We are passionate about our environment and are committed to continuously improving our environmental performance. We continue to integrate sustainable and ethical practice in our day-to-day activities and aim to be an economically, environmentally and socially responsible member of the local and global community.
Glasdon Group Limited have invested considerable resources into understanding the impact had on our environment and are accredited under ISO 14001, the internationally recognised Environmental Management System. Committed to reducing the company’s CO2 emissions, we have installed 367kWp of solar panels at Glasdon Group Limited, DJ Sidebottom / Glasdon Charitable Programme and Glasdon UK Limited buildings combined.
Glasdon House, home to both Glasdon Group Limited and the DJ Sidebottom / Glasdon Charitable Programme, underwent an energy renovation in January 2016. We installed a 30kWp solar PV system comprising of 120 roof solar panels and generating around 25,000 kWh of electricity per year. Since the installation of the system the amount of electricity the building has imported from the national grid has reduced by approximately 40%. The surplus renewable electricity produced by the solar panels is exported directly back into the national grid.
The Glasdon Innovation and Export Centre, which won a "Blackpool Civic Trust Design in Excellence Award", was built using high quality solar glazing and utilises highly efficient air source heat pumps for the heating and cooling of the building. Excess heat generated within the building is also used to heat the hot water supply. The building was constructed to be 30% more efficient than the current Air Leakage Standards and has also been tested and shown to have an energy rating that is 20% lower than the industry standard for office buildings.
In August 2018 we completed a 21,000ft² extension to Glasdon UK Limited Warehouse 3. Included on the new production and storage facility was a 157kWp solar PV system consisting of 584 solar panels each rated at 270kW.
In November 2019 a further 666 solar panels were installed onto the roof of Warehouse 3, controlled by the latest SolarEdge inverters. This gave us an additional 180kWp of solar panels and increased the total on the building to 337kWp.
Since solar panels were first installed at Glasdon, they have generated around 590,000kWh of electricity saving around 420 tonnes of CO² emissions being released into the environment. Every year the panels are generating around 320,000kWh of electricity saving about 226 tonnes of CO² emissions. Overall Glasdon use around 55% of the electricity produced from the solar PV systems and the other 45% is sent back into the national grid for others to use. Over the 25-year expected lifespan of the panels, we anticipate that they will cut CO² emissions by over 5000 tonnes.
The core goal of Glasdon Group Limited is to provide quality products which improve public spaces, enhance water and road safety and protect the environment. The products Glasdon produce help communities, businesses, schools and all other customers to practice sustainability.
Where possible, Glasdon products are designed using recycled and recyclable materials. Continual research into new sustainable technologies and manufacturing processes allow the company to achieve this. The vast majority of Glasdon products are proudly manufactured and assembled in the United Kingdom, helping to ensure our carbon footprint is kept to a minimum.
Glasdon invest in product innovation for the future. When designing new products, sustainability is considered a top priority throughout the product lifecycle.
Electrical products such as the illuminated bollards range all utilise reduced energy consumption from low wattage LEDS. These energy efficient LEDS represent a reduction in power consumption of 89% compared with fluorescent lamp technology. Longer service life and quality is also important, which is why the Glasdon street lighting range offers a minimum of 50,000 hours of light. This eliminates the need for frequent maintenance visits, resulting in energy and carbon savings for local councils and other customers.
The Glasdon company travel plan encourages employees to take part in video or telephone conferencing rather than visiting suppliers and customers. A cycle2work scheme where employees can receive a discount on bicycles also encourages employees to cycle to work.
We have also installed electric vehicle charging points outside Glasdon House where the DJ Sidebottom / Glasdon Charitable Programme is based, allowing charitable programme managers, employees and visitors to charge their cars whilst on site.
We continue to reduce our paper waste by emphasising the use of email rather than postal communication and we discourage printing. Our waste management process focuses on the system of ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ and our offices and company grounds utilise Glasdon recycling stations.
Throughout the supply chain, Glasdon emphasise the importance of purchasing goods which have minimal impact on natural resources and avoid exploitation of individuals, communities and organisations.