Case Study

This project for an international airport demonstrates the scope of Ecofocus Group and capability of our manufacturing and delivery Partners to provide sustainability solutions across many areas of an organisation's built environment.

Decarbonising an international airport

Survey

Following a site survey several key

areas of high energy use and subsequent carbon

emissions were highlighted. We reviewed and

proposed solutions that will significantly help to reduce

energy costs and carbon emissions.

Monitoring

Our initial proposal was to understand the airport’s

overall energy use including the business units

located in the airport grounds. We

proposed a smart monitoring system with new cutting edge smart meters that relay information back to a

central metering system that can provide real-time

information and data to allow a clear understanding of

all points of energy use.

Deployment

Once the airport’s energy use was understood

the deployment of voltage optimisation was a

key requirement. This will reduce electricity

consumption by an average of 19%, giving savings

24/7. As well as reducing the carbon footprint, electrical

appliances will have a longer lifespan. Our low-cost

option makes significant savings and will also be useful

for the surrounding business units to assist in energy and carbon reduction.

LED

Our survey revealed that limited parts of the airport terminal had LED lights installed. Additional to this, lighting was constantly left on due to operator misuse and areas have been boarded off but are still connected to areas that are in use. With the use of passive infrared (PIR)

sensor technology, we could integrate LED lights with our

WiREMS (PIR) technology. This can remove operator

usage errors and turn off lights in unused areas. We

can provide the LED lighting on a no-CAPEX basis with

repayments made via energy savings and achieve an ROI of less than 30 months.

Air conditioning

Although a limited number of air-conditioning

units (24) were installed at the airport terminal

they do have a large energy demand and

subsequent CO2 emissions. Our unique

intelligent thermostat can be installed and save up to

40% energy use by reducing the cooling cycle.

Other occupants of site

Encouraging and educating the surrounding

business units on energy and carbon emissions

will provide benefits to themselves and the

airport. Awareness of available solutions and funding

can be provided.

Air handling

A major factor for the airport as the passenger

numbers increase was the heating and cooling

around the terminal that is imperative for both

passenger and staff comfort. Our initial survey revealed

that there were 6 air handling units located on the

terminal roof. Unfortunately, all the units were nearing

the end of life and will require replacing as they are

extremely inefficient, in some cases up to 77% and

may pose potential health hazards. For the moment we

were able to offer a ‘sticky plaster’ solution which will increase efficiency and help to significantly reduce energy costs and carbon emissions as well as providing a healthier heating and cooling solution.

Gas

To reduce gas consumption, we proposed

installing our Dynamic Boiler Optimiser (DBO)

that will save energy with its superior boiler

control, whilst not affecting the terminal building’s

needs, and significantly reduce carbon emissions. The

existing boilers were old and poorly controlled (wasting

energy). Furthermore, the DBO will prolong the life of

the existing boilers, achieve a 6-month ROI, and provide

online savings reports.

Waste to Energy (WTE)

We can provide a modular WTE plant that can be

installed at no cost to the airport that will burn all

manner of waste products from agriculture, waste paper,

food, textile, urban waste, tyres, oils and industrial

mineral fats to general public waste; allowing the

airport to generate an income from gate fees along

with powering the airport. Regarding the outputs from

the plant, there are several options including steam to

hot water and electricity to power/heat the airport and

surrounding businesses and can also convert end of life

plastics into feedstock for making clean recycled plastics

or alternative low carbon fuels. One key point, the WTE

we can provide can convert the waste into hydrogen that

will be a key fuel over the coming years for transport etc

providing emission-free zones.

Solar panels and solar carports

The use of solar panels, for self-generation, has rapidly

increased over the last 12 months with the introduction

of greater efficiency, lower cost, panels that enable

businesses to reduce their reliance on grid power and

to significantly reduce both energy costs and carbon

emissions. In addition to the solar panels, we can

provide solar carports which are ideal for integrating

EV charging points. The solar panels can also feed a

commercial battery storage system which can be used

to provide power to other electrical equipment thus

reducing reliance on grid-supplied electricity.

EV charging

There is a master plan already in place for the site and the wider area including the allocation of EV chargers at the airport. We can provide industry leading chargers and an outstanding back-office platform which will allow the airport to provide onsite charging and generate income for the airport through user fees.

Battery storage

Resilience to an airport is essential if mains power is lost.

Generators have successfully provided back-up power in

the past but with the new regulations around Nitrogen

Oxide (NOx) and general emissions, the use of battery

storage is key to future resilience

Solar lamposts

Solar lamp posts that can carry cameras for security monitoring and traffic management, loudspeaker and WiFi systems, that are a revenue generating asset creating more power than they use and work efficiently even in Northern European climates.

Water conservation

Our products save the cold water run off when the hot tap is opened, allow travelers and staff to shower in just 5 to 10 litres of water and prevent wasteful overflow all of which save energy and carbon emissions.

Intelligent lightdomes

Replacing artificial light with highly efficient lightdomes that can be retrofitted in terminals, warehousing and hangars. For an average of ten hours a day, the artificial light from the LightCatcher can bring intense and pleasant daylight . With a roof opening of 1.6m² it gives light in abundance to a zone of no less than 60 to 120m² on the floor. That happens completely free of charge. The LightCatcher mirror is controlled by a patented sensor technology that always looks for the optimal light point, and that technology does not use a single cent of energy: an integrated solar panel ensures that the LightCatcher works completely autonomously, without having to connect to the electricity grid. And so the LightCatcher with a particularly small roof opening achieves maximum daylight in a building.

Intelligent energy platforms

Available as a retrofit add-on to existing BMS systems and built on the five pillars of data capture analysis, advanced modeling, measurement & verification, closed loop predictive control, and expert human analysis. Services built on our platform deliver an optimized balance of energy savings, operational efficiency, and tenant comfort.

Food waste disposal

Improving the safety of catering outlets on site with a lighter and more hygienic workflow as a food grinder takes care of the food waste quickly and the system recycles it into green energy for heat and electricity.

Free trial and free audit

With our Free Energy Audit consultation and site evaluation, qualifying clients benefit from our independent overview of their operations without any obligation to purchase our solutions or recommendations once the output report is submitted.

Finance

We work with financial institutes that provide

project financing including Macquarie Bank and

several high net worth companies. Funding allows us to

offer no-CAPEX solutions which greatly assists businesses

who cannot afford big financial outlays but are looking

for solutions to reduce energy consumption, reduce

carbon emissions and deploy renewable energy solutions.

In summary

This case study demonstrates 19 different ways in which we can work with just one organisation to be a Zero-Hero™ by reducing their energy consumption, carbon emissions and costs - all with the aim of achieving Net Zero as soon as possible.

The UK has to be Net-Zero by 2050 - so your organisation must be too