Sustainability Report 2014
39
Energy
The promotion of energy efficiency plays a crucial role
on sustainability of the planet and of its resources. The
measures taken by the Ibersol Group to this purpose
arise from the employees’ awareness, who adopt the
samemeasures that theywould in their homes to reduce
costs, but also they come from the technological devel-
opment, which is always under the Group’s attention.
In 2014 the guidelines for streamlining energy use con-
tinued to be followed, through the purchasing of more
efficient equipment and adjusting consumption to
operational needs, thus maximizing energy efficiency.
In this regard, we highlight the following actions
carried out in 2014:
• The continuity of the uplamping program, consisting
of the gradual replacement of current lighting by more
efficient alternatives, taking advantage of technological
developments in this area, specifically by using new
LED lighting solutions, ECO bulbs, use of electronic bal-
lasts, and presence sensors. The LED bulbs are used for
decorative lighting (illuminated advertisements, menu
boards, drives) to directly replace the incandescent,
halogen, and fluorescent light bulbs. Comparing to
other types of lightning, the LEDbulbs represent a saving
up to 90% of energy, and allows for more than 30,000
operating hours, even with a high frequency of turning
on/off cycles. On the other hand, LED technology does
not use toxic components, and are mercury free.
• The reinforcement of the investment made in the
On/Off plan to raise awareness toward a rational use of
energy. This project helped reducing by 17% of energy
consumption, and power in peak hours was greatly
reduced, through the adoption of measures such as
pre-heating the equipment during the off-peak or full
periods, interruption of the equipments operationwhen
they are not being used, and reduction of the tempera-
tures in equipments that cannot be turned off. Some
of the measures promoted by the Group addressed to
the employees to minimise the energy consumption,
especially during peak hours are: turn off coffee grinders,
cup or dish washing machines, keep the door closed
during the operation to avoid cooling of the boiler, turn
offwater heaters with automatic timers ormanually turn
off the lights outside the confection areas.
• The investment made in energymanagement equip-
ments, such as Ecubes, which are placed in the probes of
the refrigeration and freezing rooms, avoid temperature
variations due to de opening of the doors, and leading
to an operational stabilization of the equipments and
also of the temperature of the products stored.
• The use of energy controllers which stabilize the elec-
tric current waves, thus avoiding temporary voltage
fluctuations. Therefore, the active and reactive energy
consumption is decreased and the equipments’ life is
increased.
• The reduction, whenever possible, of the contracted
energy power, to avoid costs with power ratings that
are not used.
• The restrictions to the inductive and reactive energy
consumption, using capacitor banks in 18 units, with an
estimate payback of the investment made of 13months.
Monitoring the electricity consumption also allows the
identification of malfunctions in the capacity banks. In
2014, this monitoring detected 26 malfunctions, and
so the consumption of inductive reactive energy was
prevented.
• The purchasing of energy class A+++ equipment or
with the tag Energy Star and GEA. These certifications
