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Environmental advice saves South West businesses £millions
10 August 2010
Almost 3,000 thousand businesses across the South West have been
helped to cut up to £17 million from their energy bills, thanks to
a programme run by the South West RDA.
Envision was set up in 2002 to provide SMEs with advice and
support aimed at improving their resource efficiency. This guidance
covered everything from reducing waste paper to saving water.
The programme provided two levels of service – the first giving
two hours of advice and the second giving between 3 and 10 days of
intensive support.
The advice amounted to an average of £21,000 in savings for each
business (see case studies below) given intensive support, as well
as new business opportunities and a huge cut in their environmental
impact.
Of those receiving intensive support 78 per cent said the
programme had helped them to cut energy consumption, reduce the
volume of waste going to landfill and achieve bottom line
savings.
A full project evaluation shows that over the life time of the
programme businesses saved up to 192,179 tonnes of waste, up to 1.7
million cubic metres of water, almost 130 million kilowatt-hours of
energy and up to 1.8 million litres of fuel.
This amounts to up to £35 million in savings to date – an
average of £21,000 per businesses given intensive support.
Alasdair Brown, waste manager at the South West RDA, said:
“Earlier research showed that many businesses did not realise
the impact they were having on the environment and did not know
where to get advice so the Envision service was much needed.
“The figures speak for themselves but what is particularly
interesting is that many of the improvements have come as a result
of low or no cost behavioural changes rather than expensive
equipment, proving that once people understand the environmental
costs of their behaviour they are willing to change.”
The evaluation study, conducted by independent environmental
evaluation consultancy Ekosgen, calculated that if these businesses
continue with their energy saving practices and potential new sales
activities for more than 10 years then they could benefit by up to
£105 million. This equates to a massive carbon dioxide saving of
182,000 tonnes, representing between 0.9 per cent and 1.5 per cent
of the South West’s overall carbon use in the industrial sector and
a saving to society of between £6 million and £9.7 million.
The project represents excellent value for money for the region
with a return on the RDA’s investment of up to £4.47 per £1
invested.
Case studies
Bristol Airport
Envision advisors have worked with Bristol Airport on improving
their resource management in the existing terminal building and
offices, as well as advising extensively on the airport’s
environmental management and development programmes.
Measures taken as a result of the Envision programme
include:
- refurbishing all lighting in the terminal building to include
low energy solutions and intelligent management systems
- refurbishing the toilets in the passenger terminal including
the fitting of water saving devices
- planning consent granted for a new 20 metre wind turbine at the
airport to contribute to renewable energy generation
- undertaking to source 20 per cent of additional energy required
for the new airport terminal building (under development plans)
from renewable or low carbon sources
- development of the airport environmental management system
following ISO 14001 principles.
Alan Davies, planning and environment director, said:
“The Envision programme has inspired us to take some major steps
in terms of cutting our energy consumption, water use and waste. We
now have robust systems in place to ensure we are doing all we can
to reduce our impact on the environment.
“The advice was invaluable in drawing up our plans for the
airport’s development, which have now been given the go-ahead,
ensuring we are using the greenest and most efficient solutions to
meet the new facility’s needs.”
Autoglaze, head office in Bournemouth, with branches in Poole,
Southampton and Nottingham
Duncan Graham, Director, Autoglaze Limited said:
“We’ve made massive savings in terms of our waste management
costs – slashing the volume of material we send to landfill. We now
recycle 80% of our waste, whereas before it was as little as 10%,
saving over £1000 already and it’s all down to the support we
received from Envision. We’ve hugely reduced our carbon footprint
and cut our diesel fuel and electricity use by 10% per head.
“Getting the ISO environmental certifications, with the help of
Envision, has also enabled us to compete against national companies
for bigger tenders.”
For media enquiries, contact Kierstan Lowe at Spirit Public
Relations
0117 944 1415
klowe@spiritpublicrelations.co.uk
Notes to Editors
1. The Envision project ran between 2002 and 2008, managed in
partnership by the South West RDA and the Environment Agency.
2. In total 2,206 businesses were given advice and guidance and
766 were given substantive support. This is based on the
energy/financial savings made by the companies and the new sales
generated.
3. 69% of all businesses that had advice took action as a result
of Envision guidance.
4. Advice on resource efficiency is now provided via Business
Link across the South West or via
www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/layer?site=106&r.s=tl&r.l1=1079068363&r.lc=en&topicId=1082899400
5. Ekosgen is an independent environmental evaluation
consultancy
6. The South West RDA works for and promotes a modern, stronger
and more resilient economy across South West England. Our work
involves creating better jobs, successful businesses, more
prosperous cities, towns and villages within an economy that uses
less carbon and will still be thriving in 20, 50 and 100 years
time.