Who we are

TERROIR was established in 1999 by Founding Directors Gerard Reinmuth, Scott Balmforth and Richard Blythe as the result of conversations between these three former colleagues from University about the need for greater emphasis on research in practice in Australian architecture. A strong relationship between these three individuals fuelled an ambition to develop a practice underpinned by a culture of creativity through research.

The practice has since grown to a talented team of 25 which includes both enthusiastic young designers and experienced architects, with offices in Sydney, Hobart and Copenhagen.

Why did we become involved

We initially became involved in this project in order to test phase 2 of the online tool, and were keen to do so given the opportunity to assess and reduce the carbon emissions related to our office activities. Individual staff had already begun altering their activities, each trying to make a difference in their own way, and we felt it was time to try to quantify our emissions and develop an office wide policy knowing it would be the most effective at reducing emissions. Although we were trying to improve our activities using our general knowledge, we hoped the tool might enable us to see where further reductions could be made, and confirm which methods were most effective. Given the uncertainty of the effectiveness and veracity (and, in some cases, ethics) of the various carbon offsetting options, we knew our most effective action would be to assess, monitor and reduce our emissions at the source.

By involving ourselves in the testing phase, we were also keen to assist in developing the tool wherever possible so other offices could also benefit from our experience.

Where did we start

The Sydney office, located on the 8^th floor of a 9 storey office building in the CBD is rare these days in that we still have operable windows, something very much welcomed by the staff for most of the year. However, in the hot Summer months these large, west facing windows, combined with the in-office server, mean the heat inside the office becomes unbearable. We had already installed internal blinds, floor fans, and an efficient small air-conditioning system thanks to the help of our engineers! Our self-appointed Environment Manager had also organised private recycling for the office, as the base building did not provide this, nor does Sydney City Council for commercial tenants, and we made use of the zoned lighting for only occupied areas of the office. We were, however, still concerned about the amount of energy we were using and wanted to improve. Staff were undecided on what the best approach was for computer usage - should we turn off or put in sleep mode? Does it use more energy start up again from 'power off' than it does to run in 'stand by'?

Process undertaken and problems faced

The first step was to collect as much data as possible about our current energy usage, from statements, records and staff interviews on their daily activities. This took a little bit of juggling as we wanted to audit the Sydney and Hobart offices separately, yet our records are all managed in Hobart. Some of our data had to be interpreted to suit the audit format and after an initial amount of angst on ensuring accuracy, we realised it was more important to see relative emissions and opportunities for reduction, rather than striving for perfectly accurate data. The electricity bills also ensured calibration of the data input. What we also noticed straight away was that staff activities began to alter as soon as they were aware they were being audited! The desire for a "good" result up front made assessing habitual activities tricky, but again, at least they were already reducing their emissions!

We had to decide early on what the boundary for our audit would be. Some activities are run by the base building and we could not change these. Others, quite significant we felt, were associated with the running or projects, yet were also beyond the scope of this tool. However, we did appreciate the issues which the tool unveiled in the running of our projects and have since developed our own assessment method for projects in a similar manner.

Where are we going

The audit revealed a few areas where we found emissions could be reduced, but it also provides us with a benchmark from which we can create targets for future improvements. We look forward to next year's audit to see how these targets are going!

Since the audit we have updated our Environmental Management System, incorporating the tool as part of our ongoing auditing and improvement of environmental goals, and have achieved ISO14001 accreditation. The EMS combines both our office and project activities, providing a system for both emissions and resource reduction that staff can easily integrate with their daily activities.