CITYSWITCH Annual Reporting Guide 2023 Instructions

CITYSWITCH Annual Reporting Guide 2023

Annual Reporting Guide 2023
Every year we ask CitySwitch members to provide data on their actions and achievements as part of their commitment to climate action. This guide will prepare your business to complete the report. Annual reporting is open from 1 February to 1 March 2024.

Who needs to report?
Annual reporting is mandatory for all members and is part of the minimum sign- up requirements for the program. A primary contact should be nominated to complete reporting.

How to complete reporting?

• If your business has 1 to 4 offices, you can complete a survey.
• If your business has 5 or more offices, you can complete your reporting on a spreadsheet.
• This should make it easier to copy and paste your data.
• We only require one submission for each business. For example, if you’re a national organisation, with multiple offices, only provide one entry.

What period am I reporting on?
We want our reporting process to be as accommodating as possible for members. We understand some businesses use the calendar year and others use the financial year. The data you provide to CitySwitch should represent a continuous 12-month period in the past 20 months. For example, from July 2022 to June 2023. CitySwitch will report data collectively to represent typical annual usage patterns.

How long does it take?
Businesses with one office should expect the form to take 30 minutes to complete. If you have more than one office, please plan for at least 1 hour. We’ve split up the process into 1-4 offices and 5+ offices to make the process as efficient as possible for members.

What data to prepare?
The information and data points you’ll need to access and prepare to complete your reporting are listed below. Unfortunately, you will not be able to save and return to the form as that eature isn’t available. It’s best to prepare the data and complete the form all at once. Mandatory questions are marked with a red asterisk. If the question doesn’t apply, enter 0 or if you’re not sure, you can answer ‘unsure’.

CitySwitch Champions

We’ve created a new and improved way to recognise member achievements. This year we’ll recognise businesses that exemplified best practices in the following focus areas:

• Getting your team onboard
• Reduce your waste
• Greening your supply chain

As you complete your reporting, look out for the related questions. They are all checkbox questions with prepared answers. Actions may have been implemented before the reporting period, however, must now be part of your business as usual. Members who answer 3 or more responses under a focus area, AND demonstrate engagement with the program, will be invited to apply for a CitySwitch Champion award. Your program manager will be in touch.

Section 1: Contact Details

• Organisation name, your name, job title and email*
• I am new to CitySwitch and working on providing my Scope 1 and 2 emissions for reporting in 2025
• Yes – this will allow you to skip section 2
• No, I’ve got the data ready. Let’s go! – this will take you to section 2.

Section 2: Office details & Scope 1 and 2 energy use
This section asks you to input energy data from your office(s). Many of the questions are mandatory.

• Provide the start date of the 12 months over which you are providing the data
• Office address, including postcode
• Office Net Lettable Area (NLA) in sqm
• New question 2023 Number of Full Time Employees (FTE) using this office

Is there anything else you want to tell us about this office?
This is an open textbox question to capture anything unusual about your space. For instance, if it includes other building types, like warehouse space.

Is this a co-working space?
We understand those in a co-working space will not have energy data, you can answer yes here and skip the below questions.

• New question 2023

If you answer yes above, how many desks do you use within this co-working space?
We’ll be able to calculate an estimated energy intensity from this information.

• 12-month electricity use (for the period entered, kWh) *
• Percentage of electricity from renewable sources*
• How did you access renewable electricity (GreenPower, PPA, onsite solar PV)? *
• 12-month gas use for the office (MJ)*
• 12-month diesel use for this office (L)*
• 12-month LPG use for this office (L) *
• Do you have an NABERS-accredited tenancy or whole building energy rating? Yes/No.
• NABERS is an associate of CitySwitch and will provide rating data directly.
• Please provide your NABERS rating reference number if applicable. This is an alphanumeric 6-character number starting with an ‘N’ followed by 5 numbers.
• If you don’t have an accredited rating, please enter a NABERS indicative tenancy or whole building energy rating.
• To find your estimate, you’ll need your annual energy data, NLA sqm, postcode, number of computers and the number of occupancy hours per week. www.nabers.gov.au/our-calculators/estimate-your-rating
• New question 2023 At the end of this section, you can provide any necessary commentary on the data input above. E.g. reason for the large variance between previous years, data source, and any notes that may assist in explaining any significant variation in data from the last year reported.

At the end of section 2, you’ll be asked if you have a second office. If yes, please complete the above information for your second office, followed by a potential third and fourth office. We think members should sign up all their offices to CitySwitch and reach net zero as an organisation. If you have more than one office, but it’s not registered, please select Yes, but it is not in the CitySwitch program and your CitySwitch program manager will be in touch.

Section 3: Fleet vehicle
In this section, we ask members to report on their fuel use in fleet vehicles. Vehicles, including cars, motorcycles, vans, or trucks that your organization owns or controls via a lease form part of your Scope 1. This information can be provided at an organisation level, rather than office by office.

• New question 2023 12-month petrol use in L for fleet vehicles (organisation-wide) *
• New question 2023 12-month diesel use in L for fleet vehicles (organisation-wide) *
• New question 2023 12-month LPG use in L for fleet vehicles (organisation-wide) *

Section 4: Scope 3 Emissions
In this section, we ask members to report on their Scope 3 emissions. These questions aren’t mandatory.

How much waste have you sent to landfill in tonnes from your office (for the period entered above)?
If unsure you can leave this blank.

This question should be answered per office. You’ll find separate questions for up to 4 offices in the survey and up to 20 offices in the spreadsheet.

• CitySwitch Champions Question – Please select the resource recovery initiatives being undertaken across your office(s).
• Checkbox responses include a regular visual waste assessment, single-use plastics avoidance campaign, reusable coffee cup initiative, paperless office, food and organics waste diversion, electronic waste collection, container deposit scheme collection, active waste champions and sustainable procurement policy.
• New Question 2023 – Have you achieved a recycling rate of 70% or more in your office(s)? This is an open-text response.
• Please provide the recycling rate and include any information on the data collection methodology and the relevant number of offices. A recycling rate is calculated as all waste that is not landfilled divided by all waste. 70% is considered best practice by CitySwitch, however, please note market standard is 40% according to NABERS Waste. Your response here will help us identify those with great outcomes to share with the network.
• Have you quantified your scope 3 emissions for the below categories? Note, that we don’t need the figures, just an indication of whether you have quantified your footprint in recent years.
• The below categories are common for office-based businesses and align with Climate Active categories.
• Accommodation and facilities (for example, accommodation in hotels)
• Cleaning and chemicals (for example, cleaning products such as detergents, and chlorine)
• Food (such as office catering)
• ICT services and equipment (for example, computers, servers/storage, telecommunications)
• Office equipment and supplies (for example., stationery, furniture, paper)
• Postage, courier, and freight (for example, air freight, mailing services, storage)
• Professional services (for example, legal, advertising, banking)
• Transport (for example, flights, care hire, taxis)
• Employee commute
• Water (water supply and wastewater)
• Working from home
• Other
• New Question 2023 What is your quantified scope 3 emissions in kg CO2e? Please enter a number. We’re conscious the methodologies and boundaries for calculating scope 3 vary.
• This new question was added to encourage many to start recording scope 3 calculations for the first time.
• CitySwitch Champions Question – Please indicate if you’ve undertaken any of the below activities to green your supply chain (checkbox responses include mapping the supply chain, creating a sustainable procurement policy, and engaging a target.
• suppliers in procurement objectives, embedded sustainability requirements into the supplier assessment process tracked emissions across your supply chain, and achieved emissions reduction across your supply chain). *

Section 5: Organisation net zero action and reporting commitments
In section 5 we’d like to understand your organisational commitments to net zero and progress with offsets to reach carbon neutrality. If your organization is global, please respond to Australian operations only. A new question has been added if you’d like to provide the global context for targets. Most of the questions in this section require a simple yes or no response. The exception is a request for tonnes of offsets used. Some of these questions are mandatory.

• Do you purchase offsets to be carbon neutral? Yes / No / We’re planning to in the next 12 months.
• Provide the amount in tonnes of carbon offsets used in this reporting period. As per the period entered above and related to Australian operations only.
• Do you do NGER reporting? Read more about the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Act.
• Is your organisation Climate Active certified? Yes / No / Certification in process. Read more about Climate Active.*
• Are you currently committed to the Science-Based Targets Initiative (SBTi)? Read more about SBTi.
• If not, do you have robust targets aligned with the 1.5-degree Paris Agreement?
• Do you have net zero targets for scope 1, 2 and/or 3 emissions? * Tick the relevant boxes.
  • Scope 1
  • Scope 2
  • Scope 3 (in part) or
  • Scope 3 (comprehensive across your value chain, all 15 GHG categories).

Other (comment box provided)
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol breaks down your scope 3 emissions into 15 categories. Some categories, like business travel and employee commuting, are easier to quantify and reduce. While other data like purchased goods and services or investments can be challenging. Some companies start by measuring their Scope 3 emissions in part. You’ll find the 15 GHG categories in the diagram on page 6 of the program overview. There are 8 in the upstream activities and 7 in the downstream.

• New Question 2023 – If your organisation has operations beyond Australia, please
  indicate where these targets have been set and the scale of their application. For instance, are targets set in an overseas head office or have you developed targets in

Australia for local operations only?
Section 6: Engagement and leadership
Internal engagement and industry leadership are key to achieving a net zero economy and creating a broader net zero ecosystem. In this section, there are 2 questions.

CitySwitch Champions Question – How have you set your team up for success?
Select from the checkboxes: update the company mission, policy and strategies to reflect your commitment to climate action set up an internal working group or cross-functional team, induct new staff to your organisation’s climate commitments, and regular communications, design incentives or pay bonuses to integrate climate goals, empowered employees to act on climate in their day- to-day roles and others.

How have you played a climate leadership role this year?
Select from the checkboxes: engaged or mentored suppliers on your climate commitments, introduced circular economy principles, climate risk management, presentation at CitySwitch event, mentored another CitySwitch member or none of the above and others.

Section 7: CitySwitch support
In this final section, we ask you to take the opportunity to provide feedback on the value of the program and what support you’d like this year.

How would you describe the value of the program to your organisation’s net zero ambitions (select from 1-10)?

• New Question 2023. Provide feedback on the program i.e. What would you suggest we develop or change to improve the value for your organisation

Which areas would your business appreciate support with this year from the net zero pathway action list?
For instance, measure business emissions, get your team on board and reduce your waste.

• CitySwitch support includes workshops, resources, peer-to-peer learning, webinars and more. We hope this guide will prepare you to complete reporting efficiently and we thank you for your contribution.
• As always, please reach out to your program manager with any questions or feedback on reporting. Contact my program manager

What if my business is in a co-working space?
We understand you may not have access to your electricity or other energy data in a co-working space. As these arrangements become more popular, we’re working with providers to understand how they contract electricity and can support your net zero journey. If you indicate you’re in a coworking space, you can skip the energy data questions.

I’m new to the program and we haven’t recorded our electricity use yet, should I still report it?
If you are new to the program, we allow 12 months to report on your scope 1 (direct emissions, such as gas) and 2 (electricity) emissions and you can skip these questions for now. Please talk to your program manager who can support you to prepare for next year.

How is CitySwitch accounting for working-from-home emissions?
The pandemic has reset the way we work and flexible work-from-home policies are the norm in many office-based sectors. For now, we will continue to capture emissions from our offices and cities, but in future years, as work- from-home calculations become more sophisticated, we’ll ask members to report on these too.

We have more than 20 offices, how do we report?
Your program manager will be in touch to discuss how best to collect your data.

What happens to my data after reporting?
The information you provide as part of your annual reporting is collected by the City of Sydney as the national coordinator of the CitySwitch program. Your information is stored in a secure database. An annual program report will be produced to demonstrate the collective impact of the program. Our collective results will be shared with members via the annual report and at local annual events.

The City of Sydney shares your information with CitySwitch partners (councils and entities represented on the CitySwitch national steering committee). The City of Sydney, CitySwitch partners and third parties contracted to support the program, use the information for analysis, and reporting, and to inform policy and program development about reducing emissions from the office-based business sector.

The City of Sydney may share the information you provide as part of your annual reporting with relevant state or federal government departments or agencies for similar purposes, but with all personal information, and information that directly identifies your business (e.g. organisation name, office addresses), removed. Your business-level data is never published. Any data that is published or included in reports is aggregated and anonymised. The City of Sydney and CitySwitch partners may receive a fee or funding where they are providing the information or associated analysis and reporting.

References

• Sustainability support for offices - CitySwitch - Contact
• National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Scheme | Clean Energy Regulator

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