Balfour Beatty - EcoNet

The Challenge 

The construction and infrastructure sectors typically use a significant amount of energy to deliver large-scale projects. Construction sites are normally powered through connections to the National Grid or through the use of diesel generators.

The Solution 

Eco-Lync is used to manage the power supply of temporary site accommodation and works by controlling and reducing the energy output from appliances used in cabins, such as kettles, fridges, heaters and lighting equipment. Working silently in the background using wireless IoT (Internet of Things) sensors, it automatically turns appliances and equipment off when not in active use. A transmitter monitors energy demand in real-time and a receiver sits inside the cabins to isolate circuits and turn off equipment as and when required.

This means sites become much more energy efficient as power consumption is regulated during times when demand is at its highest. Large, noisy diesel generators can be replaced with smaller ones or leaner grid supplies can be used to connect to electricity from renewable sources. The system shuts equipment off overnight, leading to significant cost and carbon savings, whilst reducing noise levels.

The Results

The Eco-Lync system was first used on Balfour Beatty’s East Leeds Orbital Project - a major highways contract to build 7km of outer ring roads around Leeds city centre to help ease congestion. Within the first six months of use, Eco-Lync resulted in an 83% reduction in carbon emissions across the site by running on a grid supply, actively managing electric vehicle charging and optimising the heating, hot water and external lighting running schedules.

Since the Leeds success, the system has been adopted on 41 other Balfour Beatty sites nationwide and project lifecycle emissions reduction will total 7,296 tonnes of CO₂. Other projects include the A51 Junction Improvement Scheme in Tarvin, near Chester, where a conventional generator set-up has been replaced with an Eco-Lync+ arrangement, with an unsynchronised pair of generators providing load on demand and saving 44% of fuel and carbon emissions in the process.

At the Shrewsbury North West Relief Road compound, an Offgrid Ingenium hybrid unit has been deployed. Eco-Lync is significantly reducing generator engine run hours and optimising fuel savings from the system. In the three weeks since the site mobilised, Balfour Beatty is yet to refill the fuel tank, but expect to save 68% in fuel and carbon over the course of the project.

At the East Rhyl Sea Defence Scheme, Eco-Lync has enabled the compound set-up to be grid-powered in a capacity constrained area, reducing its CO₂ emissions by 82% and avoiding 183 tonnes of CO₂ going into the atmosphere.

Balfour Beatty are so impressed with the Eco-Lync system that the company has committed to installing it on any new site in the UK with more than six cabins.

Interested in an Eco-Lync set up for your project