PRESS RELEASE
14 September 2010
BSI Group has today announced that world leading air filtration manufacturer, Camfil Farr, has become the first company to join its recently launched Kitemark scheme for Energy Reduction Verification (ERV). The scheme independently verifies and certifies those organizations that achieve a reduction in carbon emissions through lower energy use.
With its UK headquarters in Haslingden, Lancashire, Camfil Farr has a reputation for promoting the efficient use of energy and has demonstrated that air filters directly influence energy consumption within the air handling units which heat, cool and clean the air in air conditioning systems. The company aims to educate property managers and owners about the substantial benefits of replacing existing filtration assets with low energy air filters.
As a manufacturing and service orientated business, Camfil Farr took the opportunity to examine its own current and future energy usage. In light of rising and unstable energy costs, increasing legislation and the government’s policy of driving energy consumption reduction, the company wanted to do as much as it could to demonstrate environmental responsibility while helping its employees, suppliers and customers to learn how to reduce energy and save money.
As part of this ongoing corporate energy reduction strategy, and in order to comply with the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) Energy Efficiency Scheme, Camfil Farr selected BSI as the certification body to work with to achieve its objectives.
BSI’s ERV Kitemark scheme is the first scheme to have been designed specifically with CRC requirements in mind and therefore requires that only greenhouse gas emissions from energy use are taken into account. This allows organizations to focus solely on their energy emissions rather than having carbon resulting from transport and other sources complicate any measurements.
The Environment Agency has also approved the scheme as a CRC Early Action Metric that organizations may adopt to demonstrate carbon reductions. In fact, it is the only scheme to be based on the implementation of an energy management system – BS EN16001 – which provides organizations with a framework for continual improvement and ongoing identification of energy reduction opportunities.
With the BSI Kitemark recognized and trusted by over 82 per cent of the UK population, the ERV Kitemark scheme provides a comprehensive alternative to both the Carbon Trust Standard and CEMAR schemes, which do not provide a BS EN 16001-based system around which long-term reductions can be identified, managed and realized.
After being approved for the ERV Kitemark pilot scheme Camfil Farr was audited by BSI to assess its use of energy. Although many of the energy reduction mechanisms required were already in place, mainly due to the company working to the environmental management system standard ISO 14001 with BSI for 10 years, the company reviewed certain aspects of its operations and corrected its existing data collection activities. It also undertook a pre-audit, and identified areas of non-conformance set out in the action plan and rectified them. The transition to the ERV Kitemark was smooth and was completed less than six months after joining the pilot scheme.
Commenting on the impact the ERV Kitemark scheme has made on the company, Camfil Farr’s managing director, Bill Wilkinson, said, ‘The ERV Kitemark is an externally recognized verification that we have saved over 14 per cent on energy in the current compliance year and also demonstrates to our stakeholders that we practice what we preach. BSI has put us on the map and verified our system in a very short space of time.’
For further information please email: testing.services@bsigroup.com.
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NOTES TO EDITORS
About BSI Group
BSI Group is a global independent business services organization that inspires confidence and delivers assurance to over 80,000 customers with standards-based solutions. Originating as the world’s first national standards body, BSI has over 2,500 staff operating in over 140 countries through more than 50 global offices. BSI’s key offerings are:
BSI and Kitemark® were both voted UK Business Superbrands in 2010, by independent brand experts.
For further information on Kitemark ERV please visit www.bsigroup.com/energyKitemark.
For further information on BSI Group please visit www.bsigroup.com.
For further information on Kitemark please visit www.bsigroup.com/kitemark.
Contact
Claire Lynam
Head of Communications & Alliances, BSI
Tel: +44 (0)8450 765600
claire.lynam@bsigroup.com
For press enquires please contact
Linda Tyrrell
PR Account Director
The Henley Group International
Tel: +44 (0)1491 570972
linda@henley.co.uk
