CARBON (kär'bən)

To follow through with an eco-conscious commitment made at Elliott Workgroup in 2008, we decided to calculate our carbon footprint at the end of 2008. The goal was to create a baseline from which we can move forward and improve. The baseline carbon footprint was 57.8 metric tons of CO2 annually for the company or approximately 4.8 metric tons of CO2 per employee. Of that total, approximately 29.6 metric tons are attributed to employee commuting.

Elliott Workgroup is located in Park City, Utah and the majority of our employees live within the Park City area. Of the twelve employees from 2008, four commuted from the Salt Lake Valley. One of the four employees commuted only three days a week. As a note, we did not credit participation in the Rocky Mountain Power Blue Sky program and airplane business travel in 2008 was limited.

As a review, our energy use, recycled content paper, and recycling program is very efficient and makes a positive statement on our approach. The largest reduction we can make internally as a business deals with employee commuting. We are currently working on how to refine our efficiencies within the office and reduce our commuting.

What is really interesting is that we have a value. 57.8 metric tons of CO2. We know where we can make a difference, commuting. We have an office in the Salt Lake Valley, but the efficiencies do not outweigh the ability to create architecture in a studio atmosphere. The next steps will depend on the entire staff, their actions and on their individual values, not just the company values.