To ‘cap off’ a tremendous year for Prefect Controls, the company has received four accolades in two days.
A recent project, The Refinery – a 407-bedroom purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) property in Leeds – scooped ‘Sustainability Project of the year’ and ‘Overall Project of the year’ at the ECN Awards last Thursday.
The judges were impressed by the £70,000 energy cost saving made by the Prefect Irus energy management system. Data collected from the site throughout its first 12 months revealed the heating load has been halved and overall consumption is down by 30%. The judges were also astonished at the fewer than three-year return on investment.
“This has capped off an outstanding year for Prefect. I am so proud that we’ve been recognised for such a positive story as The Refinery. It’s testament to the real value of how Irus prevents energy from being used unnecessarily. The evidence of savings speaks for itself.”
Glen Golding, Chair of Prefect
The following day at the prestigious Energy Saving Awards held at the Connaught rooms in Holborn. ‘The Refinery’ project also collected a Highly Commended prize in the ‘Commercial Installation of the Year’ category.
Minutes later the ‘Water Saving Commercial Product of the Year’ category was won by Prefect’s SMART Tank. A pre-wired, pre-plumbed hot water cylinder with factory-fitted controls that provides unprecedented monitoring and control of water heating.
“The SMART Tank is a stellar example of how technology can be harnessed to promote sustainability and water efficiency.”
Judges comment
In a recent large-scale trial across two similarly sized student accommodation properties, one with SMART Tank installed the other with standard cylinders, the analysis proved that traditional cylinders use 1.5 times as much energy as SMART Tank.
“The biggest problem with water heating is that you don’t know which problems you have! Cylinders are usually shut away in a dark cupboard, but with 13 integrated sensors and meters, SMART Tank provides visibility across a whole system and generates alerts for any issues that arise. It’s tremendous to have such an innovative product endorsed in this way.”
Gareth Chaplin, Head of Energy and Sustainability, Prefect
Prefect Controls has been designing and manufacturing products specifically for the student accommodation sector since 1997 and currently have controls in just under 20% of student rooms across the UK estate.
