Green improvements
By Jon Palethorpe, joint managing director, A Plus Aluminium.
The Government consultation on the energy efficiency scheme for small and medium sized businesses, reports that SMEs account for 99% of UK businesses and have a very low awareness of the benefits of energy efficiency.
This may certainly have been the case when the consultation outcome was published in 2019 but given the current energy crisis, this is now unlikely. Improving the energy efficiency of our premises, processes and assets is now high on the agenda.
As an SME with premises in both Watford and Sandy, Bedfordshire (A Plus Midlands), we have been quicker than most in implementing energy saving measures. In fact, early research led us to join a government pilot scheme for SME landlord/tenants to improve building performance.
Our premises were independently assessed, and we later received a summary and a list of recommendations, with potential savings. Switching to light-emitting diodes (LEDs) is reported to deliver the best return.
This is followed by the installation of a Group Source Heat Pump (GSHP) heating and cooling system, and changing the roof to an insulated, weight bearing material – to allow for solar panels to be fitted, another recommendation.
Let there be light
As Sandy is the newest of our two premises, LEDs were already in use. Our Watford factory and office, however, dates to the early 1980s and still utilised inefficient strip lighting. Through the pilot scheme and our electricity provider we are fortunate to have accessed a match-funded grant to upgrade the lighting.
The Low Carbon Workspaces grant, funded by the EU and HM Government, equates to around one third of the total cost to install the LEDs throughout our Watford premises. This improvement has reduced our carbon footprint by 1.4 tonnes CO2e/year – that’s the equivalent weight of an average walrus, apparently!
In addition to the numerous environmental and financial benefits associated with LED lighting in the workplace, there is a positive impact on employee health, wellbeing and productivity. The quality of the light can improve mood, concentration, and performance.
Solar panels
The assessment also recommends installing solar panels to generate electricity to power the offices and production facilities.
Currently, we can only fit the panels atop the roof at Sandy. This is because the factory roof is relatively new and can carry the weight of the solar panels. As it stands, we need to upgrade the roof at Watford before we can do anything there.
The order has been placed for the Sandy site and we anticipate that the solar panels will be installed before Easter. Basing our figures on a conservative business rate of 50p/ kWh we hope to secure payback within four to five years.
Meeting consumer demand
Consumers are increasingly aware of the environmental impact of the products they purchase and the eco credentials of the manufacturers, suppliers and retailers they are buying from.
The Sandy facility is our dedicated trade residential factory and produces windows and doors for the domestic market. As such, we can soon say that our domestic products are produced using 100% green energy – self-generated and renewable. This will be an important point of difference for our trade residential customers.
These efforts are combined with our significant contribution to climate protection through our partnership with systems house, Technal UK. As a Technal partner we fabricate products made from the high-quality End of Life (EoL) Aluminium Hydro Circal 75R. In doing so, we are reducing our carbon emissions and saving tonnes of carbon from entering the atmosphere.
This, coupled with significant improvements in our factories and investment in new, more efficient production equipment means we can offer our customers and customer’s customers a viable green and sustainable product.