Antwerp World Diamond Centre saves 15% on energy bill
Public authorities at all levels are appealing to businesses and individuals to be more aware of their energy consumption in order to avoid any power shortages. In the context of the City of Antwerp’s project, “Energy for the heart of Antwerp”, the Antwerp World Diamond Centre is implementing several energy-saving measures. As a result of these measures, we will save 30,000 euro annually on our energy bill.
The City of Antwerp is promoting more sustainable work, and with CityLab2050 (Stadslab2050) has initiated a new pathway, together with several Antwerp companies and industries, whereby it will accelerate progress with regard to energy savings and a sustainable energy supply.
The Antwerp World Diamond Centre commissioned an energy audit from which it appeared that with better use of the existing installations, more than 15% savings could be achieved on the cost of cooling and heating. Together with the other users, these installations are responsible for 200,000 euro in electricity expenses annually. As a result of this initiative, the energy bill was reduced to 170,000 euro.
“We have made several adjustments in recent years, so that major investments were unnecessary,” says Ari Epstein. “By means of a number of simple interventions – such as a new scheme for cooling and heating, proper coordination of the new installations and automatically turning off the vending machines – we will already be much more energy efficient.”
Factor4, a company that specializes in supporting business that wish to make their building more energy efficient, conducted the energy audit and set up an action plan in consultation with the Antwerp World Diamond Centre. This action plan will run for a period of two years, enabling Factor4 to implement the measures and provide guarantees about the results achieved by means of an energy performance contract. If the costs incurred are not recuperated by the savings measures, the AWDC will be refunded a percentage of the costs. On the other hand, both parties agree to share any profit that is made.
