The Client
The East of England CO-OP is the area’s largest independent retailer, operating convenience stores, pharmacies, opticians, funeral directors and travel agents.
Its Energy Management team is fully focussed on reducing consumption and associated carbon footprint, using savings to improve profitability.
The Brief
East of England CO-OP commissioned SaveMoneyCutCarbon to carry out detailed energy and water-saving surveys across its range of properties in Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex.
The CO-OP’s Energy Management team built on the Active Water Management Service delivered by Anglian Water Business, which has a formalised strategic partnership with SaveMoneyCutCarbon.
SaveMoneyCutCarbon carried out full surveys on water and energy use at 190 properties over nine weeks from August to October,
measuring for the first time the major savings to be made not only through more efficient water management but also through LED lighting.
Central to the partnership is the ability of SaveMoneyCutCarbon to conduct energy and water surveys for multi-site organisations across the UK, making recommendations, showing ROI paybacks and supplying and fitting suitable products.
The Solution
The SaveMoneyCutCarbon survey team worked closely with the management at each of the CO-OP properties to ensure not only minimum disruption to working practices but also full compliance with health & safety procedures. The surveyors confirmed survey requirements and the areas to be accessed.
They then made a full technical audit of water and energy use, gathering comprehensive data with images on current water usage as well as detailed information on plumbing systems.
During the survey process, technicians were tasked with immediate remedial work where identified, such as fitting tap aerators to cut water use by more than 60% and installing water displacement bags in toilet cisterns.
SaveMoneyCutCarbon surveyors carried out full lighting inspections to identify potential for savings back of house, front of house, refrigeration facilities, car parks and other external areas.
The comprehensive survey process revealed major savings opportunities that exist across water and especially energy. For example, lighting is still using some very old technology like T12 that uses unnecessary amounts of energy and will become increasing hard to replace.
Detailed reports were presented to the CO-OP energy team, with easy categorisation of locations to identify quick wins for savings as well as discussion on next steps, guidance on products and solutions.
Summary
- Energy savings from LED lighting retrofit to cut electricity use by over 3.5 million kWh.
- Lighting electricity bills to be cut by around £370,000 a year.
- Remedial work on water management has already saved circa £8k per annum.
- Further options on water-efficient solutions would deliver around £45,000 a year in savings.
Annual Savings
-
400,000
£ saved
-
8,000
litres
-
3.5 million
kWh