Facilities and Operations Management

Our premises include 1,055 branches and over 5.5 million square feet of office space nationwide, either leased from third-party landlords or owned by the bank. With the assistance of our service providers, CIBC strives to ensure that our environmental impacts are minimized through a variety of programs and initiatives.

We monitor our environmental performance in several important areas. View a complete list

Energy
Waste
Water
Paper
Environmental inspections

Energy

Typically our energy mix is made up of purchased electricity (76%), followed by natural gas (22%) and fuel oil (2%). In 2006, our total energy consumption was approximately 786,414 gigajoules (GJ), a decrease of 3% since 2004. Part of this reduction can be attributed to CIBC's ongoing efforts in applying sustainable design principles to all of our new builds and renovation projects, which maximizes energy efficiency wherever possible.

In 2006, we conducted a study to benchmark our existing design standards against the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) principles and identify opportunities for improving energy efficiency. Other recent initiatives to improve CIBC's energy efficiency include:

Applying design principles based on "access to daylight" planning, which allows natural daylight to penetrate further into our premises without obstruction
Specifying low-emittance (low-E) glass for any new build or renovation, along with proper shades/blinds to reduce heat gain and solar glare which maximizes the building envelope's energy saving
Implementing daylight sensors for ABM lobby lighting, and timers for exterior signage for optimal energy savings
Accessing and improving on the type of lighting technology with an emphasis on energy efficiency; in 2006, we pilot-tested the latest technology in light fixtures for new builds & major retrofits, which we anticipate will improve our energy use savings by approximately 3%
Encouraging energy efficiency in our Environmental Responsible Procurement program; we have been adopting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Energy Star® certification criteria into the selection process for CIBC's desktop, laptop, monitor, printer and fax machine standards

CIBC is one of the largest purchasers of Green Power (renewable energy that emits zero greenhouse gas emissions) among Canadian financial institutions. To offset a portion of our greenhouse gas emissions while contributing to the future development of cleaner sources of electricity, CIBC has been purchasing Green Power for some of our branches since 2003. For more information on this visit Climate Change.

Waste

Reduce
CIBC continues to conduct waste audits throughout our branch network in order to better understand how much waste we generate, and identify what is in our waste stream. Total solid waste generated by CIBC in 2006 was an estimated 1,182 tonnes, compared to 1,400 tonnes in 2005, and 2,075 tonnes in 2004. We associate this 43% reduction with the 2005 implementation of a more robust national paper-recycling program.

Other recent examples include:

Using carpet tile instead of roll goods, which requires less maintenance and reduces the amount of disposal; this allows us to simply replace a small area of carpet, rather than an entire roll, once the carpet becomes worn, soiled or permanently damaged
Promoting material efficiency (including packaging) and recycling through our Environmentally Responsible Procurement program

Reuse
Maximizing the reuse of office equipment and furniture is also an important element of our waste management strategy. In 2006, CIBC's efforts enabled us to:

Refurbish and re-deploy approximately 5,400 pieces of surplus furniture across the organization
Begin to mandate the procurement of black remanufactured toner cartridges over new toner
Contribute more than 528 computer components to Industry Canada's Computers for Schools program; since 1993, we have contributed over 14,300 computer components

Recycle
As part of CIBC's efforts to protect the confidentiality of personal information, CIBC implemented a national paper shredding and recycling program across our branch network and office buildings in Canada. This program was implemented in 2005, and as a result, we have greatly improved both the employee participation rate and the volumes of all forms of paper being recycled. In 2006, over 8,363 tonnes were recycled, the equivalent to saving over 170,000 trees!

Other materials, including aluminium cans, glass, plastics, organics, toner cartridges and batteries, are recycled by our office building property managers and municipal recycling programs, where such programs exist.

In 2004, CIBC conducted a survey to better understand the existence of, and our level of participation in, recycling programs at our leased and owned office buildings. Results from the survey indicate that the average CIBC recycling participation rate was approximately 81%.

Water

In 2006, CIBC facilities used 303 million litres of water, a reduction of 14% since 2004. We believe this reduction is partially a result of the installation of water saving devices in our new washrooms, such as hands-free faucets and low flow toilets.

Paper

CIBC makes every effort to reduce its paper use in the workplace through best practices such as double-sided printing and photocopying, and switching to paperless, electronic transactions for invoicing, where possible.

As a result of our efforts, CIBC's paper purchases have decreased from 2,235 tonnes in 2004 to 1,780 tonnes in 2006, a reduction of 20%.

CIBC encourages our customers to select paperless record keeping or reduce the frequency of printed account statements from monthly to quarterly. We also encourage paperless banking methods such as pre-authorized bill payment, online transfers, direct deposit programs and Telephone and Online Banking. For more information on any of these options, please contact CIBC Telephone Banking at 1-800-465-2422 or visit your nearest branch.

On April 1, 2008, we switched our copy, printer and fax paper used in our internal operations to FSC-certified stock, equivalent to approximately 365 million sheets a year, across our Canadian operations.

Annually, we are transitioning to FSC-certified stock:

203 million sheets of client account statement paper
116 million statement envelopes
76 million ABM envelopes

We have printed our annual report on FSC-certified paper since 2006.

FSC is an international certification and labeling system guaranteeing that purchased forest products come from responsibly managed forests. Under FSC certification, forests are certified against a set of strict environmental and social standards, and fibre from certified forests is tracked all the way to the consumer through the chain of custody certification system. The end result includes all products in the marketplace carrying the FSC logo.

Environmental inspections

In an effort to ensure that our office and branch network is an environmentally healthy workplace for both staff and clients, CIBC conducts proactive environmental inspections to identify potential concerns regarding designated substances, chemical use, waste management and mould. Where necessary, remediation is conducted on any significant environmental hazards. This program began in 2005, and is scheduled for completion in 2007.

®ENERGY STAR is a registered trademark of the United States Environmental Protection Agency