Manufacturing businesses aren’t known for their eco credentials, but Howdon Power Transmission is bucking the trend. The Stroud-based engineering company is taking giant steps to become more environmentally friendly, tackling a number of challenges to reduce their carbon footprint, and to meet the commitments outlined in their environmental policy.
Shine a light
Howdon have installed 28 solar panels that will produce almost half the power they use as a business (43.9%). They can monitor the production and performance of each panel at any time, either online (www.monitoring.solaredge.com) or using a smartphone app. Staff love checking up to see just how much power the company is producing, with the added benefit of being able to quickly identify any faults in the panels, should they occur.
Howdon’s engineer says: “Our 9.16kWp solar PV array consists of 28 SunPower 327W panels. The power generated by the panels is fed back into the grid via a SolarEdge SE10K inverter through the three-phase industrial power supply.”
Howdon have also fitted LED lighting in their offices, which has halved the company’s power consumption in the process. The kitchen, corridors and stairwells now have PIR sensors that automatically switch the lights on and off, saving yet more electricity when the lights aren’t needed.
Howdon’s engineer says: “Replacing 12 old 6-foot fluorescent tube lights with 14 30W LED panels has reduced the power we use from 840W to 420W. The lighting in the works has been changed to 18 30W LED panels, which replace 36 double 8-foot 100W fluorescent tubes. Meanwhile, fitting the PIR sensors has saved 3,480W.”
Getting warmer…
Howdon had been relying on an old, energy-hungry methods of heating their test room, R&D workshop and offices. These have been replaced by infrared, ceiling-mounted heaters and a wall-mounted heater – all controlled by a timer for maximum energy efficiency.
With the exception of the test room, which has to be kept at a constant temperature, only inhabited areas of the company’s premises are now heated. This new, efficient system will reduce the company’s fuel consumption for heating by almost two-thirds.
Howdon’s engineer says: “We replaced an inefficient 47kW gas space heater with Herschel Select XL and IRP4 ceiling-mounted heaters and a Herschel Advantage IR3 wall-mounted heater, all run on a seven-day timer. The new heating system has a total output of just 16.5kW.”
Reduce, reuse, recycle
Howdon generate cardboard waste from the deliveries of stock such as bearings and sprockets. Staff currently take this to the local recycling centre, but management are considering investing in a cardboard shredding or bailing machine that can turn this waste cardboard into packaging – which can then be used to protect customer orders in transit.
All the company’s paper waste (such as printed paper, trade magazines and envelopes) is shredded and used as packaging material, while pallets that contain deliveries from subcontractors are returned to the subcontractor next time they deliver.
The Howdon team continue to look for ways in which they can reduce their impact on the environment, but for now they’re pleased to have saved 5,798kg of CO2 emissions – equivalent to powering 44,800 lightbulbs for a day.
www.howdon.co.uk/products_eng-up.html
