Sustainability is part of our culture
We actively promote and encourage sustainability with regards to reducing carbon emissions and installing renewable energy systems with longevity.
Always thinking greener
This ethos spreads through the wider business, including our sister company Nicholls Countryside Construction Ltd. We encourage the recycling of all materials where possible.
Our rural premises are carbon neutral — achieved with solar panels, a wind turbine and a ground source heat pump system providing all energy, heating and hot water for our offices. We've also installed a water borehole to reduce our impact on mains water supply.
We promote ground source and water source heat pump systems as some of the most efficient carbon saving solutions available.
Water borehole carbon savings
Installing a water borehole to reduce your mains water consumption by 20m³ per day can reduce your carbon footprint on water usage by up to 80%.
GSHP efficiency
A GSHP system can produce approximately 4kW of heat for every 1kW of electricity used (COP). Open-loop systems can be significantly more efficient still.
GSHP carbon savings report
21% of all UK carbon emissions come from energy supply. With plans to phase out new gas boilers by the mid-2030s, installing a heat pump is getting ahead of the curve.
For the average GSHP system installed by Nicholls, 6.3 tonnes of carbon is saved in the first year alone. After 20 years this rises to 155.5 tonnes — a 75% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions that equates to removing 75 cars from the road for a year.
From 2008 to 2020, an estimated 12,099 tonnes of carbon has been saved from all heat pumps worked on by Nicholls, after factoring in drilling fuel — displacing the equivalent of 5,828 cars.
With the electric grid decarbonising rapidly, your future emissions savings are likely to be far higher than these estimates. Switching to a green electricity tariff can significantly improve savings further.
Want to reduce your carbon footprint?
Talk to us about renewable heating and sustainable water solutions.