Benchmarking water, waste and energy

One student said that she volunteered because "I am interested in how we can better our environment, and I would love to learn something new."

Thanks to TAFE, the student’s efforts will be recognised as they gain credit towards the practical side of their coursework.

The Travel & Tourism teacher at Sydney Institute, Kathy Herd, said the project was important for students because "we know that clients are really interested in Green events, so it develops opportunities… it will really be a benefit for them in their employability".

At a time when environmental issues are increasingly prominent, this project will help to create genuine long-term results in improving the sustainability of WorldSkills Australia events whilst giving young people the chance to develop an understanding of Green skills and gain experience in this important emerging field of event management and its impact on sustainability.

The Green Awards

The Green Award is an inaugural prize given to the project designer and category convener of one outstanding skill area for recognition of leadership in showcasing aspects of skills and sustainability.

John Shiel, technical delegate for WorldSkills, say "it's all to do with being responsible for sustainability. As far as WorldSkills goes it’s all of the skills taking responsibility for waste management, materials used, power, water. . ."

Areas in which they may have showcased this leadership include project design, tools used, material procurement, energy, water and waste management during the competition and judging criteria also includes an X factor.

This award comes at a time when more and more employers are looking to hire people who can demonstrate skills in the area of environmental sustainability, as well as picking up on long term trade practices in terms of material and waste management.

Cameron Little, a non-voting member of the judging panel and contributor to the judging criteria, says "I guess we'll be looking to see levels of outstanding engagement by the category convenors and project designers with the environmental and sustainability objectives of the competition."

"Sometimes it takes a little bit more thought and a bit more effort to pursue these environmental aims. We've been impressed by what we’ve seen so far and we’re very much looking forward to seeing it all played out in the flesh on the day."

"These are Australia’s outstanding young tradespeople and the future leaders in the field and we know that their generation has a strong commitment to the environment but without the help of the project designers, category conveners and all the support staff they will not have a chance to show that they’re conversant with industry best practice".

Download an example of what joinery are doing (PDF, 93 kB).

What is an Environmental Management Plan (EMP)?
An Environmental Management Plan (EMP) maps out the organisation's course of action to reduce environmental impact. An EMP describes how targets will be achieved; the performance measures used to report on progress; identifies staff responsible for achieving these targets; and establishes time frames for achievement. Generally, an EMP lists what is to be done, how it is to be done, who is going to do it and how long it is going to take. At the end of every fiscal year, the EMPs are reported on and updated for the next year.

With thanks to the Global Footprint Network http://www.footprintstandards.org/
For the following two definitions:

Ecological Footprint: A measure of how much biologically productive land and water an individual, population or activity requires to produce all the resources it consumes and to absorb the waste it generates using prevailing technology and resource management practices. The Ecological Footprint is usually measured in global hectares. Because trade is global, an individual or country's Footprint includes land or sea from all over in the world. Ecological Footprint is often referred to in short form as Footprint (not footprint).

life cycle analysis (LCA): A quantitative approach that assess a product's impact on the environment throughout its life. LCA attempts to quantify what comes in and what goes out of a product from “cradle to grave,” including the energy and material associated with materials extraction, product manufacture and assembly, distribution, use and disposal and the environmental emissions that result. LCA applications are governed by the ISO 14040 series of standards (http://www.iso.org).