1. raising standards worldwide™
Demonstrating environmental best practice through ISO 14001
ISO 14001 is an internationally accepted
standard that sets out a framework of essential
elements for putting an effective environmental
management system in place. The standard
is designed to address the delicate balance
between maintaining profitability and reducing
environmental impact.
With an increasing number of commissioning
bodies demanding a sustainable approach to the
environment, ISO 14001 continues to give a very
visible sign of the NCHA’s ongoing commitment to
environmental best practice.
Client objectives
• Improve environmental performance
• Ensure legal compliance
• Demonstrate community leadership
• Encourage corporate buy in to improving
environmental performance
Business achievements
• Increased recycling and reduction in use of paper,
gas and electricity
• Reduced business mileage and encouraged use
of public transport
• Staff enthusiasm and buy-in for better
environmental practice
• Business growth and competitive advantage
• Ability to demonstrate and ensure legal compliance
• Improved the public image of the Association
NOTTINGHAM COMMUNITY HOUSING ASSOCIATION
M o r e h o m e s , g r e a t s e r v i c e s , b e t t e r l i v e s
“We will be able to grow our business
more easily as our ISO 14001 certification
helps local authorities to meet their
sustainability targets for contracting
external work, which set us apart from
other competitors.”
Cherry Ackroyd, (Special projects manager)
CASE STUDY – Nottingham Community
Housing Association (NCHA)
FAST FORWARD WITH BSI TRAINING
BSI offers a comprehensive portfolio of environmental management training courses. Introductory courses
broaden general awareness of sustainable business practice. Implementation and auditing courses take that
knowledge further to drive change within an organisation. Training delivery methods for this topic include
open scheduled courses, in-company training and distance learning qualifications.
Visit www.bsigroup.co.uk/training or call 0845 086 9000 for details.

2. Demonstrating environmental best practice through ISO 14001
Background
Nottingham Community Housing Association (NCHA) is
rated amongst the top ten housing associations in the
country. The Association provides over 7,000 homes for
10,000 tenants in the East Midlands and works with 27
local authorities.
High standards have always been a priority for
NCHA especially its Housing with Care and Support
department, and BSI certification continues to
help provide external validation of this claim. The
department has been certified to ISO 9001 since 1995
and in July 2009 became certified to ISO 14001, an
achievement completed in just nine months.
Why ISO 14001?
Special projects manager Cherry Ackroyd explains that,
“The Housing with Care and Support department has
held certification to ISO 9001 for approximately fifteen
years and the various commissioning bodies that we
work with, such as local authorities, are increasingly
demanding a sustainable approach to the environment
when tendering contracts. We believe ISO 14001 is a
very visible sign of our commitment.
We chose to put a management system in place that
required managers at all levels to consider their local
areas. This required very specific instructions to ensure
the standard was consistently interpreted. Waste was
one of the biggest issues for us. We needed to review
our waste documentation as we found some small
waste contractors didn’t have the systems in place to
provide us with the necessary documentation. We also
had to provide clear instructions to all staff about how
to dispose of the waste they create more responsibly
and engage with other departments within our
organisation who take care of some aspects of
our work.
Since our staff were already used to the quality
management system in place, the environmental
management system could be tacked on fairly
seamlessly. The general concensus has been that our
BSI/UK/295/0110/E/LB
employees are generally pleased that their employer
is tackling one of the biggest and most topical issues
we currently face.”
Benefits from implementation
Cherry Ackroyd observes that, “Certification has
encouraged staff to get service users actively
involved in green issues. A number of schemes have
been set up to encourage people to walk rather than
use cars or public transport.
Our staff have been very enthusiastic in their
involvement and as a consequence other new
schemes have been set-up reducing business
mileage, cutting food costs as well as paper, gas
and electricity usage.
BSI’s role
“As a result of implementing ISO 14001 we believe
we will be able to grow our business more easily.
Our certification helps local authorities to meet
their sustainability targets for contracting external
work, which set us apart from other competitors,”
continues Ackroyd.
She explains that, “The Housing with Care and
Support department has had a long standing
relationship with BSI for many years and continues
to benefit from a professional and responsive service
from BSI auditors who are always keen to identify
system improvements.”
BSI Group: Standards • Information • Training • Inspection • Testing • Assessment • Certification
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and vehicles when you have successfully achieved certification.
For further information, please contact BSI Learning
on +44 (0) 0845 086 9000 or visit our website at www.bsigroup.co.uk/learning
BSI
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United Kingdom
T: +44 (0)845 080 9000
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E: certification.sales@bsigroup.com
www.bsigroup.co.uk/improve
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