Finishing - March-April 2022

22 COMPRESSED AIR
Top 5 sustainability tips
In industry in general there’s been a lot of
talk given to sustainability and carbon
reduction over the years, but it’s more often
than not been a welcome added benefit
coming from reducing costs, rather than the
goal itself. But times are changing. With
COP26 making headline news across the
world, climate change is being taken seriously.
In line with the UK’s landmark Net Zero
Strategy, from April 2022 new legislation will
require Britain’s largest businesses to disclose
climate-related financial information. The aim
is to get businesses to consider the risks and
opportunities they face as a result of climate
change and encourage them to set out their
emission reduction plans and sustainability
credentials. But companies of all sizes and
across all sectors are now examining their
own strategies to achieve net zero by the
earliest date possible.
For many businesses this will require
significant changes in the coming years, from
energy sources and usage, through to
production processes and equipment, and
beyond. Yet not everything needs to be a
giant leap to get where we need to be. If
anyone has ever shown even a passing
interest in cycling, they may have heard the
phrase ‘marginal gains’. Developed by
Performance Director of British Cycling from
2003, Dave Brailsford came up with the
theory that small yet significant improvements
can lead to substantial results. Up until that
point, the team had just one gold medal to
show in its 76-year history. Under Dave’s
guiding hand and adoption of the ‘marginal
gains’ theory, the British Olympic cycling team
won seven out of 10 gold track cycling medals
at the 2008 Olympics. The rest, as they say,
is history.
The marginal gains idea is not only
applicable to sport, but has made an
impression in industry and commerce.
At Brammer Buck & Hickman, we have
been looking at how marginal gains can be
applied across our customers’ businesses to
improve productivity and reduce costs. We
have applied this same theory to issues of
sustainability and one area where it has had
the most impact is in compressed air usage.
Generating compressed air is energy
intensive and, as a result, expensive. Up to
73% of the total cost of ownership of
compressed air installations can be attributed
to the cost of energy consumed by the
compressor and ancillary equipment over a
ten-year period. Is it possible to reduce this
energy usage without negatively affecting a
machine’s performance and without significant
expenditure? The answer is a resounding yes!
Here are our top five tips to reducing
energy consumption when it comes to
compressed air:
Tip 1: Choose the correct components
Switching to high flow couplings could
increase the productivity of air tools by some
Finishing - March/April 2022
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