Working with others to help us reach net zero
Throughout the past year, Wernick has been teaming up with like-minded companies to work towards our shared goal to reach net zero. We’re making progress by implementing innovative solutions throughout the Group and aim to reach net zero by 2040.
Voltage optimisers
We joined forces with Powerstar to install two voltage optimisation units at our Wernick Buildings factory in South Wales. Thanks to these units, the factory’s energy consumption dropped by 9.2%, resulting in a significant annual reduction of 19 tonnes of CO2.
Read their case study here.
PV performance analysis
SPECIFIC Innovation and Knowledge Centre helped us identify a 13% underperformance in one of our PV arrays. They used a Photovoltaic Geographical Information System to offer guidance on resolving the issue. This knowledge allows us to improve our remote data monitoring, helping us identify and address PV issues effectively.
Read their case study here.
AI powered plug sockets
We’ve installed measurable.energy’s plug sockets at our Head Office in Wickford. These plugs feature LED indicators that display the carbon intensity of our electricity from the national grid and use machine learning (AI) to identify wasted energy and eliminate this. In the first four months, we managed to reduce our energy use by 20%.
Read their case study here.
Gathering insights
In collaboration with Elemental Consulting, we developed our net zero approach, drawing valuable insights that guide our future strategies for decarbonisation and electrification. Their support ranged from baselining activities and calculating carbon emissions to reviewing suitable innovative technologies.
“We have been working closely with Wernick Group for the past two years. Our aim next year is to further drive down carbon emissions across each asset of their estate and fleet. We will do this by collecting data through submetering we have installed and providing up-to-date performance data and visuals. Having the correct data is essential for any organisation’s net zero journey, how you collect, analyse and present this data is critical!” commented Richard Hipkiss, Founder and CEO at Elemental Consulting.
Collaboration with universities
Working with the University of York and the York Local Enterprise Partnership, we hosted a university student to work with us in their last year of university to deliver a sustainability project with Wernick Refurbished Buildings. Alarmel Valli has now achieved her Masters in Sustainable Business and has joined the Wernick Group full-time as Group Social Value Advisor to help the Group Sustainability Manager.
We partnered with Loughborough University, British Gypsum and ENVA to drive our circular economy ambition through the ICEBERG project. The project is reviewing advanced technologies for gypsum waste purification and processing as part of an innovation trial. We provided waste plasterboard which has been re-processed into a recycled product, the aim of which is to be re-fitted within a Wernick building.
Each of these small steps helps to reduce our carbon emissions collectively whilst contributing to our net zero goals.
It is really encouraging to see industry leaders such as the Wernick Group care about the environment and take tangible steps towards net zero. Their sustainability-focused Head Office in Wickford is a great example of this. Working with the Wernick Group means we can remove carbon emissions on a large scale and we look forward to growing this even further!