Energy Usage
ABOUT OUR ENERGY MANAGEMENT
Since 1 April 2019, we have purchased all of our electricity from renewable sources. Dunelm manages energy usage and energy reduction initiatives on a site-by-site basis. ‘Smart’ meters are fitted to electricity and gas supplies and energy consumption is measured frequently with analytics tools available to help identify issues and opportunities to reduce usage. Building Management Systems (BMS), designed to optimise energy use and reduce accidental usage through systemised cut-offs, are fitted as standard across our estate.
Energy consumption is monitored by our Energy Manager in conjunction with a specialist energy partner. We target underperforming sites alongside the implementation of various energy reduction initiatives to maximise energy efficiency, while maintaining a comfortable trading environment for our customers and colleagues.
Electricity forms the majority of our energy usage and carbon emissions. Over the past year we have continued to invest in more energy-efficient LED lighting, and over 98% of our estate (179 out of 183 sites) now have this installed. During the year we completed LED upgrades at our Crewe, Newport, Rugby, Scunthorpe, Barnsley, Rustington, Hull and Shrewsbury stores and across our regional home delivery depots.
UPDATE ON ACTIVITIES 2019/20
Raise awareness of good energy management across the business through internal communications.
Our Energy Manager attended store area meetings resulting in positive engagement with store and area managers, and we will continue to develop this. We were unable to attend all area meetings due to timing clashes and the restrictions of Covid-19.
Our specialist partner completed an assessment under phase 2 of the Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS). The majority of the recommendations were ‘housekeeping’ improvements: all of them have been reviewed and are being actioned where appropriate. Others have been fed into the work being carried out by Carbon Trust on our behalf.
Test new technology that will further improve our energy performance by remotely detecting wasted or excessive energy usage.
We had mixed results. A trial to adjust the hours of operation of our heating and cooling in stores made the temperature uncomfortable for our colleagues and customers. A review by our specialist partner of how stores optimised energy usage did not identify any opportunities for improvement. However, we completed upgrades of external sensors during the year to enable us to make accurate LUX readings and so reduce the time when lights are switched on.
PERFORMANCE AGAINST TARGETS
% REDUCTION IN LIKE-FOR-LIKE ELECTRICITY CONSUMPTION %
72%
Why this measure is important
- Electricity consumption forms the largest part of the carbon emissions from our own operations.
2019/20 performance
- In 2020 we reduced like-for-like electricity consumption by 12.8% (2019: 8.2%) against a target reduction of 5%. This was favourably impacted by the closure of our stores from the end of March until mid-May.
Before our stores closed in March we had achieved a like-for-like electricity reduction of 2.4% against FY19. This was lower than our 5% target, as we chose to heat our stores during extended periods of working in November 2019 and February 2020 to keep our colleagues warm. We also responded to a request from the National Colleague Voice to keep external lighting on later in the evening during the winter to improve the safety of colleagues who leave the building late at night.
WHAT'S NEXT FOR 2020/21
- Target a 3% reduction in electricity usage v FY19.
- Participate in the work with Carbon Trust to identify further opportunities to reduce energy usage.