BIG SAVINGS ON COSTS AND ENERGY

The Shires shopping centre in Trowbridge is saving in the region of £15,000 a year on its energy bill by replacing light bulbs in part of its undercover car park.

Lighting specialists Electrotech from Stockwood, Bristol are replacing 420, 140watt light bulbs with the same number of 35watt bulbs on the upper tiers of the car park without affecting lighting levels.

Paul Smith, a director of Electrotech, said his team is replacing the existing two-fitting strips with high frequency single units which would result in financial savings and substantially reduce co2 emissions without depreciating the amount of light.

The original lighting bill would be about £21,000 and only about £6,100 for the cost of running the new lights.

The Shires centre manager John Grinnell said: “The environment is one of our main concerns and the aim is to reduce carbon emissions and therefore our carbon footprint. We’re continually looking at various  projects and the measures like these will help.”

Electrotech expects to complete the work next week.

Steps are also being taken to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill sites and in the first three months of this year The Shires hit a target of recycling 72 percent of its waste materials.