What the judges said: “I do believe their ‘Big Bang’ approach to energy management and savings is obviously an extremely effective and impressive initiative.”

And: “What particularly impressed me was their highly systematic approach, setting a clear benchmark on energy use, enabling regular monitoring/real-time analysis, establishing site specific targets and rolling out both behavioural change and technical fix solutions.”

And: “It’s a pragmatic approach to achieving energy efficiency across its sites – great savings achieved primarily through behaviour change.”

Gala Coral Group (GCG) has a portfolio of 160 bingo clubs, 30 casinos, 1,600 betting shops, two greyhound stadia and an annual electricity bill of £17million a year.
In 2008 GCG’s Gaming Division asked Cambridgeshire-based energy consultants UESL to assist with the implementation of an energy reduction action plan.
The resultant ‘Big Bang’ project has successfully reduced electricity consumption by 10m kWh within a year – equating to £1m and more than 10% of annual electricity consumption.
Most of the principles and techniques of energy management used in the Big Bang project are widely recognised as ‘common sense’ within the industry (even though the application is woefully rare.
UESL believe this is different from more ‘run-of-the-mill energy schemes’ for the following reasons:

·Big Bang targets are included among KPIs and directly affects staff bonuses.
·All 190 sites were surveyed during the Q1 of 2009 to assess available savings. The survey results were translated into site-specific annual targets.
·All bingo and casino sites were fitted with AMR metering enabling the collection, reporting and analysis of half-hourly consumption data.
·Two standard weekly reports are e-mailed throughout the year to senior management, regional managers and general managers.

Big Bang year two is broader and more ambitious:

·Site specific targets are ratcheted down and the scope of ‘Big Bang’ is extended to include gas consumption. AMR meters are being installed on gas supplies at casinos and bingo halls.
·’Big Bang’ is being rolled-out into 1,700 Coral betting shops. These are significantly smaller than the bingos and casinos but the energy spend is similar and the same behavioural change techniques will be adopted.
·UESL are adopting a similar methodology with some other energy management customers.
·The eye-catching success of the project in terms of proven financial and environmental savings has resulted in many other multi-site customers becoming interested in the scheme.

Finally, UESL and GCG are planning to further engage customers by sending Gala-branded mailings regarding home insulation opportunities and grant schemes run by government and utilities.

Shortlisted projects in no particular order:

PRUPIM’s sustainable shopping centres

BRP Group Paper Round’s Walking the Talk

Polythene UK’s 100% recycled bags, covers, tubes and much more

Metropolitan Police Service’s Mainstreaming Responsible Procurement

1E’s green IT and PC power management

Finning UK’s eco driving training

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