Capital makes Olympian effort for its green medals

Forced out of its East London location by 2012 Olympic redevelopments, Capital has turned the necessity of moving to advantage by building a new site that has eco-friendliness at its heart.

If there is an ancient proverb suggesting opportunity can spring from adversity, then it might well have been written for Capital. The East London-based marketing campaign solutions company was delighted that London was awarded the 2012 Olympic Games. However the downside was its site was located in the middle of the area requiring clearing and redevelopment to make way for Olympic facilities.

So Capital, which offers a full range of services to retailers and brand owners that incorporate everything from concept design to delivery of wide format and POS display materials, has had to move to a new location five miles away, and therein lay the opportunity to forge a more environmentally-responsible future.

Capital’s new building, located on the Beckton Waterfront and occupying 130,000 square feet of space, continues to support the company’s ethos and commitment to the environment by incorporating a comprehensive list of energy saving and recycling features. BREEAM is the world’s most widely used environmental assessment method for buildings. It assesses buildings against set criteria and provides an overall score, which will fall within a band providing either a Pass, Good, Very Good or Excellent rating. Capital’s new site has achieved a BREEAM assessment rating of ‘Very Good’ or better.

Not that this is the first step Capital has taken to improve its environmental performance, explains head of sales and marketing, Russell Tookey:

“At Capital we have long been firmly committed to choosing the most environmentally friendly path and have been ISO 9001/14001 accredited for many years. Because our relocation, to make way for the 2012 Olympic Zone, meant we were moving into a brand new development, our new premises have been custom-built. This allowed us to incorporate some features that are designed to conserve power and minimize carbon emissions.

“In some instances, we have been able to exeed government targets. For example, the new building will reduce our carbon emissions by 12.65% while the government target is 10% by 2012. We are delighted to be able to help reduce our environmental impact so significantly.”

The extent of the low or zero carbon systems that have been employed at Capital’s new Beckton building, makes impressive reading, and includes:

Stack Ventilation (PSV) - the most effective natural ventilation strategy uses a combination of cross ventilation, buoyancy (warm air rising) and the venturi effect (wind around a high level opening creating suction) allowing a temperate equilibrium.

Photovoltaic (PV) technology – to generate electricity from natural light the building has been fitted with PV cells, which are used for lighting within the building.

Solar Water Heating - Solar water heating systems provide the hot water services for the building, typically up 60%.

Ground Source Heat Pumps – these extract low-grade heat from the ground and converts it to higher temperatures for use as heating.

Rain Water Harvesting - rainwater is collected into the building’s on-site reservoir for use in the toilets, washrooms, dishwasher and garden.

Naturally, the company’s environmental ethos extends far beyond the possibilities that its new building provides. Capital has published a comprehensive environmental policy that guides all its activities, which back up its already achieved ISO 9001 and 14001 accreditations. To further enhance our green credentials Capital is applying for FSC and PEFC approvals.

Russell Tookey says: “This policy statement enables us to set the objectives and targets for the future by which our efforts towards sustainable environmental improvements can be achieved and will be broadcast to employees and the public in the form of posters, internal and external mail, training sessions and team meetings.”

A number of objectives are identified within the policy statement, committing Capital to a programme of continual improvement in environmental performance across a range of measures. These include: actively marketing a range of recycled and recyclable products; reducing consumption of raw materials wherever possible; minimising waste in all Capital’s operations, especially hazardous waste requiring disposal through safe and responsible methods; ongoing staff training and reappraisal of working methods and techniques; and considering the environmental impact of its products throughout the product life cycle, from design through to disposal after use.

One example of this in practice was Capital’s investment in a new, fully automated screen cleaning system recently installed. The Chim 92, which was purchased through Vision Supplies, uses chemistry that is formulated on surfactants (wetting agents that lower the surface tension of a liquid) rather than organic solvents. It is therefore free of Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs).

Significant benefits accrue from the formulation of these chemicals, says Capital: they are fully recycled within the equipment with waste solids being removed via disposable filters; the discharge from the equipment is wastewater with extremely low levels of chemical oxygen demand (the measure of the amount of organic compounds in water).

The chemistry removes ink, stencil and any other residual stains from the screens post-printing, preparing the screen mesh for the next job, and the nature of the chemistry also extends the use of the screen mesh, thereby further reducing Capital’s waste output.

For more information please visit our website www.capitalprint.co.uk or email sales@capitalprint.co.uk quoting PM0807 minimize carbon emissions.

About Capital

• Specialists in high volume, fast turnaround large format print with production lines covering litho, screen and digital printing
• 2 KBA 205 Rapida very large format presses, a first in Europe
• Secure online management covering estimating, invoicing, print management, digital asset management, project management, stock control and scheduling
• Fully equipped finishing and collation Department
• Vast storage facilities enabling fast and effective call-offs of stored items