A round up of environment management news from companies including Costa, Jaguar Land Rover and Boeing
Costa has opened an “eco pod” outlet, which it describes as the first “zero energy” coffee shop in the UK. The building, on Wrekin Retail Park in Telford, boasts rainwater capture, solar PV cells, which are embedded in the curved roof, and an insulated facade to retain heat in during the winter and keep the interior cool in summer. The building is positioned to achieve optimum levels of sun and shade. Whitbread, which owns Costa, says zero energy is achieved through passive ventilation and innovative construction techniques so that the energy required to heat and cool the building is minimised and any that is required is provided by the solar cells.
Peterborough’s Queensgate shopping centre has carried out an assessment and improvement scheme to help retailers reduce energy, waste and water. The assessment, through the “growing greener pledge” scheme, involved Queensgate and managing agent JLL working with stores to identify improvements. As a result, energy consumption has declined by 4,253,000 kWh, producing financial savings of £477,000; water consumption by 3,000m3; and carbon emissions by 2,933 tonnes. It has also achieved zero waste to landfill.
Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) has received a Queen’s award for reducing the environmental impact of its products and operations. The enterprise in sustainable development accolade recognises JLR’s rollout of light-weight aluminium vehicle technology and low-emission engines, as well as reductions in operational energy, waste and water.
Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) has announced that it will install more than 200MW of rooftop solar capacity across eight of its mills in China over the next five years. The move comes after APP piloted solar arrays at several sites, including installing 20MW at a mill in Suzhou.
Energy conservation has earned Boeing an Energy Star partner award from the US Environmental Protection Agency. Measures taken by the aircraft manufacturer, which helped to secure the award, include replacing more than 5,100 lighting fixtures with more efficient versions.
