In its 2009 annual financial report, Big Yellow Self Storage announced that it has achieved a record 11.5 percent drop in total carbon emissions over the last year, greatly reducing its carbon footprint and contributing to a savings of £100,000. The drop coincides with the company’s commitment to reduce the effect of climate change, and demonstrates that energy-efficient lighting and renewable-energy generation can be beneficial for self-storage firms.
In the year ended March 31, 2009, Big Yellow stores in Balham, Barking, Fulham and Merton, England, generated renewable energy totaling 57,000 kWh, resulting in a carbon-emission savings of 24.5 tons of CO2 equivalent. The facilities’ solar-photovoltaic installations are approaching the 10 percent CO2-reduction targets set by local planning authorities. In addition, ground-source heat pumps have provided heating to the facility reception areas in the winter season.
The company’s green initiatives include eco-labeled packing materials, and Big Yellow as established a formal CSR (corporate social responsibility) structure to encourage best practices within the U.K. self-storage industry.
“We want to meet the self-storage needs of both private and business customers, while helping to create local employment and contribute to local community regeneration,” said Paul Donnelly, Big Yellow’s CSR manager. “Prevention of pollution and natural-resource waste, and providing capital for sustainable development that is economically viable are key goals.”
To keep the online community up to date on the development of its green initiatives, Big Yellow has launched a blog at www.bigyellow.co.uk/selfstorageblog.
Self-storage operator and developer Big Yellow was incorporated in 1998. It believes its CSR activity will create a more sustainable business, encourage customer loyalty and ultimately grow shareholder value.
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