Our footprint
We have extensively researched our carbon footprint and worked to identify exactly where and how it can be reduced. Our strategy is to reduce our carbon footprint wherever possible and offset it when it can’t be reduced any further.
In line with the NZCBC, we operate all of our studios as carbon neutral, recording and offsetting all emissions under scopes 1, 2 and 3 of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. These include direct emissions from heating and cooling, indirect emissions from electricity consumption, and those associated with business travel and the embodied carbon of our studio spaces.
We’re also signatories to the World Green Building Council’s Net Zero Carbon Buildings Commitment (NZCBC), the UN’s Race to Zero, and the UK’s Architects Declare.
We review our sustainability policy annually, and disclose our yearly scope 1, 2 and 3 carbon emissions – as defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol – for our studios, along with the actions we’ve taken to mitigate these. See our total 2022 footprint below, which accounts for our London, Hong Kong and Sydney studios. We will begin including our Shanghai studio, opened in 2022, in our 2023 footprint.
In 2022, we produced 112 tonnes of carbon. This footprint comprises emissions associated with the operation of our three studios, not the carbon emitted by the buildings we design. It can be broken down into three scopes, as defined by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. For 2022, these amounted to:
- Scope 1: 00.00 tonnes
- Scope 2: 28.15 tonnes
- Scope 3: 83.79 tonnes
Scope 1 includes direct emissions from machinery we own, like our air conditioning units and gas boilers, while scope 2 covers emissions associated with the power we buy. Both our London and Sydney studios operate on REGO-backed, 100% renewable energy supplies, making this latter figure lower than you might expect.
Scope 3 refers to all other practice emissions, including those produced by employee commutes and business travel; transmission of the power we buy; home and remote working; water we use and dispose of; our zero-to-landfill waste and recycling policies; and day-to-day studio resources, like the paper in our printers. We’ve calculated our practice’s footprint under scope 3 using technical guidance from the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. Because some of these activities are difficult to calculate, we’ve added an extra 10% on top to ensure we’ve accounted for everything.
Along with taking steps to minimise our emissions, we’ve teamed up with carbonfootprint.com to offset our entire footprint, plus 10%, through its Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Tree Buddying scheme. The scheme – which supports international tree planting projects that capture carbon, enhance biodiversity and increase climate resilience – guarantees that 1 tonne of carbon is offset for every tree planted.
Our 2022 carbon footprint represents a 43% reduction on our 2021 figures, achieved through adjustments to our lighting and air conditioning systems, a stricter approach to turning off computer monitors when not in use, and a switch to a more sustainable energy provider. We continue to challenge ourselves to reduce our footprint even further as part of our commitment to working as responsibly and carbon-efficiently as possible.
