Environmental impacts » Case study » Energy

Simple measures, great savings

By the end of our shortened financial year in 2006, we had reduced energy use by three per cent at our Westferry Circus head office.

To put it another way, the resultant energy and carbon savings are equivalent to a passenger travelling end-to-end approximately 30,000 times on the Piccadilly line.*

This achievement was driven by Facilities Operations Manager Clive Jones, who instigated a number of important changes which included re-programming of air conditioning and lighting systems. Adjusting the lighting in the building so that they turn off automatically outside core working hours achieved an instant energy saving. Further initiatives included: reducing the number of lifts in use at night, fitting motion sensors to plasma screens, making double-sided printing mandatory and encouraging employees to turn off their computers and monitors.

“We started by looking at all the heavy energy users in the building to see if we could fine-tune the way we use them,” he explains. “For example, we have a motor-driven roller shutter on our loading bay which was raised and lowered with every delivery, using energy as well as wearing out the motor. We decided that the shutter could be left open, provided there was a security presence.”

Some things could only be achieved with the support of employees working across the building. “We highlighted the issue of switching off PCs at night in our weekly internal news bulletin,” Clive explains. “Audits were undertaken and a sticker was placed on each PC monitor which had been left on as a reminder that they should be switched off. After a week, I was not the most popular person in the building but the number of computer monitors left switched on was down from 700 to three.”

He stresses that most people are keen to support any changes, and that more still are won over once they realise what a difference they can make. “You don’t have to be a tree hugger to see the benefits of this,” he explains. “As well as reducing our environmental impact, it reduces the company’s costs.”

Perhaps the most rewarding response of all came from consultants working on behalf of the Carbon Trust. “They met us at the end of 2006 to check our progress and make suggestions for further energy savings and they were impressed by the savings we had made at Westferry Circus!” says Clive.

Clive’s enthusiasm for saving energy has spread to his home, too. “Recently my daughter needed a project for some spread sheet work at school and I suggested she should read our meters for a week and then compare the readings when we did simple things such as unplugging kettles and phone chargers when not in use. It’s amazing how it all adds up, she has got quite hooked and our electricity bills are lower as a result.”

As further measures are introduced in 2007, the success at Westferry Circus is being repeated with similar results at other Tube Lines buildings at Stratford and our Piccadilly line depots.

“It’s great to be in a position to make a difference,” says Clive, “particularly when the results inspire others in the business to spread the impact more widely across the company.”

* Calculation based on a saving of 281,044 kWh of electricity at head office in 2006 as compared to the same nine month period in 2005, which is equivalent to a saving of 120,849 kgCO2. (Conversion source: Carbon Trust). As the Underground uses 0.0563 kgCO2/passenger km (Source: London Underground) and the length of the Piccadilly line is 71 km (Source: Transport for London), an end-to-end journey on the Piccadilly line creates 4 kg per passenger. Therefore the head office saving is equivalent to a passenger travelling end-to-end approximately 30,000 times on the Piccadilly line.