Environmental Excellence
The factory in Leek is the most efficient and environmentally friendly cheese packing facility in Europe. We have reduced our environmental impact in the design, build and operation. With immediate effect we have reduced our carbon footprint by 15%.
Key features include
- Sun-Pipes
45 sunpipes replace circa 90 electrically operated lighting fittings. This saves 5kW of energy in daylight hours and is said to have an added bonus in that the system promotes a sense of well-being through natural lighting throughout the internal offices. - Passive infra-red(PIR) lighting control
This provides lighting on a "needs only" basis. The PIR controllers dim the office lighting when good natural daylight (via windows and sunpipes) is available. The PIR's sense the natural daylight and automatically reduce the artificial lighting level. This in turn reduces electricity consumption. Additionally, the PIR controls will automatically switch off lights when office areas are unoccupied. A reduction of 56% is predicted. - Photovoltaic cells
10kW of "Free electricity", contributing to the reduction in carbon footprint. Photovoltaic cells convert daylight to electricity, which is then converted to the building supply voltage (230v) and injected into the electricity distribution system. This replaces the electricity taken from the utility companies grid (100% sustainable electricity from daylight source). - CHP Plant
Generating 100kW of electricity and providing 225kW of waste heat to pre-heat water for washing and cleaning. Combined heat and power (CHP) comprises a gas generator that in producing electricity also produce heat that is used to provide the building hot water supply. This reduces the buildings co2 emissions by up to 10%. - Zones and Sub metering
The use of sub metering allows us to maintain a high level of focus on energy and utility usage and target further potential reductions throughout our process. - Free cooling to the production hall
The production hall requires an operating temperature of 10-12oc. In winter months, the external temperature can be lower. Roof mounted air dampers open with cool air brought in via fans, where it is filtered and used for the production hall space. This negates the need for artifical cooling and reduces energy consumption of the plant. - Inverter driven motors on pumps and fans
56% energy reduction against rated motor loadings. The inverter controls the speed of the electric motors so they can be matched to the mechanical load being imposed by the plant and system. A standard speed motor would consume energy constantly, regardless of the loading being imposed. By reducing the speed via an inverter drive, you proportionally reduce the energy used.