CitySwitch celebrates its two year national anniversary

3 JUNE 2010

 

A growing number of organisations, large and small, are joining CitySwitch Green Office - the energy efficiency program aimed at providing a double benefit with cost savings from lower energy use and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
 
Two years after going national, CitySwitch has forged an alliance with 196 firms representing 233 tenancies and covering 1.26 million sq metres of office space to slash CO2 emissions by 62,000 tonnes.
 
Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore MP said the reduction in emissions is equal to taking almost 14,000 cars off the road. CitySwitch was originally introduced by the City of Sydney in 2005, in collaboration with North Sydney and Parramatta City Councils.
 
"I congratulate those participating organisations for their bold decision to join the program and their vital commitment to helping reduce the gases that are driving climate change."
 
"But where are all the other companies and groups that could be and should be a part of this same involvement and commitment to build a universal culture of energy efficiency?" Ms Moore said
 
"CitySwitch is ideally placed to support the Federal Government's energy efficiency agenda, which has been given a renewed focus in the wake of the emissions trading scheme being shelved."
 
"Can you imagine the collective result if we had thousands of organisations taking part - it would bring about a massive transformation in office energy efficiency and significantly reduce energy bills at a time when electricity prices are increasing."
 
"The reductions in emissions would skyrocket, in a wonderful result for the environment, while producing a sizeable and growing financial return for businesses."
   
Each participating council, including the eight making up the Council of Capital City Lord Mayors, has a target of 20 per cent of total net lettable area committed to the program over the next two years. This equates to a target of 700 signatories nationally covering 3.4 million square metres to attain emissions reduction of 162,000 tonnes by 2012.
 

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Flick the switch for Earth Hour: 8:30pm, Saturday 27 March 2010

15 FEBRUARY 2010

 

Last year over 4,000 cities in 88 countries across the world supported Earth Hour. The simple action of turning off lights for one hour delivered a powerful message about the need for action on global warming. 

 

This year Earth Hour will be held at 8:30pm Saturday 27 March 2010.

 

With commercial office tenants accounting for almost 50 percent of the electricity consumed in office buildings, CitySwitch Signatories have a key role to play in taking action. Register now >

 

Visit the Earth Hour website to access a range of resources specifically designed to help promote Earth Hour within participating organisations. Resources include a ‘how to’ fact sheet, Earth Hour logos, promotional templates and letters to help communicate your commitment to stakeholders. Access Earth Hour resources >

 

After ‘lights out’ for Earth Hour 2010, make an ongoing commitment to reduce carbon pollution and sign up to CitySwitch Green Office >  

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ACT Government joins CitySwitch

29 SEPTEMBER 2009

 

The ACT Government is now on board as an official CitySwitch program partner. 

 

Canberra joins the participating councils of Sydney, North Sydney, Parramatta, Willoughby, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, and state government agencies, the NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water and Sustainability Victoria, in delivering real action on climate change.

 

In joining City Switch Green Office, the ACT Government has committed to bringing a potential of 380,000 sqm of nett lettable area to the national program.

 

The Department will look to engage the many government agencies and corporate organisations in Canberra to step up to an energy efficiency commitment, joining the high profile Signatories already part of CitySwitch.

 

If your organisation has a tenancy in Canberra that would like to commit to CitySwitch, please contact the ACT Program Manager Debra Grogan on (02) 6207 5669 or at debra.grogan@act.gov.au.
 

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CitySwitch program achieves over one million sqm of commercial office space

30 AUGUST 2009

 

Just one year on from its national expansion, CitySwitch Green Office has achieved an impressive reach of over one million square metres of commercial office space.

 

This leading tenant energy efficiency program has many of Australia's most high profile organisations on board made up of 169 tenancies, or just over 1,089,000 sqm of floor space across the country.

 

As CitySwitch Signatories, these organisations demonstrate that in addition to saving money, they are committed to changing their climate change impact and are environmental leaders in Australia’s business community.

 

If all of Australia’s commercial office tenants were to adopt the simple changes involved in CitySwitch Green Office it could deliver a saving of 960,000 T of CO2 per annum, which is the equivalent of taking 200,000 cars off the road.

 

At the time of the national CitySwitch program being launched in June 2008, CitySwitch Green Office had 56 office tenancies and over 600,000 square metres of office space across the Sydney, North Sydney and Parramatta local government areas.

 

CitySwitch has since gone on to become a leading sustainability program, with more and more organisations joining this national partnership in order to address their carbon pollution and become environmental leaders.  

 

Click here to view CitySwitch Green Office Signatories >

 

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C40 Climate Change Summit – CitySwitch in the global spotlight

1 JUNE 2009

 

Representatives from over eighty leading green cities from around the world have come together at the C40 Climate Change Summit in Seoul. Held in May this year, the leadership summit focused on climate change, under the theme of 'Cities Achievements and Challenges in the Fight against Climate Change'.

 

The Lord Mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore MP, a representative of the Lord Mayor of Melbourne and senior executives from both councils represented Australia’s two C40 member cities, Sydney and Melbourne. CitySwitch was presented as a demonstration of local government leadership to combat carbon pollution. The City of Sydney and City of Melbourne on behalf of the CitySwitch partnering councils outlined how the actions of the growing CitySwitch network of tenant organisations are reducing Australia’s climate change impact.

 

CitySwitch was profiled as a leading project for collaboratively reducing greenhouse gas emissions, with the achievements of the program’s Signatories providing a leading example of best practice for achieving energy efficiency.

 

For more information visit the C40 Climate Change Summit website >

 

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Thank you for taking part in Earth Hour 2009

6 APRIL 2009

Earth Hour 2009 was the biggest Earth Hour ever. Millions of people in almost 4,000 towns and cities across 88 countries switched off their lights and demonstrated their concern at how our climate is changing.

 

How did we go?

• Around 55% (309) of Australia’s local councils committed to Earth Hour

• All Australian capital cities participated 

• 99 of the ASX100 companies registered their participation

• Australia’s major icons switched off: the Opera House and Harbour Bridge (Sydney), St Kilda’s Luna Park and Flinders Street Station (Melbourne), Story Bridge (Brisbane), Parliament House (Canberra), WA War Memorial (Perth), Rundle Mall Lantern (Adelaide).

 

And what took place globally?

• 3929 cities, towns and municipalities in 88 countries across 25 time zones participated

• 70 national capital cities participated

• Some 996 global landmarks from mountains to historic buildings and modern architectural landmarks had officially registered to participate in the event. They include: the Pyramids and the Sphinx (Egypt), Eiffel Tower (France), Vatican (Italy), Acropolis (Greece), Big Ben (UK), the Las Vegas Strip and Empire State Building (USA), Christ the Redeemer (Brazil), Bird’s Nest (China) and the Petronas Twin Towers (Malaysia).

 

Again a big thank you for taking part in Earth Hour 2009 and for ensuring that energy efficiency is top of mind every hour of every day through your participation in CitySwitch Green Office.

 

If you haven't signed up to the program, please contact the Program Manager in your state >

 

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DECC fee discount

6 MARCH 2009

As part of the NSW Department of Environment and Climate Change's (DECC) significant commitment and support to CitySwitch Green Office, the administration fee charged for NABERS Energy ratings has been significantly reduced.

 

Undertaking an annual NABERS Energy tenancy or whole building rating is a requirement of all CitySwitch Signatories.  Ratings determine an organisation's progress in achieveing their CitySwitch committment and are carried out by accredited assesssorsor on behalf of Signatories .

From 1 January 2009, Signatories who occupy less than 1,000 sqm will no longer be charged a fee and those who occupy over 1,000 sqm will be charged a reduced fee of $385 (incl. GST) - a saving of 50 percent.

This significant contribution from DECC demonstrates the Department's commitment to support CitySwitch Green Office.  CitySwitch thanks DECC for their support of the program and the advancement of tenant energy efficiency.

 

For more information visit the DECC website >

 

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Advertisement in the AFR to say thank you

11 DECEMBER 2008

 

An advertisement was placed in the Australian Financial Review on Thursday 11 December to thank all CitySwitch Signatories for their support of the program and their environmental leadership.

 

If you didn't see the ad in the Financial Review, you can view it here >

 

We sincerely thank all CitySwitch Signatories Australia-wide for their committment to improving energy efficiency.

 

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2007/08 Progress Report - Executive Briefing

6 NOVEMBER 2008

 

The CitySwitch Green Office annual Progress Report - Executive Briefing was held on 5 November in AMP's impressive Harbour Terrace Room, 33 Alfred Street, Sydney.  The event was attended by over 100 CEO's and Senior Executives representing CitySwitch Green Office Signatories.

 

Feedback  from those who attended the briefing was extremely positive. They were impressed with the growth that occurred within the program over the past 12 months and felt that CitySwitch continued to provide a robust framework to measure, monitor and promote their progress to reduce their climate change impact. 

 

A full outline of the program's collective and individual achievements is available in the CitySwitch Progress Report Snapshots below. 
 

 Download 2007/08 Progress Report Snapshot [590KB] >

 Download 2006/07 Progress Report Snapshot [5,951KB] >

 

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