Hull holiday home manufacturer Willerby is introducing a groundbreaking green standard specification - cutting carbon emissions and making its range more energy efficient.
Billed as a first for the sector, the new GreEN Standard will apply to virtually all static caravans built from next month. Those leading the 1,100-strong team in the city have described it as the most significant innovation since double glazing and central heating was introduced.
Research has found energy consumption will be reduced by up to 28 per cent, with the standards set to be adopted in the design of all future models. It comes after a strong year for the £130 million turnover business, which has an order book stretching towards 2025.
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Willerby chief executive Peter Munk said: “Our new GreEN standard is a hugely significant development in our ongoing commitment to tackling the climate crisis.
“Our industry has an important role to play in the pathway to a sustainable future and I’m proud we’re leading the way in our sector with the introduction of this new specification. It puts sustainability at the very heart of all our product development and manufacturing operations.
“Further improving the energy efficiency of our holiday homes has the additional benefit of enabling owners to make significant savings on their energy bills, which is particularly important at this time when living costs are rising sharply.
“Holiday park operators will also benefit from reduced running costs as well as this initiative contributes to the increased sustainability of their operations. In short, this is great for the environment and good for the pocket.”
Improvements made include a 100 per cent increase in the thickness of exterior walls, upgraded insulation in walls, floors and roofs and the addition of “low emissivity” argon gas-filled double glazing, which emits low levels of radiant heat energy.
Willerby’s technical director Simon Tempest, the company’s board champion for sustainability, said: “As a major employer, and a leading player in the holiday homes industry, we recognise our responsibility to reduce the carbon impact of our operations.
“We’ve done a great deal in this area already, with the introduction of a raft of green initiatives. These include installing biomass boilers at our Hull site which convert waste wood into energy to heat our manufacturing facilities, saving 1,000 tonnes of C02 annually and avoiding hundreds of truck trips to remove this waste.
“The introduction of the GreEN Standard is a major leap forward in our sustainability journey and a game-changing innovation for the holiday homes industry.”
By bringing the materials into the units, they will be warmer in winter and cooler in summer, saving at least 250kg of carbon dioxide – the equivalent of driving 1,350 miles - and around £250 off bills for owners - or £750 for park operators.
The name ‘GreEN’ plays on the upgrade to the environmental standard EN1647 that applies to the industry.
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