HSBC is halving carbon emissions from heating and cooling in its branches and plans to invest up to £16m to replace equipment in up to 800 branches nationwide.
Based upon the branches completed during 2007, this could equate to CO2 reductions of 10,200 tonnes – the equivalent of driving an average family car 41,000,000 miles – and operational cost savings of £2.2m per annum.

As part of its work to reduce energy consumption and carbon production, HSBC has worked in partnership with environmental control manufacturer Mitsubishi Electric to review the way it heats and cools its branches and develop more sustainable and cost effective solutions that maximise energy efficiency without compromising performance.

Current predictions indicate expected CO2 savings of between 46% to 52% at branches in Fleet Street, London; in Market Street, Cinderford; and in Carlton Street, Castleford.

The review focuses on three key activities: equipment replacement, heat recovery and advanced control systems. Firstly, HSBC identified sites where it was more cost effective and energy efficient to install new equipment rather than to maintain existing systems.

Analysis, based on a nine-hour working day, of three typical HSBC properties where equipment has been upgraded has revealed the following:

Fleet Street, London • Previously cost £41.08 per day to run and produced 187.31kg of CO2 • Now costs £19.43 per day to run and produces 88.59kg of CO2 per day • Representing a 52.71% saving in CO2 and a cost reduction of £21.65

Market Street, Cinderford • Previously cost £12.22 per day to run and produced 50.40kg of CO2 • Now costs £5.99 per day to run and produces 24.71kg of CO2 per day • Representing a 50.97% saving in CO2 and a cost reduction of £6.23

Carlton Street, Castleford • Previously cost £13.50 per day to run and produced 61.57kg of CO2 • Now costs £6.67 per day to run and produces 30.39kg of CO2 per day • Representing a 50.63% saving in CO2 and a cost reduction of £6.83

By replacing equipment that was more than five years old with modern systems capable of adapting their power consumption to match the load of heating or cooling required by the branch at any given moment, HSBC has made significant improvements in terms of energy efficiency.

In addition to the environmental benefits, the newly installed systems have demonstrated substantial reductions in terms of operational costs.

The Mitsubishi Electric equipment is designed to transfer previously wasted energy around a building, taking excess heat from a hot spot, a banking hall for example, and using it to minimise the amount of energy needed to heat other areas, such as the back office area. In addition to installing modern ac systems, the partnership has further increased energy efficiency at the branches by introducing Mitsubishi Electric’s Lossnay heat recovery equipment, which minimises energy consumption and introduces fresh air into the building. Lossnay uses a system to capture energy from expelled air and transfer it to the fresh incoming air. This means the occupants benefit from a fresh environment whilst the building needs to use less energy to match the temperatures of the incoming air with the indoor.

The third major development to emerge from the partnership between the two companies is the greater use of control systems. As a result, Mitsubishi Electric is using its web-based G50 controller to control single and multiple unit installations. Being web-based, the G50 controller allows HSBC to monitor and control each individual ac unit once connected to the HSBC or other BMS network device. This provides the company with the capability to analyse the energy consumption of each branch to highlight peaks in consumption and seek ways to reduce overall energy demand.

Part of the arrangement with HSBC also includes a commitment to set aside a percentage of all expenditure on the replacement programme for the training of the accredited partners who install and maintain the ac. HSBC, which became the first big bank to go ‘carbon neutral’, in 2005, last year achieved an overall rating of ‘Excellent’ for its hq building at 8 Canada Square, London from the BRE.

Mitsubishi Electric 01707 282880