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TWFRS and the Environment

Green Griffin

Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service (TWFRS) has launched a two year awareness campaign aimed at encouraging staff to change their behaviour and take an active part in helping the Service reduce its carbon footprint by 22% by March 31st 2015.

 

The campaign includes a broad mix of communications activities including posters, display stands, a dedicated intranet section, Carbon Champions, a variety of themed activities and much more! 

 

Climate Change 

As we are often the first emergency service to arrive at an incident, equipment is available on all Emergency Response Vehicles (ERV) to initially contain hazardous pollutants, until removed by a specialist contractor.

 

Provision has also been enhanced by heavy duty High Volume Pumps, and a specialist dedicated Hazardous Detection Identification and Monitoring team with equipment.

 

The service aims to reduce energy consumption and CO2 emissions through a range of actions identified through the Carbon Planning activity undertaken with the Carbon Trust, Green Fleet review and the Environment Steering Group.  

 

Energy consumption, procurement policy, building design, fleet movement, recycling, along with numerous other practices and policies will all contribute to a reduction in our carbon footprint.

 

We will therefore develop our current activities, increase environmental awareness and embed an

Environment Strategy within our service. This will ensure we can fulfil our current needs without

compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own.

Progress to date 

The Authority has delivered a range of initiatives to reduce negative environmental impact since the first commitment to environmental responsibility and sustainability in 1997. These include:

 

  • Installation of double glazing and better insulation; use of low sulphur fuels by the vehicle fleet 

  • Station Energy efficiency - trial at two almost identical fire stations (North Tyneside South and Newcastle North) where movement sensors for lighting and urinal flushing were introduced at one and a less intensive programme of installing energy efficient lighting at the other. This led to reductions in energy consumption of 34% and 22% resulting in programmed installation at other fire stations.

  •  Achievement of Energy Efficiency accreditation from the National Energy Foundation

  • Performance Pact ‘Environmental Awareness’ programme to all stations and staff. Working with the Energy Saving Trust awareness training was delivered including showing of the Al Gore film An Inconvenient Truth

  • Commitment to procuring and installation of a Building Energy Management System.

  • Inclusion of sustainability within design criteria of new Community Fire Stations under the Authority’s two PFI schemes. BREEAM Very Good rating achieved on the most recent design for the North Tyneside East station.

  • Designation of all new fire stations as Community Fire Stations with facilities for community use, supporting the use of shared buildings. Use of these has been significant with, for example, footfall of average 793 over the three month period December 08 to December 09

  • Procurement of 23 appliances (21 water tenders and 2 operational support units) over the next 3 years includes a the most recent design specification for fuel efficient engines

  • Changes to our foam type usage to be more environmental friendly.

  • Working with risk sites and partners to produce an ‘oil pollution plan’

  • Liaison with the Environment Agency to update our working arrangements and Memorandum of Understanding following the recent floods.

  • Modifying tactics to reduce the amount of water used during the firefighting process, for example, aggressive positive pressure ventilation.

  • Adopting a ‘Call Challenge’ process to reduce the number of unnecessary journeys. 

  • Carbon Management Programme – In partnership with other regional FRS’s and the Carbon Trust a detailed carbon study and Carbon Management Plan was produced to help inform this environment strategy.

  • Green Fleet Review – Working with the Energy Saving Trust on a green fleet review was produced to inform future planning. The fleet review illustrates the positive impact of earlier pool fleet procurement decisions in that “the average CO2 for the pool fleet is significantly lower than the national average” (129g/km against a national average of 167.2g/km) although there is room for further improvement

External links 

 

Watch Manager Kevin Burns, Group Manager Steve Anderson, Nicky Boreham - John N Dunn Group Ltd, and Estates Officer (TWFRS) David Robertson

Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service has installed its first solar panel system which will generate electricity.  Twenty four solar photovoltaic (PV) panels have been installed on one of the Service’s fire stations; Newcastle North Community Fire Station in Gosforth. The station was chosen due to its south facing roof.

 

The solar panels worth approximately £19,000 were supplied and funded by the North East Improvement Efficiency Partnership (NEIEP), one of nine Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships.

 

PV panels produce electricity during daylight hours which means that Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service will not need to use as much electricity from the national grid. The installation of the PV panels will save Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service in the region of £2,000 per annum equating to around 9% of the annual energy bill for the station.  They will need very little maintenance, they are silent and will not emit any green house gases. By installing solar PV, the Service will reduce its carbon emissions and assist achieving its goal of reducing its carbon footprint.

 

Station Manager Martin McConnell, Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service said:”This is a fantastic opportunity for us to reduce our carbon footprint and to demonstrate the Service’s commitment to reducing the amount of energy we use. As a public service, it is vitally important that we play our part in implementing real and effective measures to cut our operating costs, and by contributing to the production of our own energy, we are ideally placed as a model for others to follow suit. The solar panels provide visible evidence of the drive to enforce our carbon emissions reduction strategy.”