ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) is now firmly at the top of the agenda for every responsible service provider in FM. The aim is to see all parts of the supply chain aligned in making projects socially responsible and environmentally sustainable, whilst being financially robust.
The term ESG first gained popularity when it was used in a 2004 report entitled “Who Cares Wins”, which was a joint initiative between financial institutions at the invitation of the UN. In less than 20 years, the ESG movement has grown from a corporate social responsibility initiative launched by the United Nations into a global phenomenon representing more than (US) $30 trillion in assets under management.
Premier Technical Services Group Ltd (PTSG) has been committed to the practices and principles of ESG before it became part of our everyday language of the business world. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has been rooted in PTSG’s business model from day one and in the ordinary course of business, its engineers operate in ways that enhance society and the environment – not because of government edicts but because it is the right thing to do.
In more recent years, as ESG has become a mandatory part of every business’s strategy, PTSG has ensured that each area of its business is not only familiar with the regulatory and reporting requirements and obligations of its staff, but makes them a priority in its business strategy going forward. The aim is to achieve net zero as a Group long before the government mandate of 2050.
Innovation for sustainability
In 2022, PTSG began working with Change Grow Live (CGL) to provide water hygiene and treatment services (via constituent company TEC). CGL is the charity that exists for people who need help with challenges including drugs and alcohol, trouble with housing, domestic abuse and mental and physical wellbeing.
Immediately PTSG was faced with a challenge: has multiple small sites spread nationwide, each requiring weekly/fortnightly/monthly flushing and samples. Managing Legionella services and water hygiene services is costly based on:
- water costs – having to run outlets until they reach temperature, wasting water;
- energy costs – having to use gas to heat the water;
- engineer visits – L8 testing, travel time and fuel costs; and
- all activities resulting in a heavy carbon footprint.
Working collaboratively, PTSG and CGL quickly arrived at a solution to overcome this challenge: remote temperature monitoring. This system combines hardware and software to perform automatic temperature auditing and data logging remotely.
This sustainable technology can be attached to CGL’s assets, allowing PTSG to take the temperatures of the assets at any time. The remote temperature monitoring technology is attached to CGL’s assets and provides continual access to real time temperature monitoring (via a dashboard), giving us an accurate take on how each asset is performing and enabling effective recommendations to be made based upon these results.
Remote temperature monitoring puts PTSG in the beneficial position of no longer needing to send an engineer to site, saving time and money. This in turn helps to remove access issues because, with site visits no longer needed, PTSG will never interrupt CGL’s operations to complete necessary works.
A further key benefit is that by using remote sensors for continual temperature monitoring 24/7, it means that PTSG’s engineers don’t have to run the clients’ taps for a certain amount of time to get the water up to temperature, as would be the case if they visited each site. This saves a substantial amount of water and energy costs, which is a huge benefit for the client.
How does remote temperature monitoring work?
- Discreet sensors (with a 7–10-year battery life) are installed on the pipework.
- Every 5 seconds, the sensors send data to a cloud connector in the building.
- That cloud connector then sends data via secure cellular networks.
- All the temperature monitoring data can be accessed and viewed on a mobile or computer, giving you very powerful insights.
- Any alerts or one-click reports are delivered to our team via SMS or email alerts.
The calculated cost savings, CO2 savings and water savings up to now are as follows:
Net zero certification
PTSG, via constituent company Trinity Fire & Security (Trinity), has been providing fire and life safety systems at Heathrow Airport since 2011. It is Trinity’s largest account.
PTSG has extensive knowledge of fire, life safety and security systems and offers a full range of services for clients in a large number of industry sectors. Its Fire Solutions division, whose Heathrow office is headed up by Trinity’s Managing Director Adam Davies, started from scratch, putting together and mobilising a team of over 50 people, from senior project managers to administrators, to deliver life safety systems that have transformed the airport’s operations in this area across Terminals 1, 2 and 3, Heathrow Express Rail Network, Airside and Landside Properties.
Following the work of Trinity’s net zero strategy team, its Heathrow operation now meets the requirements of main contractor MACE, certifying it as NET ZERO.
PTSG strove to offset the carbon footprint of its Heathrow operations for the calendar year 2022. Its Heathrow carbon emissions data are being collated and verified for the calendar year 2023, and PTSG will seek to offset its 2023 emissions for this period to maintain the net zero status of this part of its business. This aligns with MACE’s desire for PTSG and all other subcontractors on site at Heathrow to be net zero by 2026 at the latest. PTSG is leading the way by having already achieved net zero status.