It’s fair to say we were starting from a deficit position… Our main building is circa 1900, and whilst solid, had an ageing roof, century-old sash windows, and heating and lighting that wouldn’t have looked out of place on Antiques Roadshow… We’d worked with Julie’s Bicycle to benchmark performance and improve usage practices but we’d taken things as far as we could without investment in the building, and so the big work began.
Believe it or not, internet connectivity was a major barrier to environmental sustainability for us. The building, by a quirk of bad luck, had been excluded from fibre at the nearest cabinet. Our connection was slow, meaning we had to use an internal server for email and file handling, turned on 24/7. The opportunity arose, so we ditched OpenReach and joined Virgin Cable which allowed us to commit the server to retirement. A remote server is still a server, but many users accessing a single remote server is massively more efficient than each having a server of their own. Our electricity consumption dropped immediately.
Necessity dictated that next we deal with the roof as no matter what work we planned to do inside, without a modern roof, heat-energy was constantly being lost. We commissioned local firm Parkes Brothers to strengthen the roof structure, replace the slates with tiles and insulate the roof space. This allowed us to turn the heating down, reducing gas consumption.
In the next phase we replaced the windows with bespoke, double-glazed metal-frame equivalents, manufactured and fitted by local firm, Danum Windows. This was the tipping point, where the victorian era building transformed; retaining the original aesthetic externally but performing like a modern building inside.
Next we replaced our boiler with an efficient condensing system, also adding smart control to manage scheduling more efficiently. We commissioned local company, Jenkinson Electrical, to replace all internal lighting with LED, with automatic control in common areas. Our old computers were donated to the community for reuse, and replaced with energy-efficient new iMacs, slashing our computer-related power consumption.
In the recording studio, the heart of what we do as an organisation, we upgraded our mixing console to a Solid State Logic Origin, a world-class, energy-efficient desk which even features an auto power off to stand by to further reduce consumption. SSL even gave us a huge discount on the desk to support our work.
Outside, with the expertise of local company Branton Garden Centre, we created a green wall and added perimeter shrubs in planters. We also installed a bike rack to allow people to travel in by bike.
Over the last few months, we moved into the final (for now…) phase, replacing our air conditioning with more efficient units capable of heating and using smart control for scheduling. This means that in colder months, we can use these to heat more efficiently and so decommission the radiators in those rooms, creating more efficiencies by reducing the gas needed for heating. The units themselves look beautiful, with Japanese styled wooden casings, supplied and fitted by local firm Andrew’s Cooling.
The crowning glory, however, is the solar panel and battery storage system, installed just a few weeks ago. We capitalised on having a long apex roof facing in the right direction, creating a large array of solar panels. Even on a moderately sunny winter day, we are already in a position where the solar power generated not only meets our electricity consumption needs but is generating excess to export back to the grid.
We think we are in only a handful of largely environmentally sustainable music industry and learning facilities in the country. If anybody is aware of any similar facilities doing this kind of thing, please let us know who they are so we can make contact and share practice.
We’re proud to be doing our bit for the environment and as a social enterprise, we are directly supporting our mission by re-investing the savings we are now making back into our organisation to benefit of people participating in our activities.
Thank you to all the investors, funders, companies and people who have supported us along this journey. You’ve all helped us achieve something incredible.
(National Lottery Community Fund, Arts Council England, Solid State Logic, South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, Business Doncaster, Doncaster Council, Key Fund Investments, Social Investment Business, Julie’s Bicycle)
