Introduction
Woodhead Enterprise, part the Woodhead Group, works within an accredited Environmental Management system. We have in place our ISO140001 accredited Environmental Management System, which ensures we have the policies, processes, plans, practices and records that define how we positively interact with the wider environment. Located in Edwinstowe, Nottinghamshire.
We are recognised as leaders in environment and sustainability, due to our dedication on the path to a low carbon future. Planting one tree for every 20m2 of new build footprint is just one of our many commitments. We have also launched a Climate Action Framework, which is our roadmap to transform our construction business as we head towards a greener future, over the next 10 years. We will deliver our commitments including to become a climate positive contractor with zero single use plastics on our sites by 2029.
Minimising Carbon Emissions
Electrical
- We have installed Solar PV on the rooftop of the Head office, generating enough electricity to run up to 100 workstations.
- Lighting across the common circulation areas are PIR, meaning it consumes less energy. It consumes (0.8W to 1.0W).
- We use LED lights with high lumen output per watt in our office area which are an efficient solution, as they use 70% of their energy into light. An additional benefit includes lower maintenance cost as they are long life bulbs.
- We have installed zonal lighting in our open plan office, which is lunar sensor controlled.
Gas
We have installed 4 separate heating zones, which are serviced by 4 separate localised boilers. This has allowed us to isolate non-occupied areas, thus saving energy and reducing our carbon emissions. Our thermostatically controlled heating system enables optimised heating control measures to be applied to working areas, saving on energy costs. Ironmongery on all communal door sets are designed to auto close through access control systems. This provides security, fire protections and prevents heat loss, therefore, reducing energy uses on the gas boilers. We have double glazed windows throughout our office area, which minimises heat loss and reduces the demand on the gas boiler, reducing our overall carbon emissions.
Business Travel
As an organisation we have a bold commitment to ensure we move to an electric fleet as a standard in the next 3 years. Recent policy changes, to embrace hybrid working, offers flexibility to our staff, encouraging a mixture of working from home and the office/site, thus reducing the need to travel. The business has embraced digital platforms especially the use of MS teams or Zoom for meetings, which reduces the need for business travel and carbon emissions.
Water
All taps within the kitchen areas are installed with under counter electrical heaters, giving the added benefit of only needing to heat the amount of water that is required. This low-cost solution helps save 40-60% energy cost which otherwise gets wasted due to heating large water tanks. All toilets have dual flush buttons, thus saving on water consumption.
Minimising Waste
We minimise waste with the head office through digital transformation. By advancing and embracing our digital platforms we have found it easy to transition during the last 18 months, as a result of Covid-19. Our measures to minimise waste include:
- Proactively encouraging our clients to accept digital O&M Manuals, rather than hard copies.
- Using Site Audit Pro App to reduce the use of paper on site.
Increasing Recycling of Waste
We encourage staff to be more sustainable at our head office by gifting them with a reusable travel cup and periodically encouraging ‘no print days’. The following range of items are recycled: paper, cardboard, plastic, tins, toner cartridges and batteries. Recycling is pro-actively encouraged and extended to tenants who are also based within our head-office. For example, our on-site Café, uses recyclable packaging on all takeaway food. Waste management on our live sites is managed jointly with our waste partner, ENVA. Together we ensure 98% of all construction waste is diverted from landfill.
Environmental Improvement Performance
Whilst we do not measure environmental performance at our Head Office, we do measure the impact on a project by project basis. We embrace a measurement tool from across industry best practice: The Considerate Contractors Scheme - Carbon Calculator Toolkit.
We have recently signed up to ConstructC02 digital platform to proactively:
- Measure and benchmark our construction carbon footprint on each project.
- Map our supply chain to demonstrate construction carbon miles footprint.
- Understand our footprint to enable improvement.