Relocating its head office to a modern, energy-efficient building meant renewable energy company Good Energy reduced its carbon emissions by a third in just one year.
The Chippenham-headquartered firm said by moving to the new office in the town, which is powered by renewable electricity and green gas had been the biggest contributor in cutting emissions.
As a result, the firm was last year responsible for a total of 102.9 tonnes of cardon dioxide, compared to 158.6 tonnes in 2021.
It also made a permanent switch to hybrid-working model, which allows its 350 staff to work from home for part of the week.
This has cut commuting emissions by more than 80% from 427 tonnes in 2018 to 74.5 tonnes in last year.
In addition, its use public transport for business travel has almost doubled from 2019 to 2022 – from 40% to 76% – triggering a reduction in carbon emissions from 12.5 tonnes to 3.3 tonnes.
Good Energy now plans to make even more progress as part of its commitment to the Science Based Targets initiative, a global body enabling businesses to set emissions reductions targets in line with the latest climate science.
The pledge commits the firm to the ambitious goal of a 50% reduction in emissions by 2030.
Good Energy sources its power from a network of more than 1,700 independent generators across the UK, including solar farms, wind farms and hydroelectric projects – so allowing it to match customers with 100% renewable electricity.
It also recently expanded into the installation of heat pumps and solar panels through two strategic acquisitions.
The firm was launched on the outskirts of Chippenham more than 20 years ago with a mission to power a cleaner, greener world and make it simple to generate, share, store, use and travel by clean power.
It later moved into offices close to the town’s Monkton Park.
Today it is one of the UK’s largest renewable energy suppliers with more than 200,000 customers.
However, it believes it needs to set a positive example by drastically reducing its own impact on the environment.
Good Energy sustainability and facilities manager Cherish Jackson, pictured above in the firm’s HQ in front of artist Luke Jerram’s Gaia Earth artwork, said: “We volunteered to sign up to Science Based Targets because we wanted to set ambitious goals which would accelerate the pace of change.
“We’re now taking a closer look at our supply chains and including working from home in our calculations, and some emissions will increase this year due to the expansion into heat pumps and solar, but we’ve already made impressive progress thanks to the enthusiastic support of our staff.
“We are passionate about our planet and want to create a cleaner, greener future for all.
The firm relocated the short distance from its previous offices to a floor in the Wiltshire Council offices just over two years ago.
Photo of Cherish Jackson by Justin Guy
