SILVER Level - Steps Towards Environmental Managment (S.T.E.M)
The first company in Kent to be awarded Silver Level STEM by the South East Business Carbon Hub.
Secure Engineering have the honour of being awarded the next level of accreditation for reducing the company's operational carbon footprint.
On 19th April 2011 secure Engineering received their certificate for drastically reducing their carbon footprint by replacing non environmental efficient systems with cost efficient carbon reducing systems.
STEM is a step-by-step guide to putting an environmental management system in place within a business. It is a free and self-certifying scheme. There is a limited amount of paperwork required as the majority of carbon emission data is processed online using the South East Business Carbon Hub's carbon management tool.
Benefits to business
- Enhances green credentials
- Reduces costs by removing inefficiencies
- Assists in maintaining a respected business
Eligibility
This scheme is free to businesses that are members of the South East Business Carbon Hub.
Why did we decide to implement an Environmental Managment System?
The reason why we decided to join the STEM scheme was to enhance our working commitment towards the environment. By joining the scheme we have been able to clearly identify areas for improvement.
South East Business Carbon Hub provided Secure Engineering with a simple check list to acknowledge the presence of what can be measure and how often we should review our Carbon operations. We then proceeded to obtain actual costings for our utility service supplies. With the check list and the actual costings we were able to clearly identify certain areas that required immediate remedial improvements.
Did measuring your carbon footprint help identify where you could start reducing your carbon emission?
We are based in a modern converted barn complex located on Friday Street Farm which is situated on a steady Southward facing slope overlooking the Weald of Kent. Our complex comprises of 2 floors. Ground floor; operational, engineering workshop, conference table, fully functional staff kitchen and wc's. First floor; large open plan office for Managers and two small offices, one for each Director. First floor has a fantastic 20 foot tall exposed Oak beam ceiling.
The ceiling was visually emphasised by 5 traditional Tungsten Halogen Flood lamps consisting of 500W/hour consumption for each unit. A total of 2,500W/hour were being consumed poorly just to illuminate the ceiling. Each member of staff then has additional task lighting at each workstation with a combined output of 500W/hour. This meant that the upstairs open planned office area used a total of 3,000W/hour.
This was clearly the area that required the most attention. We replaced the conventional lamps with new 150W /hour Metal Halide lamps which produce a stronger, cleaner, whiter output compared to conventional lamps. By placing 4 new Metal Halide units at strategic locations across the Oak beams and rearranging the workstations to be able to use more natural light, we have uniformly illuminated more parts of the office and provided much improved light to each workstation.
The new total consumption of electricity to emphasise the Oak beam ceiling is now only 600W/hour. With the additional benefits from using a more superior light source and improved arrangement of workstations, we have a grand potential saving of 2,400W/hour which equates to a saving of 26.4kWh a day.
(a working day for illumination calculation is based on 11 hours of constant use, to cater for flexible working hours)
Being a leading electronic security company, we have a lot of our supplies delivered in packaging made from cardboard and paper. These produced large amounts of recyclable waste which in the past was reviewed as financially unsuitable to recycle. Now that recycling is more favourable to all waste management companies, we have introduced a recycling bin alongside our general waste bin. Collections are fortnightly due to decreasing landfill waste. The company now saves £100 a year without sacrificing operations.
Every member of Secure Engineering staff took part in a commuter travel survey provided by the South East Business Carbon Hub. They provided Secure Engineering with a survey report which outlined where our colleagues live, how they commute to work and possible emission reduction strategies. After carefully reviewing the survey we have introduced work from home option for 4 out of 5 staff, permitting that we have substantial cover in the office. Unfortunately the member of staff who lives the furthest is the person who needs to be at work everyday. Sue our Operations Manager who co-ordinates engineer's work-plans and maintains our complex's optimal operation can not perform her task from home. The 4 possible members that can work from home are able to perform their duties from their laptops remotely, which saves approximately 30 miles of commuting a week. Our Engineer's have now been advised to forward plan vehicle loading for jobs so that they do not have to return to the office to pick up required equipment. Cost saving for our Engineer's forward loading can only be reviewed after a longer period of time due to the theory of requiring more fuel to transport more goods, out weighs the fuel consumption of more journeys.
