Christina Broder, Big4.com Staff Reporter
KPMG has been successful in reducing its carbon footprint by 7% in the year 2008, says the Living Green Annual Report 2009. KPMG has been in the news for its initiative known as the Living Green program. This program was launched in 2008 and measures against its baseline set up in 2007.
It had been decided in 2008 that the tax, consulting, and audit firm would set a goal of reducing their carbon footprint by a considerable amount. The initiative of reducing the carbon footprint of KPMG along with its other member firms has set a target of 25% by the year 2010 through use of emission reduction schemes and the use of renewable energy in offices and member firms.
It has been estimated that an average full time employee of KPMG has generated around 6 tons of carbon emissions in 2008 alone. This figure had reduced by 11% from the previous year, says KPMG. The electricity itself accounts for 36 per cent of KPMG’s carbon footprint. It was also stated that the company used nearly 100 million kilowatt hours of electricity in its offices in 2008.
In order to work on decreasing electricity consumption, KPMG had been successful in reducing the consumption by 3% in the year 2008. This was quite an achievement and was done by using entirely new Energy Star rated appliances and energy efficient bulbs and motion sensors. These energy efficient appliances and motion sensors were installed at various locations in the office for more effect.
The other area that got noticed was that of water consumption. The firm saw a 1% increase in 2008 and to get this under control, the company is adding low flow taps, automatic sensor faucets, and auto flush toilets. These water saving devices have been installed in all new offices and in departments where renovations are taking place.
The year 2008 also saw KPMG increase its recycling activity by 13% nationwide. This initiative was taken by all departments of the firm as non-recycled waste has dropped 54 meaning. KPMG has also reported that currently the 90 offices around US recycle more waste than they send to the landfills.