Net zero action plan survey

Module four

This action plan survey will help you identify areas for improvement in your business and inform your net zero action plan.

Walk around your workplace and complete this survey. If you have a big space you can do a survey for each floor, you can also delegate it to an employee working in that area as they’ll be familiar with the layout.

This resource covers our suggested minimum requirements which are everything in Scope 1 and Scope 2. For Scope 3, it’s employee commuting, business travel including accommodation, employees working from home, water usage, waste and purchased goods and services as a minimum. You need to consider reducing any other Scope 3 elements highlighted as material to your business. Scope 3 emissions beyond our suggested minimum can be extremely difficult to measure and we don’t cover that in this course, but you can use our list of useful organisations to get help with calculating these emissions.

This survey will look familiar as you completed it in module two. Hopefully you’ve made some quick wins and improvements since then, or you’ve learnt more about your business, so your results will look different.

Once you’ve completed it, look at our your action plan – first steps resource for suggestions on how to improve and reduce your emissions.

Scope 1

Electricity – onsite electricity generation

Onsite electricity generation		Yes	No	N/A	Action
Efficiency	Is your onsite electricity generation equipment (such as solar panels) maintained regularly?

Gas

Central heating		Yes	No	N/A	Action
Efficiency	Is heating equipment maintained regularly – for example, are your radiators bled and are your boilers serviced?
	Have you adapted the heating system to the space and are your employees comfortable with the temperature?
	Can radiators and boiler pipes be insulated and lagged?
	Can radiators have reflectors fitted?
	Is the heating system older than eight years and can it be replaced?
	Are radiators and other heating surfaces clear of obstructions?
	Is the heating provided by fan coil units instead of radiators?
	Are the fan coil units nearing their end of useful life?
	Can repair work be conducted and draught seals installed?
	Are windows double or triple glazed?
Heating period	Do you have control over the building’s heating?
	Are unused spaces being heated?
	Are heating and cooling running simultaneously?
	Does the boiler have timers installed and are they set in working hours?
Heating level	Is the space too hot or too cold?
	What is the thermostatic radiator valve (TRV) setting on radiators? Note: comfortable temperatures of 19°C are usually maintained when TRVs are set to three. If it’s at five or higher, there’s no control over the heat emitted.
	Is the heating set to around 21°C? Note: You can cut fuel consumption and costs by about 8% through a 1°C drop in average temperature.

Refrigerants – owned by you (optional)

Central cooling		Yes	No	N/A	Action
Efficiency	Are cooling systems maintained regularly and are there records?
	Is the cooling system adapted to the space and are employees comfortable? Note: Air conditioning shouldn’t be switched on until temperatures reach 24°C
	Are air conditioning units older than eight years?
	Are the filters in ventilation systems blocked?
	Are air conditioning units in server rooms set below 20°C?
Cooling period	Are windows and doors closed when heating or air conditioning is on?
	Are employees happy with the temperature?
	Are timers working and on the correct settings?
Cooling level	Can natural ventilation be used to better advantage?
Refrigeration
Efficiency	Are fridges maintained regularly and are there records?
	Are fridges set to below 3°C?

Transport – company owned vehicles

Company owned vehicles		Yes	No	N/A	Action
Travel alternatives	Can technology replace some travel (such as video conferencing)?
	Are certain journeys avoidable?
	Can you electrify your fleet?
	Do you need to provide company cars?
	Do you audit your vehicles’ journeys?
	Can you downsize your vehicles?
	Do you provide training for drivers on economic driving?

Scope 2

Electricity – purchased electricity

Central heating		Yes	No	N/A	Action
Type	Do you have a green energy supplier?
Efficiency	Is heating equipment maintained regularly – for example, are your radiators bled and are your boilers serviced?
	Is the heating system adapted to the space and are your employees comfortable with the temperature?
	Can radiators and boiler pipes be insulated and lagged?
	Can radiators have reflectors fitted?
	Is the heating system older than eight years and can it be replaced?
	Are radiators and other heating surfaces clear of obstructions?
	Is the heating provided by fan coil units instead of radiators?
	Are the fan coil units nearing their end of useful life?
	Can repair work be conducted and draught seals installed?
	Are your windows double or triple glazed?
Heating period	Do you have control over the building’s heating?
	Are unused spaces being heated?
	Are heating and cooling running simultaneously?
	Does the boiler have timers installed and are they set to working hours?
Heating level	Is the space too hot or too cold?
	What is the thermostatic radiator valve (TRV) setting on radiators? Note: comfortable temperatures of 19°C are usually maintained when TRVs are set to three. If it’s at five or higher, there’s no control over the heating emitted.
	Is the heating set to around 21°C? Note: you can cut fuel consumption and costs by about 8% through a 1°C drop in average temperature.
Individual/local heating (small, electric or oil-based heaters)		Yes	No	N/A	Action
Time in use	Are employees using local heating in conjunction with central heating?
	Is local heating switched off during breaks and out of working hours?
	Is local heating left on standby?
Lighting		Yes	No	N/A	Action
Controls and zoning	Are there enough controls to allow employees to only use lights when and where they need to?
	Are the controls easy to use and access?
	Are external lights switched off during the day?
Sensors	Could sensors be fitted in certain areas, so lights switch off automatically (such as toilets, store rooms and open plan offices)?
Employee behaviour	Can people do more to use fewer lights?
	Are you actively encouraging employees to switch lights off?
	Do ancillary employees switch lights off out of office hours?
Lighting		Yes	No	N/A	Action
Unnecessary lighting	Are there lights where they aren’t needed (such as above cupboards)?
Natural lighting	Is natural light being blocked or overlooked?
Cleaning lights	Are windows, skylights and sensors being kept clean?
Efficient technology	Is energy-efficient LED lighting used?
	Have energy-inefficient traditional tungsten bulbs been replaced?
	Are there energy-inefficient large diameter fluorescent bubs?
Technology		Yes	No	N/A	Action
Time in use	Can employees switch off equipment during breaks or out of working hours more often?
	Are power management functions enabled (such as energy star feature and sleep mode on printers)?
	Can timers be installed on certain equipment (such as vending machines)?
	Does a lot of equipment get left on standby (such as chargers and printers)?
	Do ancillary employees switch equipment off outside of office hours?
Efficiency	Is your equipment old?
Catering equipment		Yes	No	N/A	Action
Period of power on	Is catering equipment left on standby?
	Are water heaters constantly left on?
	Can timers be installed on certain equipment (such as point of use water heaters)?
Efficiency	Is catering equipment old (such as fridges, dishwashers and microwaves)?

Scope 3

Transport – employee commuting

Employee commuting		Yes	No	N/A	Action
Travel alternatives	Do you have a flexible and remote working policy?
	Do you incentivise green transport methods?
	Do you engage employees on green transport methods?

Transport – business travel

Business travel		Yes	No	N/A	Action
Travel alternatives	Can technology replace some travel (such as video conferencing)?
	Are certain journeys avoidable (such as flights and taxi journeys)?
	Do you need to provide company cars?
Efficiency	Can you downsize your vehicles?
	Do you provide training for drivers on economic driving?

Travel accommodation

Travel accommodation		Yes	No	N/A	Action
Alternatives	Can technology replace the need for accommodation (such as video conferencing)?

Employees working from home

Employees working from home		Yes	No	N/A	Action
Communication	Do you actively engage employees on home energy efficiency improvements?

Water

Water		Yes	No	N/A	Action
Efficiency	Do you have water efficient equipment and technology (such as low flow toilets)?
	Do you run your dishwasher with a half load?
Communication	Do you have maintenance reporting channels for employees to report any leaks?
	Do you remind employees to turn off taps when washing their hands?

Waste

Resource use		Yes	No	N/A	Action
Resource use	Do employees use disposable items (such as cups, paper towels, plastic cutlery and bottled water)?
	Is there a lot of packaging from suppliers?
	Do employees have ‘bad’ printing habits (such as single-sided printing and printing emails)?
	Does you get a lot of unwanted mail?
	Do you audit your waste?
	Do you often over buy?
Recycling		Yes	No	N/A	Action
Materials	Do you recycle?
	Could you be recycling more materials (such as plastic, furniture, IT equipment and batteries)?
	Could you be donating more materials (such as furniture, IT equipment and stationery)?
Recycling rates	Do employees have personal bins?
	Are there enough recycling bins and are they clearly labelled?
	Are recycling bins contaminated with waste materials (such as food)?

Purchased goods and services

Procurement		Yes	No	N/A	Action
Environmentally friendly products	Do you use sustainable products (such as Fairtrade tea and coffee, environmentally friendly cleaning products and recycled paper)?
	Do you buy items second hand?
	Are purchased items vetted for environmental credentials?
	Do you buy environmentally friendly food (such as meat free)?
Deliveries	Do you plan bulk purchases?
	Could you buy items locally?
Waste	Do you buy items that are rarely/ never used?
Communication	Do you work with suppliers to engage them on environmental initiatives?
Offsetting	Do you offset your emissions?

Other

Employee engagement		Yes	No	N/A	Action
Communication	Are employees given environmental or energy efficiency training?
	Do you encourage people to take the stairs if they can?
	Do you have an active green team or net zero team?
	Do you actively tell your employees about environmental initiatives?
Policy and strategy	Do you have an environmental policy and targets signed off by senior management?
	Are these communicated internally and externally?
	Do you run meat free Mondays, or equivalent?

This was last updated in September 2021 by Heart of the City. We’ve created these resources for individual SMEs to use. None of our content is to be adapted, reused or repurposed for commercial use.

Climate for SMEs: 4 Steps to Action is funded by the City of London Corporation in support of its Climate Action Strategy targets for a net zero and resilient Square Mile.

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Net zero action plan survey

This action plan survey will help you identify areas for improvement in your business and inform your net zero action plan.

Scope 1

Scope 2

Scope 3

Climate Action Toolkit