Our sustainability team recently caught up with Phil King, Vice President of Supply Chain at Australian toilet paper company Who Gives a Crap.

We spoke to Phil, who is based at a co-working office in Cremorne, about Who Gives a Crap's sustainability journey.

We hope that this case study can help you learn more about making the switch to solar and the potential benefits for your business.

What size system did you install and when?

16 kW system in June 2020.

What motivated you to install solar?

Our ultimate ambition is to be carbon negative, whilst offsetting as little as possible. Having broken down our supply chain into parts, we wanted to address warehousing with this installation. 

What steps were involved in deciding on the installer and system size?

We engaged some external help to fast-track the process and identify known and credible providers, with an emphasis on moving quickly. They identified Prana who then ran modelling using our third party logistics' (3PL) energy bills and recommended a system which optimised Return on Investment (ROI) and coverage of the existing usage profile.  

You arranged the install in 28 days from concept to completion. How was this achieved?

We rallied all parties around a deadline date of year end. We offered up front to cover the cost of the system. or lend the money to make it happen, even though we wouldn't really own it. That gave all parties confidence to put in the work although it needs to be said everyone was equally motivated and wanted it to happen. 

Tell us about how you went about approaching your landlord and any tips for other businesses?

We weren't the tenant, our 3PL was. They shared all of the financials and ROI calculations and in the end everyone offered and showed intent to overcome typical contractual issues.

For instance, how to put the building back to its initial condition at the end of the lease (which would have meant removing the solar). To overcome that, we offered a range of possible options and solutions which could have no objections. For example: sell to the landlord at end of lease, remove at end of lease, even give the asset to the landlord at end of lease.

In the end, it became clear that there was no real objection but that it was just a case of making sure that engineering reports were completed and that all parties were informed including the property managers. 

Have you seen a reduction in your energy bills since installing solar?  

Yes. Absolutely. 

What would you say to another business thinking about installing solar?  

There is more than one way to get this done and solar companies have already seen and addressed most of the challenges so can advise on how to navigate with landlords if helpful.  The commerciality makes total sense and the carbon footprint reduction is a no brainer.

Our landlords seem willing, but just hadn't been proactive themselves, so just showing interest and desire was enough. Power Purchase Agreements are an option where it's not clear who should own the asset or where capital isn't available for up front costs. 

What messages do you have for other businesses about other ways they can reduce their emissions?

For us a big focus is on our supply chains. Supply chains, or the how stuff gets made and distributed, accounts for a lion share of a product’s carbon footprint. I can talk a lot about this topic, fortunately it is here in a blog for people to read, hopefully they are interested, there is a lot we can do. Not just solar, but EV delivery as well.

What other sustainability initiatives have you been able to implement or projects that you are working on which you would like to tell people about?

We're just embarking on our 5-year-plan and measuring is the first step to progress. We did our first Life Cycle Investment last year and now we're identifying places where we use most energy and breaking down supply chain bit by bit. We're aiming to roll out solar as standard where we can (all warehouses and factories).

We've offset our shipping miles and are actively looking at routing tech to reduce final mile deliveries as well as carbon neutral delivery options such as EVs. 

Find out more

For more information about switching your local business to solar you can: 

• visit the Business sustainability page on the Yarra City Council website.
• contact the Yarra Energy Foundation to discuss your options.