CTC has been commissioned by South Dublin County Council to develop a A Sustainable Business Community in South Dublin.
To achieve this, CTC first will work with South Dublin County Council, the Local Enterprise Office and South Dublin Chamber of Commerce to identify a suitable location / locations where a sustainable business network can be established.
Once an interested local business community is established, the concept of a Sustainable Business Network can be outlined to the business community though one to one discussions, local dissemination routes such as newsletters, online communication channels and flyers. With the shift to online interaction and communication as a result of Covid, it is likely that online promotion and contact through existing online events will be the primary route. Businesses which are interested in joining the network will be invited to an online seminar where the concepts and benefits of resource efficiency, and sustainability in general, will be outlined. CTC will organise and participate in the seminar in collaboration with South Dublin County Council.
Businesses who are interested in joining the network will be expected to complete a short application form which will include a request for details on energy, waste and water spend. Businesses who are interested in joining the network will also be asked to complete the EPA’s online TREE which will provide them with a report on resource efficiency for their business, https://greenbusiness.ie/smeefficiency-and-cost-reduction-questionnaire/
An initial ten businesses will be chosen for a supporting on-site resource efficiency assessment. As part of this process, the findings from the TREE assessment will aid CTC review where materials, energy and water are used in the business and identify opportunities to improve or change these operations in order to meet with best practice. CTC will identify the main energy users in the business. This may include lighting, heating, cooking, IT, transport, etc. Based on these, opportunities for improved energy efficiency, energy efficient technologies and renewable energy alternatives will, where practical, be identified.
CTC will also review waste and water management practices with a view to implementing waste prevention, reuse approaches and reducing waste to landfill. Water conservation measures will also be explored though, in general, SMEs tend not to have a huge interest in this area. Finally, based on this exploratory process businesses will be advised on how they can improve resource efficiency and reduce costs. For this, KPIs for energy, water and waste will be established and these will be monitored over time to evaluate progress for participating businesses.
Based on the site visits, CTC will produce a report for each of the micro-businesses visited. Subsequently, businesses will be required to commit to implementing their action plans.