Bupa’s solar power rollout in Australia has been recognised in the Australian Business Awards 2015.
Bupa was recently named the ABA100 Winner in the Australian Business Awards (ABA) 2015 for Sustainability; for its work in carbon emissions reduction. The award recognises organisations that execute initiatives demonstrating leadership and commitment to sustainable business practices.
“Bupa recognises that to have healthy people we need a healthy planet. That’s why we are committed to reducing our carbon footprint globally, whilst improving our business operations locally,” said Bupa Director, Corporate Affairs, Dieter Lehmann.
“We are proud to receive this acknowledgement of our collective efforts to operate in an efficient and sustainable way, as a demonstration of our commitment to enabling longer, healthier, happier lives.”
A major focus of Bupa’s carbon reduction efforts in Australia is the integration of solar power.
Bupa’s solar project, installed by SunEdison Australia, involved installing solar panels on all Bupa care homes within Australia.
The country’s largest distributed solar project to date saw the installation of 13,000 solar modules across 65 care homes. Collectively, these solar arrays will generate an estimated $4.5 million of electricity over the next decade and will avoid 6,000 tonnes of carbon emissions annually – equivalent to more than 1000 cars off the road each year.
The solar power systems are generating more than 13% of electricity used by Bupa in delivering care services. Bupa’s Aged Care business is now the largest privately owned rooftop solar power generator in Australia.
Bupa’s other carbon reduction efforts include an energy reduction program for retail stores; providing staff with information to make simple changes to improve energy efficiency and rewarding positive outcomes.
“We found our people were actively looking for ways to make a positive impact on the environment, so we harnessed this and made them advocates for our sustainability initiatives within the business,” said Mr Lehmann.
“Enabling our people to make positive changes, and track their contributions over time, has been pivotal to reducing our carbon footprint and will remain a key focus of our sustainability initiatives moving forward.”
Bupa Aged Care is one of Australia’s largest private providers of residential aged care, with 65 facilities caring for more than 6,000 residents.
