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As part of an extensive refurbishment of its Leatherhead headquarters building in Surrey, the Wates Group opted to replace its current hand drying system with the EcoCurve 550A. By switching to this smart technology, SAVORTEX estimates that the company will make significant cost and energy savings, including 77.10 tonnes of CO2, totalling £14,630 over a seven-year period.
The Client
The Wates Group is one of the largest privately-owned construction, development and property services companies in the UK. With a strong commitment to corporate social responsibility and sustainability, the company is keen to ensure that its buildings leave a positive legacy.
As a result, Wates is constantly on the look-out for innovative products that can not only help improve its carbon footprint but also provide a cost effective and sustainable solution for its clients.
The company has a dedicated team, Wates Sustainable Technology Services, which supports customers and partners of the Wates Group in achieving their sustainability goals by helping to identify, select and implement cost-effective proven sustainable technologies that comply with regulations, lower carbon emissions, improve building performance and reduce operational costs.
The Install
In 2016, Wates refurbished its headquarters in Leatherhead, Surrey. This building houses more than 350 employees so a key focus of the redevelopment was to improve the building’s sustainability and efficiency.
In order to do this, Wates introduced a number of innovative products to help save water and energy usage. This included Waterblade, a device that can be fitted to the end of taps to reduce water usage by 60%. Propelair, a high-performance toilet that uses 84% less water, was also installed as part of the upgrade alongside a replacement of the company’s Mitsubishi Jet 1200W hand dryers with the EcoCurve 550A from SAVORTEX.
Wates chose to trial the 550A due to the substantial energy savings the solution provides. The EcoCurve 550A uses a patented energy recovery and curved air delivery technology, which results in a 66% energy saving compared to any other dryer on the market, and as a result, delivers considerable carbon and cost savings.
The Results
The existing dryers had a power rating of 1200 watts, over double that of the EcoCurve range. As a result, the EcoCurve dryer will deliver a saving of 77.10 tonnes of CO2 and an energy saving of £14,630 over the seven-year period. In addition, due to an industry leading warranty of 7-years, the need to replace parts was also reduced by a factor of over two.
Since the redevelopment, Wates has made an overall saving of 20% on its energy consumption by working with sustainable technology suppliers.
Dr. Zainab Dangana, Wates Sustainable Technology Services Manager, said: “Wates is committed to the long-term future of the built environment. Businesses are facing increasing pressures to improve their carbon footprint and, as a result, are looking for solutions that can save both energy and operating costs.
“It was important to us that our newly refurbished Leatherhead headquarters building reflected our company ethos and we were extremely impressed with the SAVORTEX EcoCurve range and the savings it can deliver.”
Syed Ahmed, CEO at SAVORTEX, said: “This partnership with Wates is just one example of how our hand dryers can help businesses improve efficiencies and decrease costs. Our hand dryers have been designed to transform the washroom market by delivering unrivalled levels of sustainability, energy and operational resource savings.”
