Environmental Review and Sustainability Plan: SM Engineering Office

This report analyzes the environmental sustainability of SM Engineering, an engineering firm in New South Wales, Australia. The report begins with an environmental review of the office, identifying key areas of concern such as outdated equipment, inefficient energy usage, and non-compliance with environmental regulations. It examines environmental aspects and impacts, resource consumption, purchasing practices, and relevant legislations. The discussion includes suggestions for improvement, such as installing energy-efficient lighting, updating server systems, and implementing better waste management practices. The report then outlines specific improvement strategies with measurable targets and responsible parties. Finally, it details the reporting of outcomes to senior management, promotion of outcomes to stakeholders, and methods for continual improvement, concluding that significant changes are needed to make the organization environmentally sustainable.

Running head: ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS IN OFFICE
ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS IN OFFICE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS IN OFFICE
Table of Contents
1. Introduction............................................................................................................................2
2. Discussion..............................................................................................................................3
2.1. Environmental Review....................................................................................................3
2.1.1. Environmental aspects and impacts.........................................................................3
2.1.2. Resources consumed................................................................................................3
2.1.3. Purchasing practices.................................................................................................4
2.1.4. Environmental legislations and policies...................................................................4
2.1.5. Areas of non-compliance.........................................................................................4
2.1.6. Suggestions for improvement..................................................................................5
2.2. Methods of improvement................................................................................................6
2.2. Improvement Strategies..................................................................................................8
2.3. Outcomes.......................................................................................................................11
2.3.1. Reporting outcomes to senior management...........................................................11
2.3.2. Promotion of outcome to stakeholders...................................................................11
2.3.3. Methods for continual improvement......................................................................12
3. Conclusion............................................................................................................................12
4. Bibliography.........................................................................................................................13

2ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS IN OFFICE
1. Introduction
SM Engineering is an engineering firm located in the New South Wales part of
Australia. It is a local company who deals in various engineering and construction projects.
There office of the SM Engineering located at New South Wales area of Australia have 20
employees. The factory is quite old and the firm was not concerned with the sustainability of
the environment in office. The employees of the office often complaints that the environment
of the office is very poor to work. The equipment of the office are very old and they are
almost 15 years old. The computer management system of the office was also very
inefficient. The server systems for the networks of the computer is very noisy. This report
will discuss about the environmental review of the office along with the outcomes of the
assessment done on the condition about the office.

3ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS IN OFFICE
2. Discussion
2.1. Environmental Review
2.1.1. Environmental aspects and impacts
An office should have some environmental regulations to conserve the non-renewable
source of energy [2]. Usage of renewable energy should also be encouraged in the office [1].
Renewable energies like solar energy, wind energy should be used in the office instead of the
traditional energy sources.
Desk plants should be planted inside the offices as these plants helps to generate more
oxygen inside the office premises. The oxygen produced from the plants helps to bring
positive energy within the employees [6]. These process will make the office environment
cleaner and greener.
Green commuting should be encouraged by the offices. Activities like sharing of
vehicles or walking to office should be encouraged by giving gifts to the employees. This
process of carpooling or using public vehicles can help to reduce the emission of toxic gases
from vehicles.
Waste management procedure should be implemented by every office to reduce the
pollution of environment. Paper should be recycled on daily basis and the usage of paper in
the offices should be reduced by a considerable amount. Proper waste disposal should be
encouraged by the offices.
2.1.2. Resources consumed
The conservation of non-renewable energy has become a very important factor. The
future generation will need the energy, but the rapid use of energy from the last century is
exhausting the energy sources. Conservation of energy can be done in many ways one of

4ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS IN OFFICE
which is using the energy sources within limits. Electricity which is used daily in the
household purposes and commercial purposes usually comes from non-renewable source of
energy like fossil fuel. The decrease in the use of energy will eventually help to conserve the
non-renewable sources of energy. Electric gadgets should be turned off after the office hours
for saving energy.
2.1.3. Purchasing practices
SM Engineering uses old and outdated devices in their system. The organization lacks
proper planning before buying computers for the employees. The equipment like fax
machines and the printers are 8 years old. The computers are used very inefficiently by the
employees of the organization as they are kept on after their departure. The computers are
bought only for certain purposes by the organization. Most of the unused computers which
are bought without proper planning are kept in the storage facility without any usage.
2.1.4. Environmental legislations and policies
Australian Government have various policies to maintain the cleanliness of
environment in the surroundings. According to [9] the Energy and Utilities Administration
act of 1987 suggest that the energies should be conserved at any cost. According to [10]
various acts like Clean Air Act 1961, Clean Waters Act 1970, Environmental Offences and
Penalties Act 1989, Noise Control Act 1975 and Pollution Control Act 1970 of New South
Wales legislation should be followed by every organization of this area.
2.1.5. Areas of non-compliance
The employees of the SM Engineering were facing many issues of environmental
sustainability.

5ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS IN OFFICE
The air conditioning system used in the office are of old style which have in window
system. The old air conditioning systems emits Chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) which can cause
huge amount of air pollution [5]. The old air conditioning machines also consumes huge
amount of electricity. Malfunction of these machines is also a very common incident.
The florescent lights in the office are very old. The high bay lighting used in the
office was installed 15 years ago. These lights consumes excessive amount of electricity. The
spotlight in the front office which is used for the highlighting purpose stays on for all night
and even stays on during the day.
The Hot Water System used in the bathroom is rusted thus overflowing water directly
in the basin. The employees of the organization are not happy with the condition of the office.
The computers and the network system used in the office of SM Engineering are
outdated. The server room of the organization is very noisy as all the system of the server is
very outdated. The printer used in the organization are not energy efficient. Excessive usage
of paper can also be found which does not help in environment sustainability. The company
does not make plans before buying computers.
The waste bin present at the office is not sufficient. There is only one large bin for all
the waste.
2.1.6. Suggestions for improvement
The suggestions for improving the environmental sustainability of the SM
Engineering office are discussed below:
 Installation of new type of lighting technology like CFL and LED can save a huge
amount of electricity and thus should be done instantly. [4]

6ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS IN OFFICE
 New system in the server of the organization should be installed to reduce the noise.
The noise produced can cause noise pollution and it also can disrupt the attention of
the employees working in the organization.
 There should be different waste bin for different types of waste like plastic waste,
paper waste or electronics waste.
 Old computers and devices are kept in the storage bench without proper disposal.
 The unnecessary usage of electricity by the highlighting light for advertisement
should be prevented to make the office compatible with the environment.
 The air conditioning machines should be changed.
 Paint should be applied on the walls of the room.
2.2. Methods of improvement
The methods for improvement of environment sustainability at the SM Engineering
office are
 Modern equipment and gadgets should be used in offices or for commercial purposes
instead of the existing electronic devices. Modern gadgets are more energy efficient
and can contribute a lot in saving the precious energy.
 Installation of new waste bins for every room.
 Reducing the use of energy by installing energy saving devices.
 Maintaining clean environment of the office.
 Replacing old computers with new efficient computers.
 Planning before buying the new computers.

7ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS IN OFFICE
 Cleaning the storage facilities and recycling the recyclable waste products.
 The air-conditioning machines of the office should be changed as those machines
emits toxic gases in the environment along with high consumption of electricity.

8ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS IN OFFICE
2.2. Improvement Strategies
The strategies for improvement of the environmental sustainability of SM
Engineering are given in the table below:

9ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS IN OFFICE
Area Problem Current
usage
Strategy for
improvement
(Implementation)
Cost Person
Responsible for
implementation
Timeframe Measurable
Target
How to
measure
improvement
Outside
lighting
Wastage of
electricity
due to the
lights left on
during the
daytime
120
hours
per
week on
an
average
Implementing
strategy to turn off
the lights when
not necessary
Nil Admin staff Immediately Approximately
25% of the
electricity
used for lights
By comparing
electricity
accounts
Staff
room with
sink
Overflow of
water due to
rusted Hot
Water
System
120
hours
per
week
Replacing the old
rusted Hot Water
System
450$-1900$ Plumber of the
office
Immediately Approximately
15% of the
electricity
used
By checking
the sink
regularly
Old style
fluorescent
lighting
Wastage of
electricity
and problem
for the eyes
of
employees
100
hours
per
week
Replacing the old
fluorescent lights
with new LED
lights
50$ per piece Electrician Within a
week
Approximately
25% of the
electricity
used
By checking
the lights by
electrician
Reception,
offices and
workshop
Old
computers
which needs
to be
replaced
120
hours
per
week
Replacing old
computers and
other electronic
devices with new
computers which
would be brought
according to the
plan
1000 to 1500$
per piece
IT technician Within a
month
Approximately
10% of the
electricity
used
By planning
and buying
the
computers.
Server Noise 168 Replacing the old 10,000$ IT technician Within a Approximately By comparing

10ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS IN OFFICE
room reduction hours
per
week
equipment of the
server room
month 20% of the
electricity
used
the sound
level
Whole
office
Old air
conditioning
machines
with very
low
efficiency
84 hours
per
week
Replacing old
machines with
new ones
6000$
approximately
Electrician and
support staff
Within a
month
Approximately
30% of the
electricity
used
By comparing
the
temperature
of the room in
unit time.
Whole
office
Single
waste bin
for whole
office
120
hours
per
week
Buying new waste
bins
100$
approximately
Support staff Within a
week
Nil By analyzing
the waste bins

11ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS IN OFFICE
2.3. Outcomes
2.3.1. Reporting outcomes to senior management
The outcomes of the analysis that could be reported to the higher authorities or the
manager are
 Electricity is wasted due to old fluorescent lights in the office. LED lights should be
implemented instead of the traditional lights.
 The water from the Hot Water System is leaking through the sink of the staff room
thus needs to be repaired within a week. The Hot Water System should be replaced
immediately.
 The air conditioners are very old and inefficient. New air conditioning machines
should be implemented.
 The outside highlighting light is on for day and night. The light should be turned off
when not necessary.
 There is a single waste bin for every type of waste. New waste bins should be
brought.
2.3.2. Promotion of outcome to stakeholders
The responsibility of the stake holders is to maintain the cleanliness of the
environment of the office. Practice of using public vehicles should be encouraged by the
employees of the organization. Maintenance of the new machines installed should also be
done by the stakeholders.

12ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS IN OFFICE
2.3.3. Methods for continual improvement
The employees who follows the principles for saving environment should be
encouraged by the office authority. The reward for saving environment can encourage more
number of employees to follow the rules.
3. Conclusion
It is concluded from the above report that the organization named SM Engineering is
not sustainable to the environment. There are lot of changes that can be made in the system of
the organization to make this organization sustainable towards the environment. The
organization uses old fluorescent lights which needs to be replaced by the new lightning
system like CFL or LED lights. The old lightning system was not energy efficient thus was
not sustainable to the environment. The air conditioning machines are of old widow types
which are also not efficient. These air conditioning machines does not help to save energy
and also emits toxic gas like CFC in the environment. The computers bought by the
organization was not well planned and thus most of the computers are not efficient according
to their purpose. The light for highlighting the organization should not be kept on and should
be powered according to the needs. The equipment of the office are very old and they are
almost 15 years old and thus replacement should be done.

13ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS IN OFFICE
4. Bibliography
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emissions in OECD countries: A comparative analysis. Energy Policy, 66, pp.547-556, 2014.
[2] J. Darabaris,.. Corporate environmental management. CRC Press, 2019
[3] J.C Davies.,. Comparing environmental risks: tools for setting government priorities.
Routledge, 2014
[4] B.L. Ahn,., C.Y. Jang,., S.B Leigh,., S Yoo,. And H. Jeong,,. Effect of LED lighting on
the cooling and heating loads in office buildings. Applied Energy, 113, pp.1484-1489, 2014.
[5] N. Shah, M. Wei., V. Letschert,. And A. Phadke,. Benefits of leapfrogging to
superefficiency and low global warming potential refrigerants in room air conditioning.
Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.(LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States), 2015.
[6] B. Orland., N Ram,., D., Lang, K., Houser, N. Kling, and M., Coccia,. Saving energy in
an office environment: A serious game intervention. Energy and Buildings, 74, pp.43-52,
2014
[7] C. Gahm, F. Denz,., M. Dirr, and A. Tuma,.,. Energy-efficient scheduling in
manufacturing companies: A review and research framework. European Journal of
Operational Research, 248(3), pp.744-757, 2016.
[8] P. Dupeyrat., C. Ménézo, and S. Fortuin,. Study of the thermal and electrical
performances of PVT solar hot water system. Energy and Buildings, 68, pp.751-755, 2014.
[9] J. Chong, Climate-readiness, competition and sustainability: an analysis of the legal and
regulatory frameworks for providing water services in Sydney. Water Policy, 16(1), pp.1-18,
2014.

14ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATIONS IN OFFICE
[10] J.C. Davies, and J.Mazurek,. Pollution control in United States: Evaluating the system.
Routledge, 2014.