B&S is on its way to becoming climate neutral, starting with our day-to-day operations. By implementing energy saving measures, maximising our use of renewable energy sources, and incorporating sustainable materials in our built environment, we aim to achieve net zero CO2 emissions by 2030. It’s all part of our commitment to take climate action.
We placed 51,676 m2 new roofing, whereby 42,847 kilos of CO2 saved during the production process, which equals 306,053 driven kilometres. That’s more than 7.5 trips around the earth. One round around the Earth is 40.000 km
“The Facility department plays a vital role in the sustainability ambitions of our company “, explains Kachiri Brugts, Facility Director at B&S. “We are tasked with deciding how to dispose of waste, what lease cars to use, what kind of lunches to offer in our cafeteria, , and what type of work attire to buy. The routine decisions we make are crucial to realising our goals.” When it comes to maintaining and renovating our warehouses and offices, those decisions matter even more and have a larger impact to realising our climate action ambitions. Kachiri: “We conducted Energy Efficiency audits (EEDs) for all our locations in the Netherlands, which provided insight into the most impactful initiatives and upgrades for achieving net zero CO2 emissions by 2030.”
The production and use of renewable energy sources reduces our CO2 emissions by more than 5,000 tons per year. To put this in perspective: an average Dutch household emits 3.6 tons of CO2 per year. The first half year of 2022, our solar park generated nearly 3,000,000 KwH.To put this in perspective: this equals to the annual electricity consumption of more than 1,200 Dutch households
The expansion of our solar park is an important step in achieving climate neutrality. After having installed 1,400 solar panels at our Amsterdam location, we upgraded our Dordrecht location with an additional 8,400 panels. This addition to B&S’ solar park now produces up to 85% of the energy demand of the Dordrecht facility. And as of January 1, 2022, all our warehouses and offices in the Netherlands use 100% renewable energy, such as locally produced wind energy.
Another major improvement was the replacement of old gas heating systems with a geothermal heat pump and a heat recovery system. A heat recovery system is a ventilation system used to reduce heating and cooling demands. Kachiri: “These energy saving measures reduced gas consumption by nearly 70% compared to the same period last year, considerably improving the energy efficiency of our location in Dordrecht.”
The replacement of the old freezer and cold storage system, which was responsible for more than 50% of the total energy consumption in Dordrecht, resulted in energy savings of 30%. In addition, the new system uses natural refrigerants, a more environmentally friendly alternative then when using synthetic based refrigerants. We are also working with the cold storage manufacturer and energy management service provider to reduce our energy consumption even further. By optimising the system's configuration, we can create a buffer on sunny days and use less energy for cooling when there is no sun. By doing this, we take even more advantage of the solar energy we produce.
When it was time to replace our roofing material, Facility selected Derbigum NT, a material that has a much lower environmental footprint compared to conventional materials. It’s currently the most sustainable roofing material on the market and consists of at least 25% recycled materials . At the end of their lifecycle, the materials can be completely recycled and used as a high-quality raw material for new roofing membranes. That makes Derbigum NT a circular solution: instead of discarding the material as waste, they are put back into the production process. As Derbigum puts it: “No roof to waste"!
COO Ken Lageveen: “We are continuously investing in our built environment and looking for ways to implement energy saving measures. We are currently developing a detailed roadmap to make sustainability part of our scheduled annual maintenance and renovation activities, as this is excellent timing for investing in sustainable solutions. In addition, we are in the process of building new warehouses that incorporate inspiring and visible sustainability features. We strongly believe in making our strategy tangible to employees; by explaining our ambitions and at the same time sharing the concrete actions we take”.
