9. Work as greener teams
The impacts of the team designing and delivering a service, whether in-house or from suppliers, are one of the ‘embodied’ impacts of that service. If set up to work in greener ways, those teams can consume less energy and other resources during the various lifecycle phases of project development.
9a. Create a low-carbon non-functional requirement (NFR) for the project
Lifecycle phases
Actions
(i) Create the Non-functional Requirement
Sustainability should be regarded as a factor that has influence over all other project requirements, with a Non-functional requirement covering the whole lifecycle of the service (from production through to use and then end-of-life), and setting metrics so success can be measured.
9b. Choose the right collaborative practices for the team
Actions
(i) Choosing collaboration tools and approach to document sharing
The right collaboration tools for particular tasks, such as digital whiteboard software for workshops and diagramming, can save teams time and effort, in turn reducing energy consumption. Share documents via use of platforms synchronised with a shared server rather than email where possible.
(ii) Have a plan in place for travel
Business travel usually has a very significant environmental footprint. Put tech packages and policies in place to mean business travel is only used when delivering absolute benefit.
(iii) Have a clear approach to meetings
Set up purposeful meetings, with a clear agenda and actions to takeaway. If the meetings are online, turn off video after the initial intros have been made. If the meetings are in-person, then ensure there is a clear rationale for doing so and the most is made from gathering the team together in one place.
Measurement
There are a number of tools that can help us estimate a team's or individual's environmental footprint:
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My Impact is an open source tool that allows a ‘professional’ to estimate their personal impacts from equipment, video calls, cloud storage, emails and business travel.
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UK Gov Emission Conversion Factors can be used to calculate the carbon footprint of a vast range of different activities
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Travel impact calculator, London North East Railway (LNER)
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Transport calculator, World Land Trust
9c. Provide teams the necessary training to deliver greener services
The Digital Sustainability Team at the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) are doing work to gather together relevant training resources. See: