The new scheme will allow small businesses in Wales to receive all the benefits of a Carbon Trust energy survey whilst also learning from each other by being grouped together with other organisations in their geographical area or sector.
The survey involves a Carbon Trust Wales approved consultant visiting an organisation’s premises to conduct an energy audit and produce an action plan containing recommendations and identifying energy saving opportunities.
Cardiff-based unified communications specialist, theWord, was chosen to take part in a pilot scheme, which proved that small enterprises stand to make significant savings. After working with Carbon Trust Wales, the business successfully reduced its energy bills by 10%.
Although theWord already had a fairly low energy spend, it was able to make these savings through effective monitoring and targeting techniques. Firstly, the business changed its energy supplier and implemented smart metering to ensure it was being accurately charged for the amount of energy it was using.
The business began to manage its energy consumption more closely and installed timers on equipment such as vending machines, water coolers and the cabinet lighting in its showroom. It also found that it was able to concentrate working hours for its staff to shorten the day by half an hour and reduce the air conditioning running time.
An energy management policy was drawn up and made available to all staff via the shared drive. The majority of bright halogen spot lights were replaced with low energy lighting and a staff awareness programme was implemented.
Smaller businesses often think that there is very little they can do about their energy bills, either because they pay by direct debit so see them as a fixed cost or because they think their energy spend is too low for carbon saving measures to make an impact. theWord has proved that this isn’t the case, and is leading the way as an SME taking responsible action for its own carbon footprint.
David Moore, Account Manager, Carbon Trust Wales
We were recently presented with The Royal Mint’s Contractor and Service Provider of the Year award for 2012, which we are sure is due in part to the commitment to being a responsible business that we demonstrated through our work with Carbon Trust Wales. Undertaking a Carbon Survey and implementing the recommendations proved that we’re a credible organisation that is committed to sustainable growth and is here for the long term. Although we were unable to make all of the recommended improvements due to cost, we’ve seen a real difference to our energy bills after working with Carbon Trust Wales and introducing their no and low cost measures. Winning the Royal Mint award means our name is up there with much bigger organisations which puts us in an excellent position in terms of attracting new business. I would absolutely recommend working with the Carbon Trust, no matter what your size or energy spend. It was a very good experience for us, the recommendations were realistic and the savings that we’ve already made prove that it was well worth it.
Nick Williams, Head of Service Delivery for theWord
To request more information about the cluster scheme please email contactwales@carbontrust.com.
Funded by the Welsh Government, Carbon Trust Wales is an independent organisation which strives to nurture low carbon innovators while giving a range of high quality energy advice to public and business organisations. It offers a range of free services such as Carbon Surveys and interest-free energy efficiency loans for small and medium size businesses and runs a series of workshops, seminars and exemplar visits throughout the year.
