Participate in environmentally sustainable work practices
Resource Efficiency Assessment
BA. Conduct a practical assessment of your organisation's resources and practices. You may use the forms attached below to collect your data or any software available to you (for example you may create a spreadsheet using Microsoft Excel).
For this purpose you need to identify:
1. The locations of all meters for:
- Gas
- Electricity
- Water
2. The current readings for these meters
3. The equipment and appliances used in one specific department (for example Kitchen, F&B etc.)
4. Measure the consumption of electricity as listed on the appliance labels and write these down.
5. Measure the flow rate of various taps using the formula "Flow rate Volume/Time (L/min)"
6. Inspect the energy ratings for all appliances where these bear a star rating.
7. Inspect the A ratings of appliances using water (e.g. Washing machine, Ice maker etc.)
8. Inspect the type of lighting used and determine the KW/H (1000 Watt = 1 KWH) used in that department.
9. Inspect the provisions for recycling
10. Enquire about the intervals of waste collection and determine the size of the cubicle(s) used.
11. Determine the number and size of garbage containers in your department.
12. This task is performed outside: Wearing gloves and using tongs, physically inspect the contents of garbage bins from your department and inspect the approximate waste for each category (Glass, paper, card board, green waste etc) and express these in percent (approximately).
13. Enquire about the energy consumption of air conditioners and heaters where applicable and document the KWH for these units.
14. Enquire about provisions for watering plants and landscaping, identify where the water is coming from and whether it could be feasible - according to given infrastructure to install a rain water tank.
15. Identify any workplace environmental hazards and discuss the issues in your report findings, including the provisions to whom you would report such hazards.
16. Identify any breaches or potential breaches you have encountered in the audited area during your project and discuss the issues in your report findings, including the provisions to whom you would report such breaches.
BB. Compare the values you have collected against the benchmarks you have researched in Part A of this assessment and suggest alternatives. Specifically this would include for example:
• Use of e.g. 10 light bulbs rated at 0.060 KWH in Kitchen area could be replaced with 10 energy saving bulbs rated at 0.012 KWH which would represent an energy saving of (10 * 48 = 0.480KWH) 0.480 KW per hour
• 10 Showerheads in guest rooms rated A could be replaced by ones rated AAA with a potential saving of (10 * 55 L = 550 L) 550 Litres per day etc.
1. Given the provided examples, prepare your report and describe your findings during your practical assessment and determine the areas where energy consumption and waste can be reduced or improved, by providing details how this can be done effectively in line with sustainable practices.
Waste
a. Review current waste contractual arrangements (Waste Wise Hotels, 2007)
b. Over 1 period conduct a visual waste audit of all rubbish bins
Observe what is being thrown away
Look for contamination (materials disposed of wrongly)
Professional companies can undertake waste audits on a fee-for-service basis
Calculate the daily total amount of rubbish from each department
c. Work out your collection requirements
Total the volumes of each type of waste per day
Some items can be combined such as glass, metal, plastic, paper & milk cartons -referred to as 'co-mingled' waste. (but, no food scraps, polystyrene or plastic bags)
Calculate the required bin size and frequency of collection - e.g. if your property produced 242.5 litres of 'co-mingled waste' per week then 1 x 250 litre bin should be sufficient with a once a week collection frequency.
d. Review the packaging from your supplies
Attempt to reduce or eliminate waste at the source