RBS search for energy saving solutions leads to trial of simple radiator heating controller
Green SME news – by Louise Bateman
14th November 2014
An eight-month search by the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) to find and showcase innovative energy saving solutions invented by UK and international small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has led the bank to trial a simple, radiator heating control device in its buildings.
The eTRV+, designed by Luton-based SME Chalmor, “automatically” only heats rooms in use, promising to slash energy costs by up to 30 per cent, the company said. It is one of 16 SME winners announced this week in the ‘RBS Innovation Gateway’ competition. Other winners include a water-saving toilet system and a heat map technology for cutting energy in datacentres.
RBS: green “laboratory”
As part of the competition, RBS said it would be offering grants of up to £3000 to winning ideas.
Chalmor
“All we know is that they’re interested in rolling out the winning schemes across their 2,500 buildings. This includes the UK and other countries,” a spokesperson told GreenWise.
“We are delighted to have been chosen by RBS,” Steven Henry, managing director of Chalmor added. “[We] look forward to the next steps, trialling with the RBS estate and their partners.”
In all, the Innovation Gateway received 140 UK and international submissions, which were whittled down to a shortlist of 26. The finalists were unveiled in London on November 10.
Other winners
RBS: green “laboratory”
The ‘RBS Innovation Gateway’ was launched last March in a bid to find ways of improving resource efficiency across the banks estate of 2,500 buildings at the same time as supporting ‘green’ innovators. At the time, RBS deputy chief executive Chris Sullivan, said it would enable innovators to use the bank’s premises “as a laboratory” and its commercial expertise “to take those propositions and make them marketable.”
As part of the competition, RBS said it would be offering grants of up to £3000 to winning ideas.
Chalmor
Chalmor, a 30 year-old company, said it s technology was “suitable for any building with a radiator system”, making eTRV+ “an ideal choice” for RBS’s “broad and varied estate”. However, it is not yet clear where or when the new technology will be trialled by RBS.
“All we know is that they’re interested in rolling out the winning schemes across their 2,500 buildings. This includes the UK and other countries,” a spokesperson told GreenWise.
“We are delighted to have been chosen by RBS,” Steven Henry, managing director of Chalmor added. “[We] look forward to the next steps, trialling with the RBS estate and their partners.”
In all, the Innovation Gateway received 140 UK and international submissions, which were whittled down to a shortlist of 26. The finalists were unveiled in London on November 10.
Other winners
Other winners included Cambridge-based start-up Alquist, which has developed a laser-powered fibre-sensing technology that eliminates server room hotspots using high definition heat-maps, and Propelair, which has devised an innovative toilet system that uses an innovative air-based operating principle to cut down water use to 1.5 litres per flush, compared with the UK average of nine litres. Propelair has just received £2.6 million of equity investment from leading British fund manager Neil Woodford.
Those SMEs that received grant funding to develop their concepts further included The Solar Cloth Co, which has designed solar power coverings for non-load bearing roofs and car parking, and Reduse, which is behind an innovative technology that removes print from office paper using laser so that it can be reused several times before it gets recycled.
Those SMEs that received grant funding to develop their concepts further included The Solar Cloth Co, which has designed solar power coverings for non-load bearing roofs and car parking, and Reduse, which is behind an innovative technology that removes print from office paper using laser so that it can be reused several times before it gets recycled.
The judging panel for the Innovation Gateway competition included sustainability consultant John Elkington, Martin Chilcott, chief executive of 2degrees, Stephen Howard managing director of Business in the Community, BBC presenter Maggie Philbin, and Caroline Rainbird, RBS director of Corporate Services.
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