Facilities

Waste Reduction and Recycling Practices

In the first half of FY2012, PwC moved its head office into PwC Tower at 18 York Street. Targeting LEED® Gold certification for the building and our workspace, we have been actively involved in the process right from design phase to completion. To accomplish this goal, we established a volunteer based environmental committee to review the plans and make recommendations for making this space more environmentally friendly. Engaging our employees in this way fostered an inclusive conversation that encouraged people who are passionate about the environment to educate those around them and influence our decision making.

Many of the suggestions raised through that committee were incorporated into the building envelope and interior designs. Key areas of consideration included waste management, energy and water consumption, indoor environmental and air quality, materials and resource use, transportation, and raising employee awareness. Some key successes in these categories included:

  • Implemented recycling and waste management program for construction phase and improved waste management practices during occupation. 
  • Optimized energy performance with effective use of daylight, installation of motion sensor lighting controls, and implementation of energy efficient light bulbs and appliances. 
  • Provided ultra low flow water fixtures including dual flushing option toilets. 
  • Developed a program to green our cleaning process including the use of EcoLogo™ cleaning products.

We are in the process of collecting data on our waste generation and energy use to benchmark against prior consumption values (where available) from our previous facilities. We will also use this data to ensure we are meeting targets established for this space. FY2013 data will be used as our baseline for comparisons since it will be the first full year in this space.

We are also in the process of planning new space in Oakville to replace our Mississauga, and Hamilton locations at the end of their leases. We are targeting LEED® Gold certification for that space as well and will provide an update on our progress in our FY2013 document.