This week we are talking about the RSPB’s plans to build a wind turbine at our headquarters, The Lodge in Bedfordshire.
Here’s our conservation director Martin Harper talking about why the RSPB cares about renewable energy, here is a post from our near neighbours in Gamlingay talking about their experiences of having a wind farm on their doorstep and - if you have a head for figures - here are the numbers behind our wind turbine plan.
But this project is just one aspect of a concerted effort by the RSPB to reduce our carbon footprint.
We now have renewable energy sources at our workplaces around the UK, especially where we are building new centres or refurbishing existing buildings. We have woodchip or pellet boilers at 5 of our sites, such as Leighton Moss and Saltholme. Last year we installed photovoltaic panels at a further 5 sites in England. We are also experimenting with heat pumps – there’s a ground source heat pump at Rainham and an air source heat pump at Minsmere.
The RSPB’s new buildings include a raft of additional features, such as Saltholme Visitor Centre, Teeside, which has won a hat-trick of awards. Recycled and recyclable materials have been specified throughout the building, an internal rammed earth wall helps to control both internal humidity and temperature, natural cooling is achieved by using the central atrium of the building, as a draught creator and heating is provided by a biomass boiler.
But all our efforts to reduce our CO2 start with energy conservation. Using less energy in the first place is basic common sense. Insulation, draught exclusion, lagging, switching things off – not as sexy as a wind turbine maybe, but essential nonetheless.
The RSPB’s main carbon emissions from using fossil fuels are due to travel and energy in buildings. The Carbon Trust estimate that businesses can save up to 20% of their energy use through behavioural change, up to 10% from better monitoring and another 15% through better controls, draught-proofing and switching to LED lighting.
Between 2007 and 2013, we reduced our energy consumption by 8% at the Lodge through a mix of energy awareness campaigns and energy conservation measures. Although we have taken on an extra 170 staff, this suggests that there is still scope to find more savings. So we asked the Carbon Trust to come back and do a new energy assessment this year and they have found additional things that we can do to reduce energy use and generate energy. These include a full monitoring system, better boiler controls, the replacement of air conditioning systems for our servers with evaporative cooling technology and switching more lighting to LED.
So we are learning that there is always something else you can do and that it is important to have a mixed strategy – the wind turbine’s will make an amazing contribution to reducing our use of fossil fuels – a contribution that will grow proportionately, as we reduce our use in the first place.
To find out what you can do in your workplace visit www.Carbontrust.com
Woodchip Boiler at Saltholme Visitor Centre (Alan Atkinson)