Water savings initiatives deliver results at Rolls-Royce

Significant water savings of over 13 per cent have been made at the Rolls-Royce Motor Cars manufacturing plant and head office at Goodwood. The introduction of new initiatives has resulted in an average saving of 11,000 litres per day for the entire site, equivalent to a hosepipe running continuously for 106 hours or 212,000 cups of tea.

The majority of savings have been achieved in the paint shop where a new timer switch system has been introduced to ensure that the water required for ventilation and cooling is only turned on when absolutely needed. Further savings have been made via the closed water system, used for the paint processes, which condenses the moisture as it evaporates from the water-based paints in the drying booths. This water is then re-routed through the system.

Processes in the water test bay also contribute to water consumption reduction - where cars are subjected to ‘monsoon’ conditions to test for water tightness. Here a closed loop system circulates the same water constantly, via a filtration process.

Within the buildings low water consumption systems include low flush toilets with infrared sensing and automatic shut-off taps.

Ian Robertson, Chairman and Chief Executive of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars said, “We are committed to continuously improving resource consumption as part of our sustainability programme. It is astonishing how apparently minor changes to working procedures can bring about significant savings. We continue to work on improvements at Goodwood where everyone is encouraged to suggest ideas for making savings.”

Externally, water saving features at the environmentally friendly Rolls-Royce site include a man-made lake. Situated within the 42 acre site, this acts as the heat sink for the climate control systems in the head office buildings. The complex water drainage system at Goodwood is based on the Sustainable Urban Drainage System (SUDS). This means all run-offs from the roof and car parks enter the lake after filtering and the removal of any petrol and other hydrocarbon residues. When the lake reaches a certain level, a hydrobrake is triggered which drains excess water into a soakaway, allowing water to drain naturally to the groundwater, preventing flooding.

The main buildings have been planted with thousands of sedum plants, to form the UK’s largest ‘living roof’ covering over 22,500 square metres (eight acres). This roof, with low-maintenance vegetation, improves thermal insulation in the winter, provides evaporative cooling in the summer and slows the flow of stormwater into the drains from the roof areas. It also provides a safe habitat for birds and other animals.