Energy use cut by over half!

Introducing the Kier Group

Kier are a leading construction and infrastructure services company, building new homes and commercial buildings across the UK. On their construction sites, they use portable cabins housing kitchen facilities, toilets, showers and communal areas for staff to use.

BBC News sent a team to Kier’s site in Wales to see what the trial entailed:

Installing our sockets

As part of the trial, several of our plug sockets were installed by Kier’s electricians across two onsite cabins, powered by diesel generators. These were then configured to connect to the local Wi-Fi network, collecting baseline energy and carbon emissions data.

Iain Casson, Head of Sustainability at Kier, said:

"We chose to implement the measurable.energy system because of the large amounts of wasted energy, energy cost and emissions, that came from our site buildings."

Achieving reductions

Our technology automatically reduced energy consumption in autumn and winter by 59% and CO2 emissions by 40%. Over the course of a full year, we eliminated 4,566 kWh of small power waste (equal to charging 304,095 smartphones) and 3.8 t of CO2 emissions.

*Calculated based on 190p/litre diesel cost and average emissions of 0.85kg CO2/kWh.

Establishing weather automations

A custom weather dependant control was also established to automatically turn a dehumidifier on and off, based on the weather. To do this, we set up an API directly with the Met Office. Whenever there were four hours of dry weather, the dehumidifier turned off, switching back on after an hour of heavy rain or three hours of light rain.

In just one year, this saved 208kg of CO2 emissions, equivalent to three tree seedlings taking in carbon over 10 years.

Iain commented:

"Simply using our sockets to turn the dehumidifiers off when they aren’t needed saves us a lot of energy and effort."

Detecting faulty devices

By monitoring for spikes in energy use, we identified a faulty heater which the team uninstalled before it became a fire risk.

Maximising savings

We’re working closely with the team to reduce their electricity bills by an additional 10%, a potential yearly saving of £1,589. This will be achieved by adding in additional schedules to turn devices off over weekends and when sites are closed.

Iain added:

"We’re keen to explore the wider applications of measurable.energy’s system to change our energy use behaviours and see what we can offer to our clients."