How tackling climate change is good for business

While doing the right thing can sometimes come at a cost, helping to tackle climate change can easily turn into a win-win situation.

Against a backdrop of constantly rising energy prices, using equipment that takes less energy to do the same job is not just environmentally friendly but is a clear winner in terms of cutting costs.

And with companies increasingly asked to prove their ‘green’ credentials by those further up the supply chain while also trying to save money and stay competitive, low energy is clearly the way forward when it comes to investing in restoration equipment.

Desiccant dehumidifier manufacturer Ecor Pro, which offers a range of specialist machines designed to tackle restoration projects, has long had a focus on making low-energy, eco-friendly products and now claims to have the lowest carbon footprint of any manufacturer.

The company has created a detailed application on its website that compares the performance and energy usage of its models against rival machines, as well as highlighting the amount of carbon dioxide and cash saved by using the Ecor Pro model over any given length of time.

It’s a bold set of claims, but one that managing director Martin Gray is happy to stand by. “We’ve done the calculations and we can prove that the Ecor Pro desiccant range of dehumidifiers has a lower energy cost in relation to the amount of water it removes from a damp or previously flooded building than any of our competitors.

“By investing in Ecor Pro equipment, restoration specialists and sub-contractors can highlight their green credentials while cutting costs and making themselves more competitive in the market place.”

Ecor Pro, meanwhile, is not content with reducing its carbon footprint but is going one step further by offsetting the carbon dioxide its manufacturing process adds to the environment. It is doing so not by simply contributing to one of the many overseas tree-planting projects out there, but by taking a more considered approach to the challenge.

The company is contributing to the maintenance of a forest in Wales, helping to keep trees alive and healthy and allowing them to continue to lock up carbon. “Planting trees is clearly a good thing, but as soon as they are chopped down, they lose the ability to store carbon, and if they are burnt they release it all to the atmosphere,” said Martin.

“By supporting a forest here in the UK we are able to keep trees alive and healthy, plant new ones if necessary and, more importantly, see the results of our contribution.”

As well as being more environmentally friendly and cost-efficient, Ecor Pro’s desiccant range is also more effective and user-friendly than refrigerant models of a similar size. Because the moisture in the air is evaporated away and out of the building, there are no tanks to empty and no chance of a leak or spill putting the water back on to the floor.

“Desiccant models also work effectively across a much wider temperature range, including in colder weather, when refrigerant models become increasingly ineffective,” said Martin. “Given that flooding is more likely to occur in the winter, it makes no sense to use a dehumidifier that can’t cope with the cold.”