We have always been passionate about helping our clients reduce their energy bills by providing well-insulated homes and additional space. We recycle all the waste with a Reading waste provider that ethically sorts and recycles the majority of the waste products that go into our skips and we find ways with our trades partners to use the most up-to-date sustainable products and materials.
In 2024 we are planning to work towards taking our Earley office off the grid. Once we have achieved this goal, which will include replacing the boiler with an air source heat pump, installing solar panels and storage battery, adding water harvesting and also growing our own vegetables in the area in front of the office. We hope to be completely self-reliant.
As part of this initiative, we will be training some of the team in these new technologies to enable us to include these skill sets in-house and incorporate more of these opportunities for our clients. We are not looking for a return on investment for our own project, but many of our customers will need us to be able to demonstrate that opportunity.
We have also set ourselves the goal of going paperless in 2024, which will present some challenges as we provide our site managers with a set of plans for any extension or home renovation. We are working on ways to combat this, as well as moving our quotes and invoices over to Xero, which will mean our clients will receive the quotes and invoices digitally.
I was involved in programmes with our local councils back in the late 90s and early 2000’s trying to promote better insulation and working with other local businesses and suppliers to help the Thames Valley go Greener, so it is good to be able to start to make an impact on our on-business premises in the coming year. In 2019 Reading Council declared a climate crisis and we are now feeling many more of the effects of global warming today, only last weekend we were unable to get over the Showcase Roundabout due to flooding, and this brought the whole area to a standstill.
I am hoping that our planning phase will highlight many new initiatives for us to explore and I look forward to sharing our journey with you.