sensor lights in offices, meeting rooms, kitchens, storage areas and training suites
timer controls on supplementary air-conditioning units
water-saving white goods
workstations made from recyclable material
use of multi functional devices to reduce the number of printers and faxes
cardboard, paper and toner recycling
range of practical strategies are in place to address environmental management issues.