Padiham based IT company Rapid IT received a £25,000 grant enabling it to forge ahead with sustainability plans for the site. Working with  the Chamber Low Carbon (CLC) programme for Lancashire, the team at EDGE were brought in to support Rapid IT on its energy efficiency journey.

“We’ve been in the building for eight years now and the team have carried out a lot of work during the lockdown period to revitalise the business,” explains Jack Bannister, Managing Director of Rapid IT. “To get the go-ahead on these additional plans really is the icing on the cake.”

A survey carried out by EDGE on the former drinks factory, found the existing premises to be in poor condition.

John Pickup, Director at Edge Efficiency, explains, “To improve the building’s environmental performance and reduce carbon emissions, both the fabric of the building and the heating and power installations were in need of substantial improvements.”

As part of this project, EDGE advised the replacement of the poorly insulated roof and external wall cladding with modern, well insulated, air-tight cladding, incorporating high levels of insulation.  EDGE also prepared a full heating and ventilation performance specification based around air source heat pumps, to provide heating alongside the large Solar PV installation Jack was planning, and further reduce emissions.  The system design was based on high efficiency, ground based fan-coil units, able to deliver effective heating and cooling with minimal air movement – an important factor in electronics assembly.

Our ultimate goal is to become a carbon neutral business, and this is a big step towards achieving that. With the support of the grant, we have been able to start our journey and invest in the business, the local area and our staff. I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who has helped us throughout the process; Chamber Low Carbon, Edge Efficiency and all our suppliers. Jack Bannister, Managing Director, RapidIT.