Tesco and power management company Eaton have announced that that customers Typhoo and another three Tesco suppliers are set to save 750,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) per year and cut their lighting costs by up to 80 per cent, thanks to a new energy-efficient lighting Buying Club developed by Tesco and 2degrees in partnership with the Carbon Trust and Eaton’s Cooper Lighting and Safety business.
Typhoo took part in a six month pilot scheme as part of Tesco’s new collaborative Buying Club which will help suppliers invest in energy efficient lighting equipment and installations by offering expertise and competitive prices.
As part of the pilot scheme, which took place from February to September 2013, Typhoo has trialled the lighting model, replacing lighting in its 14,700 square meter (m2) factory in the Wirral, Merseyside. As the chosen provider of light emitting diode (LED) and low-energy lighting to Tesco’s buying club, Eaton’s Cooper Lighting and Safety business worked closely with the installer Briggs & Forrester Special Projects and Typhoo to understand the needs for the new lighting installation.
“The existing lighting was predominantly a metal-halide lighting solution, but this needs regular maintenance and frequent lamp replacement,” says James Cosgrove, energy solutions manager at Eaton’s Cooper Lighting and Safety business. “We recommended a much more energy-efficient, full LED solution, that consists of Litex LEDs with in-built controls in the higher bay areas and robust weather-proof Tufflite Plus LEDs.”
Typhoo specified three requirements from the lighting solution. First, it had to be environmentally-friendly with low energy usage, enabling Typhoo to meet its energy targets and reduce its carbon emissions.
Secondly, the lighting had to be easy to maintain; a fit-and-forget solution that would provide reliable, long-lasting light. And, finally, the lighting had to be bright and create a pleasant working environment for the company’s staff, helping to improve productivity.
Since trialling the energy efficient lighting system, under the Tesco Buying Club, Typhoo is proposing to replace all its lighting in a four-phase project over the next two years, enabling it to reduce its maintenance schedule, therefore saving costs associated with replacing lamps. Its staff will also be able to benefit from a better lighting environment and the tea company can reduce its carbon emissions and energy bill considerably.
The programme estimates that the lighting designs already accepted under the pilot will cut the carbon emissions at Typhoo’s single factory site by nearly 400 tonnes. Across all four participating supplier sites, which total approximately 53,000 m2, the energy reduction will be 750,000 kWh per year.
“We’re delighted to be helping the UK’s much-loved tea brand to meet its carbon targets as well as creating an aesthetically pleasing working environment and reducing maintenance,” says Cosgrove.
Based on excellent pilot results, Tesco has rolled out the programme, encouraging over 800 supplier companies from its Tesco Knowledge Hub to join in the collaborative scheme. The Buying Club will provide Knowledge Hub members with up to 25 per cent savings on capital expenditure for energy efficient lighting equipment and installations.
Keith Packer, CEO of Typhoo said: “Typhoo is fully committed to a 30 per cent reduction of our carbon emissions by 2020. Tesco’s Low Carbon and LED lighting Buying Club is supporting our sustainability plan, Greenprint for Good, ensuring a better environment now and for the future.”
Kené Umeasiegbu, Head of Climate Change and Sustainable Sourcing for Tesco said: “Collaboration is at the heart of the Tesco Knowledge Hub where our suppliers can share information, experience and best practice. The LED Buying Club is an exciting initiative that is run through the Knowledge Hub. It is tackling the barriers that our suppliers have told us they face in investing in energy saving measures – such as confusion over the range of providers, quality of products and price. It is encouraging to see that Typhoo are already benefiting from the initiative. Looking ahead, we will be exploring how this concept could be extended to other areas and cover a wider range of energy saving equipment."
“As a business that has dedicated itself to a low carbon future, we’re honoured to have been selected as the lighting supplier of choice to Tesco Buying Club members,” says John Robb, marketing director at Eaton’s Cooper Lighting and Safety business. “The pilot scheme we have participated in has been incredibly successful, identifying and achieving significant energy saving opportunities for all participating Buying Club members. In conjunction with 2degrees, the Carbon Trust and our installation partner Briggs & Forrester Special Projects, we look forward to continuing the roll-out, helping all Buying Club members identify and achieve significant and sustainable energy savings within their businesses.”
The Buying Club shows how the power of collaboration can remove barriers and concerns – such as acceptable payback periods, confusion over the huge range of low energy lighting providers, and quality and price.
Bruno Gardner, Director, Energy Efficiency Ventures at The Carbon Trust, said: “Energy efficient lighting is one of the best investments many businesses can make right now. In theory it should be an easy decision, but in practice that’s not always the case. By joining forces with Tesco and 2degrees, we were able to make the business case for energy efficient lighting even more compelling for Tesco’s suppliers – giving them the confidence they needed to invest in saving money and cutting carbon.”
“The Buying Club drastically reduces the barriers to energy efficiency lighting,” said Simon Brown, Managing Director at 2degrees, Enterprise Services. “Typhoo is the first of many Knowledge Hub members that will greatly reduce their lighting capital costs and their CO2 emissions through this innovative, practical collaboration.”
