Page 3 - W M Donald Newsletter - Edition Eleven

W M Donald achieves Carbon Neutral status
W M Donald has achieved Carbon Neutral status. It is believed that W M Donald may be the first major civil engineering contractor in the UK to reach this target but, as there is currently no register of Carbon Neutral companies, it is impossible to verify this.
W M Donald engaged Aberdeen-based consultants, Carbon- Zero, to review W M Donald’s processes and practices and highlight ways of reducing its impact on the environment.
Central to achieving Carbon Neutral status was the move into the purpose-built W M Donald head office at Netherley. The building was constructed to the best practice standards for environmental performance through design, specification, construction and operation (BREEAM) and has many low energy elements including air source heat pumps for heating and hot water, 100 kW of photovoltaic panels to offset electrical demand from the grid and, triple glazed windows.
Ewan Riddoch, Managing Director, commented:
‘Everyone from Directors to site teams is extremely proud of our carbon neutral status. It has been brilliant to see our whole team get behind the process of achieving this standard.’
Current environmental initiatives being rolled out by W M Donald include the installation of four 21kW electric car charging points, investment in two electric pool cars, and the purchasing of green electricity units:
‘We would love to use electric vehicles on site. However, the power, range and battery life of the first generation of electric dumpers and excavators makes them wholly unsuitable to heavy construction duties.’
W M Donald continues to work with Carbon-Zero to identify further environmental initiatives.
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