There has been a significant drive to improve both energy and operating efficiencies through waste reduction on ERA's Leatherhead site. In addition, since early 2007 ERA has received excellent support through its involvement with the Farnborough Aerospace Consortium Resource Efficiency Club (REC) and this together with a drive for greater energy efficiency throughout Cobham plc has helped reinforce the existing desire to control costs while improving environmental compliance.

ERA has for some time monitored utilities well. Staff have been encouraged to reduce unnecessary energy usage and even a well established travel plan is in place to help reduce local congestion and pollution.

Building Space:

2005 saw a huge improvement in ERA’s energy use when it took advantage of an opportunity to rent unused space in its buildings. This led directly to an increase in seating density which in turn reduced ERA’s share of the heating bill for the shared buildings. Use of space can be easily overlooked as an energy saving measure but in the right circumstances it can be an easy way to make a large reduction in consumption at little or no cost.

We also took advantage of the changes in site usage to examine our electricity supply and bills. These had not been checked for many years despite major changes in the volumes and types of energy intensive work being carried out on site. A relatively simple examination of our bills indicated that we never used anything like the ‘Maximum Demand’ on our bills of 1600kW. We reduced this to 900kW, immediately providing a saving of £8000 a year. Once our major tenants had settled in and we were able to build a history of total site usage, we have been able to apply for a further reduction to 800kW with an additional ongoing annual saving of £1200.

A major site consolidation programme in 2006 had several advantages. It allowed for the disposal of land containing heavily contaminated buildings (mainly asbestos). The clearance of these buildings was undertaken by fully licensed contractors under the control of the new land-owners and the sale of the land allowed us to replace aging, inefficient workshop buildings with a new facility meeting all current building regulations. However, one of the difficulties with the site works was that it played havoc with our mix of energy use, cutting off gas supplies to some buildings which then had to be warmed with less efficient electrical heaters. This is shown in the increased electrical and reduced gas usage figures for 2006 in the graph above.

On the other hand, the completion of a new workshop building proved what a difference energy efficiency can make. The following graph illustrates the energy usage of the legacy properties and provides a comparison with a modern commercial unit. The huge difference is achieved through greater plant efficiency, better insulation but also by ensuring that the building is correctly sized for its intended use.

Energy:

By the beginning of 2007 we had time to consider improvements to the core legacy buildings on the site. This began with a number of internal audits including night audits to try and identify any large, controllable base load items. Some simple steps were undertaken immediately by maintenance staff. These included setting and checking all timers on meters, installing timers on local water heaters and air conditioning plant, setting shut-down timers on photocopiers and installing light sensors to stairwell lighting circuits. All of these were achieved at little or no cost and provided a rapid payback while indicating to staff that the subject of energy saving was being taken seriously.

The following few months saw a number of capital applications for larger energy saving projects, the majority of which had relatively short payback periods of less than 3 years.

Improvements included: Fluoresave Units to outside lighting (reduces power to lighting after initial strike). Savastats installed on main building gas fired central heating systems. These units don’t allow the boiler to fire, over-riding the main thermostat, when the return water is still at high temperatures. Double glazing and enhanced insulation installed in specific areas of our 1950’s vintage Main Building. A T8-T5 fluorescent tube conversion programme covering all major use areas on the site. The energy management programme is not yet complete. By the end of 2008 we intend to increase ceiling insulation in one of our older buildings and provide a draught proofing solution to our draughty 1950’s Main Building.

Waste:

Over the same period ERA has taken time to examine its waste streams in order to reduce, reuse and recycle where possible. For example, we spend time contacting organisations sending unsolicited mail to reduce this business input. In turn our own AccessERA department ensures that our databases are kept up to date so that direct mailings are very precisely targeted only to those engineers who find them useful. All office paper or card is recycled through a standard or secure route as appropriate. Although there is a small cost for this service it is far outweighed by the savings we have achieved on our general waste bill which we have been able to cut by 50% by doubling the collection period. This obviously reduces road miles for the collection service too! Road miles have also been reduced for our suppliers. Where ERA places regular orders (for instance stationery and computer supplies) we limit the orders to one a week, encouraging the suppliers to follow suit with their deliveries. Staff soon get used to the new regime and appreciate the fact that road miles are being reduced with little or no impact on service levels.

Travel:

Since 2005 ERA has been strengthening its existing site travel plan arrangements, enhancing existing incentives to encourage staff to leave their cars at home. In January 2007 our first ‘Cycle to Work’ day was held which, despite icy weather, doubled the usual number of cyclists, all of whom were rewarded with a free breakfast. Six cycling incentive days take place each year with the promise of a tax free breakfast to all participants. This has proved very popular and we regularly achieve a cycling to work rate of over 10% with some staff riding in from 20 miles away! Staff members are also helped to obtain bikes through a tax efficient cycle purchase scheme and the company cycle parking facilities have been improved as part of the site development process.

Loans are made available to staff wanting to purchase season tickets for rail travel and a minibus service is available to pick travellers up from the local railway station so they can finish their journey in comfort. This is appreciated by visitors to site, who find the convenient service to and from London attractive. Detailed timetable information is readily available on the company intranet to help staff plan their routes for longer distance journeys to visit clients.

For staff who have to drive, an internet-based car-share scheme is available to help them reduce their running costs and the number of vehicles on the road. Go to www.liftshare.org for details.

Where appropriate these travel benefits are also made available to major tenants on the ERA site since this is an excellent way to maintain relationships and further reduce the impact of traffic in the local area.

Environmental and Financial benefits

Graham Degg, ERA’s Purchasing and Facilities Manager, said: “Although ERA already has a history of care for the environment, the last few years have seen ever increasing waste disposal and energy costs and these have started to really focus on these aspects of our business operations. We have been able to demonstrate within the business that having due regard for the environment through improved efficiency can also reap financial rewards in terms of tangible, measurable cost savings.”

About ERA Technology Ltd

ERA Technology works at the leading edge of advanced technology consultancy and design. The business provides specialist, high value-added, technology-based services including design and development, testing, assessment and expert advice.

The company has built an international reputation for technical expertise through constant innovation. ERA's services reduce technical and commercial risk, improve the operational performance of engineering infrastructure assets, and develop and enhance the competitiveness of products and systems.

ERA Technology is a part of the Cobham Avionics and Surveillance Division of Cobham plc.

For more information, please contact: marketing@era.co.uk