Overview
National Express Group is a leading transport provider delivering services in the UK, Continental Europe, North Africa, North America and the Middle East.
The Problem
Despite reducing total emissions by 50 per cent over the previous decade, in 2010, with the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme looming, the company decided to take affirmative action.
It committed to further carbon reductions over the following five years and set out to win an internationally recognised award for its carbon saving efforts.
Our Solution
The award win came in August 2012 when National Express became the first transport company to be awarded the ‘Gold Standard’ by Carbon Saver.
The Group, which has operations ranging from train franchise to local bus services and long distance coach services, received the top environmental accolade following a huge reduction in carbon consumption through the installation of state of the art green technologies.
These include photovoltaics solar panels on our bus depot roofs, a new energy efficient roof replacement programme, LED lighting and, at the heart of the rollout, powerPerfector’s Voltage Power Optimisation.
While we may advise our customers on where to invest in their real estate portfolio to save money and energy, just as importantly, we tell them where not to as well. We predict, and model the changes they need to make today to be ready for tomorrow.
powerPerfector’s voltage optimisation technology regulates and controls the energy supplied at source to lower consumption and therefore reduce electricity bills, protect vital electrical infrastructure and help equipment work more efficiently for longer.
The Results
Energy savings achieved by powerPerfector technology are proven and verified. Critical to this is an in-depth survey of equipment and consumption trends on site.
For instance, we evaluated 35 sites for suitability for VPO®, implementing the technology in the nine bus garages likely to see the greatest energy savings.
The nine National Express West Midlands sites have seen electricity consumption reduced by an average of 16%. At the Coventry Bus Station alone, VPO® achieved annual savings of £24,500. Savings more than meet the cost of installation; National Express will see a return on its investment in less than two years.
Phase two will see eight further VPO® installations take place in the UK, and sites in Spain analysed for suitability.
The result for National Express has been recognition for its carbon reduction programme.
