Rochdale door manufacturer unlocks green success

Posted by on 2 Nov 2015

Crystal Doors, a manufacturer of vinyl wrapped doors and accessories, is progressing towards ISO 14001 certification and has installed a 980kW biomass boiler to heat its premises with on-site waste.

The company already has an environmental policy and manufactures its products from MDF using wood from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified sustainable forests. It also recycles over 99 per cent of its waste based on weight and 90 per cent of its lighting is LED or a high efficiency alternative.

Identifying opportunities

To cement its green credentials further, Crystal Doors is currently working towards the ISO 14001 Environmental Management standard and has been working with Greater Manchester’s Business Growth Hub to identify new opportunities for improvement.

An on-site resource efficiency review from one of the Hub’s Green Growth advisors, Laura Bramley, identified several key savings opportunities for the company.

Reactive power

After finding that Crystal Doors was paying a reactive power charge on its energy bill – a penalty added by energy suppliers for inefficient power consumption – the Green Growth service helped the company to install power factor correction equipment to increase the efficiency of its electricity supply.

As a result, Crystal Doors’ power factor has increased from 0.83 to 0.97, meaning that it will no longer receive a reactive charge on its bills – saving around £2,500 a year in energy costs.

Biomass boiler

Crystal Doors has also progressed its plans to install a 980kW Ran Heat biomass boiler on-site to provide heating and hot water. The boiler is completely fuelled by waste wood from on-site operations, therefore reducing waste disposal costs as well as protecting the company from increasing energy prices.

The installation is fitted with ceramic filters to help clean the air and is eligible for the Government’s Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) subsidy scheme. The total saving is expected to be approximately £80,000 a year with the RHI payments.

‘Continual improvement’

Other opportunities identified by the Green Growth service included lighting upgrades and fixing compressed air leaks. The company has also begun working with the Business Growth Hub’s sister organisation, The Skills Company, helping it to take on two new apprentices.

Richard Hagan, managing director at Crystal Doors (pictured), said: “We are delighted to have been crowned Rochdale Business of the Year for 2015 and part of that success is down to our efforts over the last few years to continually improve our efficiency and minimise our consumption of resources.

“Our new biomass boiler is a huge investment that shows that we are serious about reducing our costs and environmental impact, and we look forward to receiving more support from the Business Growth Hub in future to find new ways to improve.”