A Greener Approach: The Journey to Energy Efficiency at Lineage’s Holmewood, UK Facility

At Lineage, we’re always looking for new ways to improve our work while bringing more value to our customers. A great example is our Facility Energy Evaluation program. This collaborative program aims at building a grass-roots culture of conservation at our facilities by attempting to create a strong foundation of sustainable practices. Today, we are shining the spotlight on the remarkable success story of our Holmewood facility in the UK, and how facility energy evaluations improved not just our energy consumption but our entire approach to efficiency and waste reduction.

Facility Energy Evaluations are Driving a Cultural Shift at Lineage Holmewood

Mark Joyce, Lineage’s Regional Engineering Manager in the UK, says "implementing facility energy evaluations and focusing on energy savings sparked a major cultural shift at the Holmewood facility--changing the way the team thinks about sustainability and operations. The energy evaluation at Holmewood did more than just improve energy usage, it ignited a grass-roots shift towards sustainable practices. Everyone came together, showing their dedication to becoming more efficient."

It all began with the introduction of monthly ‘energy walks’ – a concept adapted for Lineage’s European facilities. These were inspired by the success of similar evaluations done at several of Lineage’s US facilities. Mark made sure the approach was just right for Holmewood by collaborating with Lineage’s Energy team.

Small Actions Led to Big Changes in Energy Efficiency

The energy walks at Holmewood focused on key areas where the team could make a difference in energy use. One of the biggest wins was in the refrigerator plant, where the team significantly cut energy use by streamlining the the way they were using the compressors. Instead of running two compressors simultaneously at nearly 70% capacity, the team shifted to only using one while keeping the second in reserve. Changes like this helped reduce energy usage while improving overall efficiency.

The Holmewood team’s drive to look for improvements and become more efficient led them to try new ways of monitoring temperature throughout the facility. These new monitoring methods are accurate, even with the challenges of fluctuating temperatures due to frequently opening the freezer doors. The team also tackled issues like repairing damaged evaporator fans, leading to improved air circulation. This helped with general efficiencies. It’s these kinds of small, but important, fixes that really show how committed Holmewood is to doing things in a more energy efficient way.

Lineage Aims to Support a More Sustainable Cold Chain with Facility Energy Evaluations

At Lineage, we believe it’s the million little things that add up to big changes. The approach at the Holmewood facility in the UK helps prove this belief. The Facility Energy Evaluation program highlights our dedication to empowering our team and nurturing a culture that always seeks improvement. We’re proud of what the team at Holmewood has done and excited about what the future holds as we continue focusing on energy efficiency. By working together, we remain focused on energy efficiencies while providing top-notch service to our customers.