Bolton at Home
Environmental Sustainability Strategy 2016-2021
Bolton at Home
Environmental Sustainability Strategy 2016-2021
1. Introduction
Environmental protection, sustained economic growth and social equity form the 3 pillars of environmental
sustainability. It is a concept which deals with our impact on the environment and how we balance this with
economic and social wellbeing.
At Bolton at Home, we recognise the responsibility we have to protect our environment for ourselves and
future generations. Like any other business we make choices that have both positive and negative impacts
on the environment, this Environmental Sustainability Strategy sets out our approach to managing this
impact.
Building on the work we have done through our 20x16 Plan, the new strategy must operate in a
substantially different financial climate. Recent governmental policy changes have driven Bolton at Home
to refocus its business plan. This is to ensure a financially robust operating model for the future within a set
of new financial constraints. Our Environmental Sustainability Strategy has been similarly focussed to
ensure that it is consistent with our current Business Plan and will contribute towards delivering against our
new organisational priorities.
2. Why do we need this Strategy?
A well run, operationally slick and resource-efficient business will largely, by its nature, have a lower
environmental impact than a poorly performing counterpart. The principles of environmental sustainability
are therefore predominantly consistent with delivering the Bolton at Home envisaged for the future.
Further to this, by looking for areas to drive resource and environmental efficiencies, opportunities for
financial investments leading to savings can be identified. By focusing on opportunities that have payback
cycles palatable within current financial planning cycles, both environmental and financial benefits can be
achieved for the business and the communities it serves.
Bolton at Home is also committed to playing its part in Greater Manchester’s wider objectives and
priorities, with this strategy contributing towards the 2016-20 Joint Implementation Plan for GM’s Climate
Change and Low Emission Strategies. GM’s plan has an overall target to reduce the city region’s emissions
by 48% (from 1990 levels) by 2020 and includes strategic visions around; Buildings, Energy, Green Space,
Transport and Sustainable Consumption and Production, all of which have relevance to the organisation.
Bolton at Home is also actively engaged with the Manchester Devolution process and has undertaken
initiatives with the GM Low Carbon Hub and will continue to be an active player in this landscape.
With a similar perspective to the above, Bolton at Home is keen to both share and learn from its
experiences in moving towards being a more environmentally sustainable organisation. Bolton at Home will
continue to actively participate in this agenda through the various networks that it is engaged with; these
include Eurhonet, the Housing Plus Academy Think Tank, the Public Sector Carbon Network etc.
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3. A commercial approach to sustainability
With a renewed emphasis on taking a business approach to sustainability, activities and initiatives will be
prioritised where there is a clear link to one of the Business Plan’s objectives and a sound business case
exists to justify implementation. To ensure that this approach is making an identifiable impact on the
organisation’s environmental performance, a monitor on Bolton at Home’s overall Carbon Footprint will be
maintained. This will also be used as part of the evaluation of individual activities and projects.
To summarise, implementation will be based upon;

Alignment with the Bolton at Home Business Plan - the strategy looks at the Business Plan’s 5 key
objectives and identifies broad environmental opportunities that will contribute towards delivering
these objectives. These opportunities will then be developed into specific projects and prioritised
according to potential carbon and financial savings and general feasibility.


Impact on Bolton at Home’s Carbon Footprint - Monitoring and reporting the reduction of Bolton
at Home’s overall operational Carbon Footprint to maintain an overall indicator of environmental
performance.
Since the introduction of the 20x16 Plan, there has been a steady improvement in the availability of data
that can be used to track environmental performance. This has occurred due to the installation of
automatic utility meter readers, the fitting of trackers on vans, better billing systems etc. This means that it
is now possible to report with more confidence on specific initiatives or projects to evaluate effectiveness.
4. Progress to Date
Bolton at Home has made good progress in terms of starting to monitor and improve its environmental
performance since the introduction of the 20x16 Plan, which had a headline objective of reducing
emissions by 20% by 2016. Highlights under this plan include:







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
SHIFT assessments – index of sustainability for housing associations, Bolton at Home moved from a
Bronze rating in 2012 to Silver in 2014, which has been maintained at last assessment (2016).
Keep Warm for Less – comprehensive initiative to support Bolton at Home customers with energy
saving advice.
Carbon Literacy – over 100 front-line staff trained to the Carbon Literacy standard.
Super Greens – well established and active environmental champion scheme promoting sustainable
behaviour internally within the organisation.
Sustainable Travel – Staff cycling and car-share initiatives established with good take up.
Retrofit – External funding accessed for retrofit works such as Leicester Street Estate.
Sustainable Procurement – New procurement toolkit introduced which includes criteria and
guidance on environmental sustainability.
Overall emissions reductions – 22% emission reduction achieved compared to 2011 baseline.
Many of the above activities and initiatives will continue as they are now embedded within the
organisation and so do not need to appear in the new strategy action plan unless further
development is envisaged.
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5. Implementation
Working on the principle of alignment with the Bolton at Home business plan the following Theme Plan sets
out areas of work and initiative with, wherever possible, potential financial and CO2 savings identified. This
Theme Plan will feed a Project Plan where specific projects are initiated once they have been deemed
deliverable and a suitable project sponsor identified.
Target KPI
Potential annual
CO2 savings
Potential annual
financial savings
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Maximising income for our organisation so that
we remain viable.
 Identify opportunities and implement
affordable projects to reduce costs and
improve resource efficiency around energy,
fuel and water use across the business.
£145,000
1.1
Reduce energy and water costs associated with
residential schemes where Bolton at Home is
directly responsible for the bill. This specifically
applies to properties where tenants pay a heating
charge with their rent, and to properties with
communal areas, lounges and external lighting etc.
(Based on assumed
40% saving on
lighting costs
through LED retrofit.
20% saving on
heating costs
through better
controls and
efficiency).
745t
(This
represents
13% of
overall
2016 CF)
£28,000
1.2
Reduce energy and water costs associated with our
office operations.
(Based on assumed
40% saving on
lighting costs
through LED retrofit.
20% saving on
heating costs
through better
controls and
efficiency).
155t
(This
represents
2.8% of
overall
2016 CF)
£75,000
1.3
(Based on 5%
reduction in unit
price compared to
current).
Review procurement of energy.
£50,000
1.4
Reduce fuel costs associated with operating Bolton
at Home’s direct vehicle fleet.
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(Based on 15%
reduction in costs
derived from driver
training, reduced
mileage and vehicle
optimisation).
90t
(This
represents
1.6% of
overall
2016 CF)
Average office
emissions
32Kg/m2/yr
Average water use
7.5m3/emp/yr
Target KPI
Potential annual
CO2 savings
Potential annual
financial savings
2
Maximising income for our customers
Deliver initiatives that help customers reduce their
consumption and pay less for the energy and water
that they use.
£140 per
customer
(£126,000)
2.1
Reduce energy bills for Bolton at Home customers
to help save them money.
(Based on typical;
savings per
customer achieved
through KWfL.
Support given to 5%
of customers will
generate £126,000
of savings).
£70 per
customer
(£70,000)
2.2
Review communal heating charge system and
move towards charging customers for actual usage.
2.3
Improve the energy efficiency and sustainability of
our housing stock.
Investigate and where feasible develop renewable
heat and power technologies.
4
Not currently
quantified
however this will
be possible as
individual
projects are
developed
(This
represents
5.9% of
overall
2016 CF)
Average SAP 73
by 2021
-
Target KPI
Diversification of our range of products and
services
Identify opportunities and develop sustainable
products and services.
330t
Potential annual
CO2 savings
3.1
Not quantified
Potential annual
financial savings
3
(Based on 20%
savings on
communal heating
costs through
reduction in usage
through heat meters
or equivalent. Some
interdependence
with 1.1)
655t
Not quantified
4.2
Deliver staff behavioural change initiatives that
engender more efficient ways of working.
Not quantified
4.3
Develop innovative organisational changes that
engender less resource-intensive working.
Not quantified
4.4
Ensure that goods and services procured by BH are
responsibly sourced and are consistent with the
organisations sustainability principles
Not quantified
Not quantified
but potentially
significant
Total potential annual savings Bolton at Home
£298,000
1,320t
Total potential annual savings customer
£196,000
985t
Total potential annual savings
£884,000
2,305t
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Target KPI
(Potential for significant income generation to BH as well as
lower energy bills for BH customers)
Potential annual
CO2 savings
5.1
Investigate and develop opportunities for energy
services for customers.
Potential annual
financial savings
5
Achieving profitable growth that can be
reinvested back into our organisation
Investigate and develop opportunities for energy
services for customers.
Target KPI
4.1
Investigate and implement ICT solutions and new
ways of working which enable us to use fewer
resources and be more energy efficient.
(eg paperless office, improved recycling, car sharing
etc)
Potential annual
CO2 savings
Potential annual
financial savings
4
Delivering an efficient and well run business
Identify and deliver against opportunities to reduce
waste and inefficiencies in the business.
(Represents 23% of
2016 overall Carbon
Footprint inc communal
heating schemes)
6. Monitoring and reporting
The impact of individual projects will be assessed individually as part of the prioritisation process, but
projects will be selected due to their ability to make efficiency and/or financial savings as well as having a
measurable environmental benefit. More often than not, this will be translated as a monetary value and
also in terms of a CO2 saving. Certain initiatives may be produce outputs with other measurable KPIs.
Overall performance will be monitored using a dashboard style report which will show a series of key
indicators that cover the main areas of environmental impact. This will include overall organisational
carbon footprint and also financial savings from individual projects.
See Appendix 2: Environmental Sustainability Dashboard
7. Overview, evaluation and review
Overview and steering of the Strategy and Theme Plan will be undertaken by a Sustainability Strategy
Group which will meet quarterly. A key role for this group is to assess and prioritise projects and initiatives
that fit within the Theme Plan and to secure a project sponsor and any resources required. Individual
project groups will be formed as necessary with project sponsors reporting back to the Strategy Group as
required.
A review of the strategy will be undertaken in year 3 (sooner if there are significant changes to Bolton at
Home’s Business Plan), The review will evaluate effectiveness, review objectives, refresh projects and reprioritise if necessary.
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Appendix 1
Bolton at Home’s Environmental Sustainability Policy
Bolton at Home’s key areas of focus to reduce environmental impact will be achieved
by:

Minimising waste produced by offices and households by raising staff and customer awareness and
encouraging the recycling of waste alongside increasing efforts to reduce and/or reuse construction
waste.

Cutting the amount of carbon emitted from organisational activities by adopting energy-saving
measures and by following recognised guidelines and codes of practice.

Incorporating specific environmental requirements into contracts with principal suppliers and
throughout the supply chain.

Wherever practicable, specifying products from sustainable sources, products made from recycled
materials or designed to be easy to re-use or recycle.

Complying with relevant, social value, environmental, corporate social responsibility and health and
safety regulations and legislation.

Publishing environmental metrics and reporting publicly on our environmental management and
impact.

Ensuring adaptive measures to climate change are put in place to limit the risk to our property
portfolio.

Helping our customers reduce their energy consumption through energy saving measures and
advice.

Reducing the organisation’s impact on ecology and biodiversity by actively promoting initiatives
that encourage wildlife, fauna and flora.

Continuing to work with staff and customers to adopt more sustainable travel options and reduce
transport carbon emissions.
These commitments are backed by our Environmental Sustainability Strategy which includes a programme
of continuous assessment.