COP26: How a firm's green plans got greener

Engineers suggested ways the Solihull HQ could be greener and save money

It's a familiar story: Midlands firm decides to build new headquarters, and architects and heating engineers promise it will be state-of-the-art and extremely green.

But when ZF Group (or as it used to be called, Lucas) started designing its new HQ in Solihull, the many engineers it employed took a very active interest in the plans for the new building.

And before you knew it, it was analysing, testing and improving on the suggestions of the professional designers.

Usually, ZF designs things like steering systems or autonomous vehicles.

But it was more than happy to approach Russ Hines, who was project-managing the new building, and suggest all sorts of ways the HQ could be greener and save money. Engineers are naturally "inquisitive", Russ says.

Russ Hines says engineers are naturally "inquisitive"

One of those engineers was Simon Redfearn. He told me he was more usually found looking at issues around vibration in vehicles.

But for the new building, he became very interested in ventilation.

He found cheap air monitors that detected how many people were on a floor and adjusted the air flow accordingly, saving energy and cash. A local firm was also found to build pumps on the roof that recovered 95% of the heat from air leaving the building.

For the boss Alastair McQueen there was clearly a sense of pride in how his workforce had examined every potential idea to make the building as environmentally friendly as possible - and all for the same budget as the original plans. Plus the improved design saves more than £400,000 a year in running costs.

Alastair McQueen says the design saves more than £400,000 a year in running costs.

Working within the budget meant while the team did put solar panels on the roof, it's a fairly modest number.

Instead of splashing money on a big install, they looked for green ideas that had the most bang for their buck and found better, greener options elsewhere.

The engineers even introduced portion control in the staff restaurant to cut down on food waste. And the end result is a new company HQ that should achieve net zero carbon emissions next year.

And while not every company has a staff made of "inquisitive" engineers, ZF is keen to tell other Midlands firms how it achieved all this so others can help save the planet and improve the bottom line too.

Among the features are solar panels on the building's roof