Clear energy vision for Autoglass

02 November 2011

Guardian Project Services is set to reduce the annual energy consumption at the Crayford branch of Autoglass by at least 23%. This follows an audit to lower the Autoglass environmental impact as it looks to refurbish its branches throughout the UK.

Using the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) asset rating method, Guardian Project Services identified a series of improvements at the 30 year-old building. This included a combination of LED lighting, more efficient air conditioning with improved fresh air ventilation and full heat recovery, together with enhanced gas fired heating controls. This will result in an energy saving of 14,600kWh per year, reducing the yearly carbon emissions by 4.35 tonnes.

Ginny Augustin, Environment Manager at Autoglass, commented: “Autoglass firmly believes that reducing its environmental ‘footprint’ is not only vital to the continued success and quality of its business and the service it provides, but that it also has a social responsibility to care for and protect the environment for future generations. A 23% saving on the annual energy consumption at our Crayford office not only reinforces these commitments, but bodes well for future branch refurbishments across the country. Without question, Guardian Project Services’ initial report has set the standard for all our refurbishment specifications.”

Guardian Project Services went beyond purely advising on the building’s mechanical and electrical services, as Simon Thurstans, Managing Director of Guardian Project Services, explained: “Every kilowatt that can be saved becomes crucial to reducing a building’s annual energy consumption. This is why our trained energy efficiency engineers are fastidious when exploring every possible energy saving to be made – all whilst keeping lifecycle costs to a minimum.

“This is why we make recommendations on core refurbishment materials. For example at Crayford, we substituted fibre glass insulation with Sheepswool, used only Forest Stewardship Council certified wood products, and applied high reflective emulsion paint that absorbs 10% less visible light. It is this attention to detail that makes all the difference. Of course, each branch will present individual challenges. However, since we already handle the air conditioning systems across the Group on behalf of parent company, Belron, we are ideally positioned to identify energy efficiencies at branch level.”