Come and see Bristol and Bath’s sustainable Science Park

Our next event will be an introduction to one of the West of England’s most exciting new developments, the Bristol & Bath Science Park, which opened on 26^th September.

Sustainability was at the heart of the design, construction and operating principles of the park. Not only are we interested in the outcome of the project, but also the process by which they achieved this, and what’s replicable for others in the region.

We will hear directly from the people leading the project:

• Richard Pitkin, Director of the Innovation Centre, the Science Park

• John Boughton, Project Director from Willmott Dixon, the main contractor

We’re aiming to get the answers to in-depth questions like:

• How did they develop the Sustainable Development strategy? Did they follow the carbon hierarchy?
• How did they make sure this was delivered? How did they work with suppliers?
• What can others learn from the process? What does it mean for me?

We will get some inspiration, share best practice, network with others in the region and take some key tips home to our own organisations. The event will include a behind the scenes tour of the site and networking drinks. If you’re interested in reading more about the Bristol and Bath Science Park check out this slide show on the BBC website.

We would like to promote sustainable travel options and encourage car share to visit the site. The site is also accessible by cycle path.

Join us at the Science Park on 18th October from 4.30-6.30pm.

Register here http://www.eventbrite.com/event/2049087877

Cutting your carbon whilst growing your business

We heard first from Commercial Group’s CEO, Simone Hindmarch-Bye, who has led her business through a green transformation. The journey began when Simone heard Al Gore speak in 2006, a moment which changed her whole outlook on the business approach to the environment. She came away with the determination to make the Commercial Group a more sustainable and responsible company. Five years into their journey they have made huge changes and won many awards, including being the highest newcomer in the Sunday Times Green List 2011. Her ambition to reduce their environmental impact and carbon footprint permeates throughout the business and has been successfully embedded in all that they do. It has also allowed them to get the upper hand over competitors and win business, helping the business grow.

Simone shared some of the reflections on their journey on what has worked for them:

• Having buy in and commitment at the top
• Allocating resources to everyone helps to avoid a negative attitude
• Setting challenging targets
• Being open and prepared to learn allows new ideas to be shared more easily
• Making it fun and easy to get involved
• Providing good communication
• Using case studies and video clips
• Gaining awards and external recognition gives motivation and opportunities for networking and a chance to boost your customer base with like-minded people
• Committing to their annual CSR day

We also heard from Chris Dunford, Sustainability Officer, At-Bristol, a WECC Carbon Champion in 2011. They have achieved a 12% decrease of their total carbon emissions over the last 12 months though getting a handle on the data, engaging staff and optimising their internal control systems. The science museum was built in a shell of a grade II listed concrete shell of an old railway station. It was one of the first buildings to have a system of air source heat pumps and Eutectic tank installed. Read more on our blog.

Chris offered his top five tips for reducing your carbon footprint, starting from the top:

1. Data

Most important! Knowing your data means that you can identify areas for improvement and assess the effectiveness of any changes.

2.  Form the right team

Include the relevant people – a good mix of senior input, expertise and those on the factory floor. At-Bristol found that including their in-house electrician, security staff and cleaners was crucial.

3.  Behaviour

Changing staff behaviour is the cheapest and most immediate way to reduce your carbon emissions.

4.  Technology

Get the right technology and expertise. You do not always have to go for the most high-tech solution! Someone with the know-how may be able to provide cheaper or more practical options.

5.  Get everyone involved

It is a lot easier to implement changes when everyone is of the same mind set. If facing sceptics try to find a selling point e.g. higher efficiency, more profits, better reputation, CSR benefits or the possibility of winning more contracts in the future.

We completed the session with an informative and interesting tour of At-Bristol’s internal heating and cooling systems, which was then followed by networking and drinks out on the terrace in the glorious September sunshine.

Free survey to help staff cut carbon

Want to engage your staff to cut carbon at home? The Centre for Sustainable Energy is teaming up with businesses across the West of England to promote energy efficiency.

CSE is offering a free, tailor made survey which is available to help your business find out about the energy awareness of employees at home and will make them aware of some great local insulation grant schemes. The survey will provide detailed reports highlighting costs and carbon savings from staff. Prize draws are available for sustainability teams and staff who complete a survey. For more information please contact warmstreets@cse.org.uk | 0117 934 1400

If you wish to take part in the survey and enter a quarterly prize draw for £25 High Street Shopping vouchers but are not linked to a company that has registered, you can still take part by following this link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Energy_Efficiency_Survey_WECC

Wessex Water set their sights high

West of England Carbon Challenge member, Wessex Water, have one of the biggest carbon footprints in the region. Currently they use around 260 GWh of electricity per annum. However, they have decided to lead by example and have set themselves an ambitious goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2020. Their carbon management strategy is based on the carbon hierarchy – avoidance, energy efficiency and renewable energy generation:

1.    Avoidance:

• Work with farmers to reduce the usage of pesticides and fertilisers. This reduces the concentration of nitrates filtering into groundwater sources and reduces the need for water treatment.
• Encourage customers to opt for a metered system rather than a flat rate. This means that users are more conscious of
  consumption and wastage and should therefore use less. This in turn reduces the amount of water needing to be treated and processed.
• Educating customers in ways to reduce their water consumption also has the same effect. Wessex has provided packs free of
  charge on request with water saving devices for the home, which contain a low flow shower regulator, a save a flush device for toilets, low flow tap inserts and a shower timer.
• Preventing leaks reduces wastage. It requires 625 kWh for every million litres (Ml) of water supplied. Every Ml of water
  saved over a year provides a saving of 230 MWh. Wessex have found that decreasing the occurrence of leaks provides a yearly reduction of 685 MWh – that’s a saving of 362 tonnes of CO₂!

2.    Energy Efficiency

• Real-time control systems which continuously monitor the treatment process and adjust accordingly were trialled at one site. They were found to reduce the site’s power demand by approximately 25% and save a sixth of the plant’s operational costs giving a payback period of roughly 2 years. As a result of these savings Wessex are looking to install these systems
  at more sites.

3.    Renewables

17% of Wessex Water’s energy is currently generated on site from renewable sources.

• An integral part of many sewage treatment works is anaerobic digestion – a process which generates biogas (methane) from the organic matter found in sludge. The biogas is collected and used to generate renewable energy. This method produces 42 GWh of electricity across the Wessex estate. The most productive site, Bristol STW, has now gone beyond being self-sufficient for electricity and is now a net exporter to the national grid with 6GWh exported last year
• They are investigating the possibility of digesting food waste through the anaerobic digesters to generate more renewable
  energy.
• Wessex has received planning permission for four wind turbines at Bristol STW that will have the capacity to generate up to a further 20GWh of electricity per annum. This generation of electricity is equivalent to meeting the power needs of more than 5,500 households.

Read their recently published annual sustainability and corporate responsibility report “Striking the Balance” here.

Cash for Carbon Cutters

This programme is FREE to eligible businesses, allowing businesses to receive at least 12 hours of impartial and bespoke support from an environmental advisor. Typically your advisor will identify your current environmental performance, identify opportunities for improvements, recommend specialist help to deliver the improvements and will assist the business to access cash towards the cost of the project.  Businesses have used the service to undertake a wide-range of activities including: re-designing packaging, installing metering systems, implementing ISO 14001, purchasing waste management equipment, and conducting renewable feasibility studies.

Here are some examples of how the IYRE scheme has helped local businesses:

• TJL managed to make an additional income of £500,000 by granulating unwanted PVC-u window frames and then selling on to be recycled.
• Hatton Court Hotel’s total boiler replacement is expected to reduce heating costs by over 70% – a saving of £32,899 and 98 tonnes of CO₂.
• Wickwar Brewery expect to save over £5,000 on their energy bills and cut raw material waste by £4,000 after installing water-softening equipment and a new mill.
• Steve Gregor Heating and Renewable Energy installed a vehicle management system reducing
  their fuel consumption of at least 10%.

The Improving Your Resource Effiency (IYRE) service is an EU funded program delivered through Business Link which is designed to assist growth Small Medium Enterprises (SME’s) in the South West to improve their environmental performance allowing them to improve their competitiveness and reduce costs. If you would like to find out whether your business qualifies to receive this support and make an appointment to see an advisor, please contact the IYRE team on 01275 376233 or email iyre@businesswest.co.uk.

Green is Commercial

In our next event green pioneer and Co-founder of Commercial Group, Simone Hindmarch-Bye will be giving us the low-down on how to embed green practice into your company. The event entitled “Growing your business whilst reducing your environmental impact” will focus on how effective green practice can aid in the success of your business.

Who is the Commercial Group?

The Group is a Cheltenham based SME who provide business services. The company maintains strong ethical values and is considered a leading example in the use of environmentally sound business practice. The business grew by 25% last year, while reducing its environmental impact and carbon emissions by 15%. The firm has won a number of accolades for its environmental leadership in recent years, including highest newcomer in the Sunday Times Green List 2011.

So what have they done to be regarded as a sustainability pioneer?

• Become CarbonNeutral by embarking on their own Carbon Reduction programme and offsetting any remaining emissions by investing in gold standard projects
• Introduced sustainable biodiesel and an award winning Dynamic Routing System that has enabled them to reduce carbon emissions from vans by over 78%
• Introduced a waste reduction programme that focuses on reuse and so has reduced waste to landfill by 92%
• Launched its Green Ambassadors Scheme, which encourages staff and supports them to become more environmentally responsible at home
• Hosts an annual CSR day for a platform for sharing environmental concerns
• Works with customers and suppliers on over 250 projects to help them reduce their environmental impact
• Made improvements on the building fabric of its Head Office in Cheltenham, including working with a UK lighting supplier to develop active lighting that reduces electricity consumption by over 78%
• Implemented an environmental management system and become ISO 14001 certified to encourage continual improvement

Like many of the success stories seen within the WECC members group, Commercial Group has triumphed by emphasising a key element in sustainable business practice – staff engagement. Simone will talk about the Group’s Green Angels programme, which maintains  enthusiasm and momentum by harnessing the energy of the workforce. The Green Angels are a small group of staff from different parts of the business with different levels of seniority who work together for a short period of time on a project. They are tasked to deliver two things – communication and business transformation and aim to get everyone actively involved by fulfilling the company’s 10 commitments:

1. Be carbon positive
2. Report openly
3. Reduce carbon significantly
4. Reduce waste to landfill significantly
5. Help customers reduce their footprint
6. Reduce the footprint of our supply chain
7. Help our local communities
8. Care for those less fortunate
9. Look after one another
10. Influence the big picture

The Green Angels programme is a model dedicated to transforming the way that business is carried out so that it is responsible, innovative, sustainable and fun. Commercial Group is keen that the Green Angels concept be shared and encourages others to take it up, hopefully transforming society to make a more sustainable world. Check out the Green Angels in action!

To hear Simone talk about Commercial Group’s successes and how they could be applicable to your business come along to the event which will be held at At-Bristol on the 28^th of September from 4-6.30pm. To sign up, register here.

Our guide for carbon starters

So you have decided you want to cut your company’s carbon footprint. You want to make the commitment but  you’re not sure where to start?

We have drawn on our knowledge and member experience to produce a handy “how to” guide for business. It will take you step by step through the process from signing up to the Carbon Challenge to implementing those all important changes! It also contains loads of great tips and links to resources (both general and industry specific) that you can take advantage of.

Once you have a handle on your energy data and you can identify the areas where you can make improvements, you can put a plan into action! Whether you are looking for immediate savings, assistance or more long term solutions, this guide for business can help you.

Download a copy of the guide here.

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