Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2013
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2013 Hydro Ottawa 2012–2016 Strategic Direction ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS FINANCIAL STRENGTH CUSTOMER VALUE CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP Corporate Social Responsibility Report Social Responsibility Corporate As one of our four Key Areas of Focus, Message from Corporate Citizenship is a central the President preoccupation for Hydro Ottawa. and Chief It helps to guide our strategic planning. It influences business decisions. And it is Executive one of the four criteria by which we judge Officer our success or failure as a company. 2013 1 I am pleased to provide this The importance we assign to Corporate Citizenship is linked both to our history and report on Hydro Ottawa’s our vision for the future. performance in the area of We are a company with deep roots in our Corporate Citizenship. community, established through more than 100 years of providing an essential service to homes and businesses. With that heritage comes an expectation that we should be a good neighbour – engaged, responsive, willing to lend a hand, and a good steward of the environment we all share. We are fully committed to meeting that expectation. Our Vision is to be a leading and trusted integrated utility services company. Similarly, our Guiding Principles state that Hydro Ottawa is committed to creating long-term value in a manner that will withstand the test of public scrutiny and inspire confidence and trust. We know that trust has to be earned, and our efforts with respect to Corporate Citizenship are an important part of earning and maintaining the trust of our customers and our community. Finally, we are utterly convinced that good Corporate Citizenship enhances business performance. Stakeholder trust creates new opportunities, reassures regulators, increases customer loyalty, and attracts Given the inextricable link between energy 2013 good business partners and talented and the environment, our approach to employees. Consider that in our most Corporate Citizenship includes a strong recent employee engagement survey, focus on environmental sustainability. approximately 90% of our employees We are proud to be making important cited the company’s commitment to the contributions to a sustainable environment community and corporate citizenship as within our company by reducing the impact one of their top three reasons for working of our operations, in our community by at Hydro Ottawa. Given the critical actively promoting energy conservation, importance of attracting and retaining and by generating renewable energy in skilled employees, we want to ensure that greater amounts than ever before. Corporate Social Responsibility Report Social Responsibility Corporate our employees can continue to take pride This Corporate Social Responsibility 2 in their contribution to the well-being of Report – the first of its kind for the our community. company – represents an important In short, good Corporate Citizenship opportunity to share our progress with is a significant driver of business value our stakeholders, and increase the level of and business performance, and a crucial transparency with respect to this important part of fulfilling our commitments to our area of our operations. stakeholders. As such, it is an area of We welcome your feedback as we work to performance we take seriously. create long-term value in a manner that is Over the past several years, Hydro Ottawa deserving of public confidence and trust. has developed strategies to maximize Sincerely, the impact of our efforts with respect to Corporate Citizenship, and to allow better assessment of our performance in this area, with a view to continuous improvement. These include our Bryce Conrad Environmental Sustainability Strategy President and Chief Executive Officer and our Brighter Tomorrows Community Investment Program, both of which are described in this report, as well as business strategies that place significant emphasis on renewable energy and energy efficiency and conservation. Corporate Social Responsibility Report Social Responsibility Corporate Contents Message from the President and Chief Executive Officer ...............................1 Environmental Stewardship. 4 Reducing our carbon footprint ..................................................5 2013 Our Fleet .................................................................5 3 Our Facilities ..............................................................6 Information Technology ....................................................6 Our Customers. .7 Waste management and recycling ...............................................8 Greening procurement and the supply chain ......................................9 Building a culture of environmental sustainability ..................................9 Leadership development ......................................................10 Helping our customers to conserve energy ..........................................11 Increasing the supply of renewable energy .........................................16 Hydro-electric power .........................................................17 Landfill-gas-to-energy ........................................................18 Solar power ..................................................................18 Investing in positive outcomes in our community ....................................19 Brighter Tomorrows Fund .................................................... 20 Brighter Tomorrows Community Partnership Investments .........................22 Brighter Tomorrows Employee Volunteer Day .................................. 24 Brighter Tomorrows Mandated Investments .....................................25 Our Commitment to United Way ...............................................25 Helping our neighbours ...........................................................27 Conclusion ...................................................................... 28 Environmental Stewardship As a company that actively promotes environmental sustainability in our community, most notably in relation to energy conservation, we think it’s important to “practice what we preach” by carefully managing our own impacts on the environment. Corporate Social Responsibility Report Social Responsibility Corporate Hydro Ottawa developed an Environmental Sustainability Strategy in 2009, with the aim of reducing the impact of our operations on the environment and improving our environmental performance. The Strategy is based on a comprehensive analysis of our impacts on water, land and air, and outlines specific priority areas to maximize the impact of our efforts. In addition, our certified ISO 14001 environmental management system has been in place since 2004, and is audited annually. 2013 5 Reducing our carbon footprint Hydro Ottawa is gradually greening hybrid bucket truck and 4 bucket trucks our vehicle fleet, our facilities, and our with hybrid technology. To reduce the need information technology infrastructure, to to run vehicle engines, Hydro Ottawa has reduce our carbon footprint. incorporated hybrid technology to operate hydraulics for aerial devices (“buckets”) and Our Fleet battery technology in our entire fleet of vans to eliminate idling for heating and lighting As older vehicles are retired through our while servicing underground cabling. This normal vehicle replacement schedule, strengthens the impact of our “anti-idling” they are replaced with hybrid or more policy, which permits vehicle idling only energy-efficient vehicles wherever possible. where operationally necessary. This involves some additional capital expenditure up front, but is proven to Thirteen aerial devices have also been reduce operating costs through lower fuel converted to Biopure Biodegradable Oil, consumption. Currently, our green fleet which is non-toxic, metal-free and inherently consists of 2 electric vehicles, 2 hybrid cars, biodegradable, with further conversions 7 hybrid pick-up trucks, 50 flex fuel vehicles, expected in the future. 8 vehicles with battery technology, 1 full Our Facilities Greenhouse Gas Emissions 2013 Our facility plans also include a significant 150 focus on environmental performance and reducing carbon emissions. All 52 applicable 125 substations have been upgraded to be more energy efficient, through the use of building automation systems, lighting 100 and insulation upgrades, and window 75 replacements. Improvements have also 2009 2010 2011 2012 been made to our offices and work centres Corporate Social Responsibility Report Social Responsibility Corporate Greenhouse gas emissions in tonnes (Scope 1) following energy audits. Our Real Estate per 50,000 hours worked 6 Rationalization Strategy, announced in 2012, will significantly reduce the environmental impact of our offices and work centres by Energy Consumption replacing three obsolete facilities with two modern ones that are more strategically 3500 located. At the same time, this strategy is expected to reduce costs and improve 3000 service through more efficient and effective operations. 2500 Our GHG emissions and energy 2000 2009 2010 2011 2012 consumption, based on hours Energy Consumption in GJ per 50,000 hours worked worked, have decreased since the beginning of our Environmental Sustainability Strategy. Information Technology Finally, we are gradually reducing the ■■ a Storage Area Network Program that impact of our information technology has the capability to store a higher platforms in a number of ways, including: density of information on one server which means fewer servers