The Livery Climate Action Group has carried out its first Peer Review of a Livery Company’s climate action plan. Invited by the Merchant Taylors’ Company to run a rule over their actions to date, our Chair Alison Gowman and benchmarking lead PM Water Conservator Rob Casey, met the Clerk, John Clink. The list of questions posed was detailed and fitted a Livery with a Hall and commercial lettings venue. The elements ranged from issues of energy and heating to investments and policies. John and his in-house surveyor are exemplary leaders in the work that they are spearheading and they are encouraging personal behavioural changes as well as structural works to the building and operations. We visited the ancient kitchens that looked efficient and have so little food waste that there is not enough to tempt an external food recycler to attend to take away so little. We visited the roof to view the PV cells that are hidden from sight but operating to provide significant energy to the premises on sunny days.
We found very little that Merchant Taylors had not already done or considered and were working on. Some issues were frustrating such as the general grid capacity in the City that could help businesses be better enabled to reduce carbon emissions, through a switch away from gas. Using power optimisation techniques, spikes in energy demand can be reduced with a subsequent saving in electricity use. Key elements to their success are a strong leadership ethos and a strategy that carries out works on a programme and keeps up maintenance on a building that is both a scheduled ancient monument and Grade II listed. Not surprisingly they have achieved a Silver Award for recycling with a 76% recycling rate and zero to landfill with 35.74 tonnes of carbon dioxide avoided. We were able to trade some ideas for improvements and look forward to repeating the task in another year or so.
LCAG is happy to carry out a similar review for any other Livery Companies that wish to participate. John Clink is very happy to talk to other Companies about developing a sustainability policy and developing a plan of action.
Read the LCAG Review of Merchant Taylors’ Climate Action Progress.
Rob Casey, Past Master Water Conservator