Energy-efficient Buildings
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All of our new and significantly refurbished buildings are being constructed to the highest environmental standards – our goal is for every one to achieve a minimum, ‘very good’ rating under the UK’s Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM). Please click here for information about our latest BREEAM award.
We have reviewed every office and depot site to assess levels of energy usage and efficiency, and we remain committed to generating power and heat from renewable sources like wind, solar and biomass energies at all new buildings.
Recent upgrades at our staff training centre at Taunton involve constructing an over building from materials that have an extremely high thermal efficiency rating. Careful design enabled us to maintain and use the existing inefficient structure within the envelope of the new one. As well as improving thermal efficiency significantly, the technique also removed the need for vehicles and energy to be used in the demolition and removal of waste and spoil.
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The training centre’s design incorporates rooftop photovoltaic cells rated at up to nine kilowatts, which have generated almost 1,000 kilowatts per month in the first seven months of operation. This equates to 400 Kg of CO2 per month or to a travel distance saved of 1,700 miles per month for a typical car.
A number of other locations like our Cardiff base and Bristol company headquarters have also been assessed for rooftop photovoltaic cell installation for energy generation, while our 132kV and 33kV substation sites are being assessed to establish if any are suitable locations for wind turbines.
Further ways of lowering the carbon footprint at our buildings are being investigated, while smart meter technology, which enables energy consumption levels to be managed more effectively, is being installed at all new offices and operational depots.
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