Snibor inspires Dorset businesses with its revolutionary eco-systems
Businesses from across the region are considering whether to introduce ground-breaking energy saving systems having seen them in action at Port Regis Preparatory School at Motcombe Park, Shaftesbury.
The school recently allowed 12 Beacon businesses to tour its new, eco-friendly academic centre and see its revolutionary natural ventilation and ground-source heating and cooling system. The centre houses 14 classrooms and will not need any conventional boilers, thus reducing fossil fuel consumption by 75 per cent. The installation is managed by a system that monitors and controls both temperature and carbon dioxide levels.
The centre is being built by Snibor, a leading Dorset builder and a Beacon company, which has worked closely with the architects, Philip Proctor Associates, and E-stack, a commercial offshoot of Cambridge University, to design the system.
The visit to the Port Regis Preparatory School was organised by Beacon South West, an initiative that is committed to sharing best practice and encouraging partnerships and business excellence and has proved a catalyst for other Beacons who are thinking about energy saving and low carbon solutions.
Philip Jacobs, director of Waterside Holiday Group Ltd, an operator of five star holiday parks in Weymouth and Beacon company since June 2005, was quick to sign up to the Beacon tour of Port Regis. Philip explains: "We had already been exploring ways in which Waterside could operate more efficiently and in an even more environmentally-friendly way and wanted to see what Snibor had done for the school. It was a worthwhile visit to see the heating systems in place and we will definitely be incorporating similar solutions into our facilities over the coming years. It was fascinating to see how easily this could be done and I am grateful to Beacon South West for enabling me to see how a local business is pioneering best practice in the county."
Sue Baker, director of Beacon South West, comments: "Snibor is a pioneer in the field of energy saving systems and so it is a privilege to have it within Beacon. Other Beacon companies have seized the opportunity to learn from Snibor and consider how they can spearhead investment in this area and set an example to other parts of the UK. This is what Beacon South West is all about and we hope that as a result of the visit, new partnerships will be forged and energy-saving systems implemented."
