The Planet Proposition sustainability initiative kicked off in 2013, with leadership teams in Armstrong sites in Canada, USA, China, India and the UK signing up to the Charter.
Since the introduction of the Energy Savings Dashboard, Armstrong Design Envelope HVAC solutions have saved customers more than 630 million kWh of energy, representing a carbon saving of more than 212,000 tonnes of CO2, and a cost saving of almost £40.5 million.
As part of Planet Proposition, Armstrong sites in Canada, USA, China and the UK are committed to reducing their own monthly electricity, gas and water consumption. A programme of energy monitoring has been in operation in all plants since 2014. This consists of data loggers on gas, electricity and water meters feeding through Armstrong’s Eco-Pulse platform into a central display that shows current and historical consumption. This enables sites to trend patterns of use and to identify and fix anomalies as they occur. A particular success story is a 40% reduction in water consumption at Armstrong’s facility in Halesowen, West Midlands, made possible by recycling the water used in the testing of packaged plant rooms, and via investment in a new system of bacterial filters in the gentlemen’s toilets which prevents repeated flushing of the urinals.
A wide range of community projects have been organised throughout Planet Proposition’s second year, encompassing fundraising for local good causes, employee health and wellbeing initiatives, links with education and local training outreach programmes, student placements, an employee sustainable travel scheme, tree planting schemes and the organisation of green awareness days. This summer has seen the final of Armstrong’s UK competition for schools, which is now in its third year. This year’s challenge saw 655 children from 26 local schools (in the Birmingham and Manchester areas near to Armstrong sites) enter the ‘Story to a Sustainable Future’ competition.
Steve Cooper, Armstrong Fluid Technology’s Director – Sustainable Design commented, “This year’s achievements, across all three strands of our Planet Proposition, have been really impressive, particularly when you consider the pressures that the economic climate places on both companies and individuals. Improving environmental performance has become more than an initiative for us over the last two years, and has become our new way of approaching business on an everyday basis.
“The prize-giving event for our annual School’s Competition provides a great focus for looking back at all that has been achieved over the past year and setting our sights on the future.”
