Norwich Union reduces energy consumption & CO2 by up to 17%
A pilot of Sabien’s M2G technology was conducted at 3 Norwich Union (an AVIVA company) sites. AVIVA is the world’s fifth-largest insurance group and the largest in the UK, with 57,000 employees serving around 45 million customers worldwide.
Sabien Technology focuses on helping both Private and Public sector organisations reduce their carbon emissions and energy consumption by up to 35%.
Sabien and M2G delivered
During the pilot, gas consumption and associated carbon emissions were reduced by between 14% and 17%. Payback ranged from 41 to 62 weeks, with annual CO2 savings of 76 tonnes.
Norwich Union commented: “AVIVA has a well established CSR Policy, and is committed to reducing its impact on the environment. As part of this, Norwich Union sets targets each year to reduce its carbon footprint.
The reductions achieved by M2G in a wide range of organisations were impressive and we wanted to confirm these ourselves with a pilot scheme managed by Sabien at a number of our sites. Sabien were open and easy to work with, and together with the impressive savings achieved made a strong case to adopt M2G across the Norwich Union estate.”
What is M2G?
The M2G is an intelligent boiler load optimisation controller that improves the efficiency of each individual boiler. A unit, which can be retro-fitted to each boiler, monitors the temperature of the water in the flow and return every 10 seconds and the information is recorded with heat transfer rates at the first and second stage firings.
When a loading demand is made, the system automatically checks the latest data it has stored and decides whether it is more economical to retain first stage firing or to introduce a second stage firing. The result can be a substantial fuel reduction during less demanding situations while ensuring maximum capacity during heavy load periods.
Pilot Methodology
The test conditions and methodology were agreed with Norwich Union. The 3 sites were chosen by the client and represented a cross-section of the Norwich Union building portfolio. The pilot was conducted over a period of 30 days.
M2G can be configured to operate in either ‘Save’ (i.e. days when the M2G is operational and makes savings) and ‘Bypass’ (i.e. days when the M2G is bypassed and makes no savings) mode. A comparison of the boiler firing periods was made between Save and Bypass days.
Variations in outside temperature were accommodated using industry standard degree day calculations. Ambient room and hot water temperatures were unaffected during the pilot period. Sabien managed the pilot from start to finish, working closely with onsite engineers and Norwich Union Management.
Integrates with Building Management Systems
The majority of M2G installations are in buildings which have sophisticated Building Management Systems already in place. The M2G integrated seamlessly with the existing Building Management Systems across the 3 sites.
Payback in under 1 year
During the pilot gas consumption and carbon emissions were reduced by an average of 15%. This equates to an average payback period of 50 weeks and annual CO2 savings of 76 tonnes.