West Perth-based IT firm, Ilisys Web Hosting, has joined the growing number of Western Australian companies going “carbon neutral’.
West Perth-based IT firm, Ilisys Web Hosting, has joined the growing number of Western Australian companies going “carbon neutral’.
Started by David Mulligan in 2001, the company now hosts more than 20,000 websites for small to medium-sized businesses.
Mr Mulligan has since taken a back seat, with brother and Melbourne-based director Matt taking the reins over the company’s 14 staff and Australia-wide client base.
Mr Mulligan said the nature of his business was such that it relied on considerable energy consumption – about 200,000 kilowatt hours a year.
And with an awareness of the effects of climate change, growing his business responsibly and along ethical lines became a priority.
“We were taking responsibility in the way we operate our business,” he told WA Business News.
“In the new economy, if you want to operate you need to emit less carbon dioxide.”
With the collective motivation to make changes to their own workplace following a group screening of Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth, staff and management decided to take action in three key ares – reducing waste, using less energy. and offsetting their CO2 emissions.
“Everyone was involved. It wasn’t me going in saying is ‘this what we need to do’,” Mr Mulligan said.
The company introduced a recycling program, engaging a local recycling company to collect its waste.
It also donated old computers to the Murdoch University 8-Ball program, which offers computers to students in need.
To minimise its energy usage, the company replaced all office lighting with low-energy alternatives, and introduced diligent monitoring of office air-conditioning and heating systems and personal computer usage.
On the technical side, the data centre was reorganised to provide a centralised storage system for network infrastructure.
Management also made the decision to switch to green power through its current energy provider, Synergy, which offers a government-accredited 100 per cent natural power product.
Mr Mulligan said switching to green power incurred an extra cost, with electricity charges increasing from 15 cents per KWH to 18 cents/KWH, or $6,000 a year.
To minimise the impact of employee commutes, the company encouraged staff to use public transport to and from work if possible, and offset the remaining CO2 emissions through a tree-planting program with Carbon Neutral.
Altogether, the cost was estimated at $10,000, including the increase in power bills, purchasing offsets through Carbon Neutral and staff time over the two-month process – something Mr Mulligan said “certainly did not break the bank”.
He said the reaction from clients had been “overwhelming”, and was surprised with the response from the wider public.
“It was a very emotional response,” Mr Mulligan told WA Business News.
“We didn’t expect to get the boost in new customer interest, so it’s pretty much paid for itself. People came to us specifically because they knew we were carbon neutral.”
Mr Mulligan said the next step for the company was to become formally accredited through the federal government’s Greenhouse Friendly program.
The company also expects to continue on its accelerated growth path, eventually establishing itself in the international market in the near future.
“Our goal is to have team of brilliant people and taking the company to the international market. Being based in Perth we have an excellent quality of staff, and we want to keep that strong team,” Mr Mulligan said.
