It’s now two months since Ashe introduced a Grid Duck energy monitor at its Sandy School site in Bedfordshire to find out just how much electricity could be saved. Initial findings show a massive 46% reduction in electricity consumption thanks mostly to behavioural change.
James Bisco, Ashe Group’s head of sustainability explains what Grid Duck does and how this new piece of technology will help the business towards its greenhouse gas reduction goals.
“Working with our M&E supplier at our Sandy School project we’ve introduced Grid Duck’s IoT (Internet of Things) system which easily allows us to monitor our energy consumption at our temporary site set up, through a submetering system. Using an online dashboard we can examine, for example, what energy was consumed overnight in our site set up accommodation and if there were any items of equipment that were left on standby or left charging longer than necessary.”
Ashe started work on the £11.5m contract to build 29 new classrooms at Sandy School in Central Bedfordshire in January last year. Over the course of a yearlong contract Grid Duck can highlight huge opportunities for energy savings to be made.
James continues: “Installing this submetering system on all new sites in the future will have significant benefits. It raises awareness of our energy use and reminds us to switch off unused equipment. It also reminds us not to leave equipment idling when it’s not in immediate use, and just as our electricity meters at home can tell us which appliances are the most energy-hungry, Grid Duck makes us think about whether or not we really need to use the amount of electricity we do.
“As we set out our detailed plan for reducing Ashe’s greenhouse gas emissions, this is one of many initiatives that we’re introducing to change the way we work and help us to get a better understanding of how our operations affect climate change. Improved automation, modifying our site cabins and other changes to the way we work will all contribute to helping us achieve our targets.”
At MK East in Milton Keynes where Ashe has two contracts worth a total of £24m to build a school and community health hub, the team is also using Grid Duck to monitor its electricity use. Ben Walker, contracts manager, says recording their use allows them to follow traits in their habits.
He said: “We are making a conscious decision to de-energise at night because we saw a peak in nighttime use. We’re now ensuring that heaters, flood lighting and access road lighting are all turned off when not needed and we’re being mindful of where we are wasting money and energy.”
Andrew Morris, business development director added: “We often get power free of charge, from our clients’ facilities, but we are now able to prove to our end users that we’re being as efficient as we can with their power whilst building more sustainably.
“Behavioural change is so important if we are to achieve our carbon reduction goals and this is one of many initiatives we’ve introduced that will make a big difference to costs, as well as climate change.”
You can find out more about Ashe’s approach to sustainability here.