Background
Earsham Street Café is a family-run eatery in Suffolk run by Gemma Parker and partner Mike Hennessey, which operates within a beautiful Grade II listed building in the historic market town of Bungay. Gemma and Mike have been interested in learning more about potential energy efficiency technologies and were signposted to Groundwork for help.
Advice & Support
Richard Jenner, one of Groundwork’s Sustainability Consultants, worked with Mike to establish how energy is currently being used in the building. This allowed Richard to identify key opportunities to improve the carbon footprint of the café.
The support focused on Scope 1 & 2 emissions, which are the direct GHG (Greenhouse Gas Emissions) that occur from sources which are controlled or owned by an organisation, i.e. natural gas, and those GHGs which are indirectly associated with the purchase of electricity.
Gemma and Mike were keen to reduce their carbon footprint and use energy more efficiently in their restaurant, bakery and the building as a whole. They were particularly interested in is solar PV but were unsure if it would be suitable for their building and where to start first.
The Carbon Footprint & Decarbonisation Plan that Groundwork produced provided a clear view of the areas where the café’s current carbon footprint is most significant, and where there is potential to implement energy saving measures.
Estimated implementation costs were given, along with information about local grant funding and support tailored to their location, business, and the recommended solutions.
Carbon savings
If all of the key actions that the decarbonisation report highlighted are implemented at Earsham Street Café, the business could avoid over 3 tonnes of carbon emissions per year, which equates to over a 25% reduction in Earsham Street Café’s annual carbon footprint.
