Together, We’re Saving Even More Energy
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Published 15 Oct 2024 in Raising Awareness
Today's story is all about how, together, we have saved a substantial amount of energy. So first of all, a big thank you to all our colleagues who have helped make this possible! Read on to find out what we've achieved together...
In 2023, we reduced our energy usage by 11% across our sites compared to in 2022. All colleagues should be proud of hitting that fantastic figure, but we are delighted to say we can feel even prouder as this year we have further reduced our usage by another 7%.
This has been achieved through significant investment into making our stores, offices and headquarters run more efficiently and sustainably, with £8 million put towards energy efficiency projects in the last two years alone.
This includes replacing refrigeration units in 50 of our stores and implementing LED lighting in 139 more throughout the past 24 months.
We have also, through our partnership with LoweConex, utilised automation technology to ensure refrigerators in over 100 of our food stores use only the energy they require. So far, this initiative has saved more than 400,000 kilowatts of energy and over £100,000 in electricity, remarkable when you consider it has only been in place since July!
All of these measures have meant that we have reduced our electricity costs, overall, by £1.5 million so far this year, compared to the same period in 2023. And these considerable efforts have been recognised, with the Society picking up the ‘Energy Project of the Year’ accolade at The Energy Awards in July, beating a range of impressive projects from businesses including Aldi, EvoEnergy and Metrikus.
Congratulations! Colleagues Sam Webb, Circular Economy Manager & Julie Sheldon, Head of Energy Efficiency with the prestigious Energy of the Year Award!
But we don’t want to stop there, which is why last Thursday we held an ‘energy efficiency art of the possible’ session with a selection of colleagues across all trading groups, including Colleague Council representatives, who provided site-level insight and ensured that colleagues had their views shared. The session explored opportunities for self-generated solar power, Net Zero building design concepts, low energy lighting and how the use of automation technology can increase energy efficiency.
We look forward to sharing more insights into how we are all working together to make our Society more efficient, as we work towards our target of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 35% by the end of this year, against a 2019 baseline.