McLAREN GROUP ACHIEVES CARBON TRUST STANDARD WITH SUCCESSFUL IMPLEMENTATION OF THREE-YEAR CARBON EMISSIONS REDUCTION PROGRAMME

Dec 14, 2010

• Vodafone McLaren Mercedes becomes first-ever Formula 1 team to earn Carbon Trust certification
• McLaren Automotive aims for lowest-in-class carbon emissions with new high-performance sports car

The McLaren Group is delighted to announce that it has achieved the Carbon Trust Standard – official certification of the company’s commitment to successfully measuring, managing and improving its carbon efficiency.

This achievement makes Vodafone McLaren Mercedes the first and only Formula 1 team to be officially recognised by the Carbon Trust for taking action on climate change.

It follows a three-year period of rigorous assessment, during which the McLaren Group achieved annual savings of more than 1500 tonnes of CO₂ emissions – the collective equivalent of running the McLaren Technology Centre’s windtunnel for seven months, or the total annual carbon footprint of McLaren Electronics.

The Group was able to achieve such significant savings by fully optimising the building’s control systems, and by implementing a series of the latest energy-saving technologies across its R&D, manufacturing and office areas.

The following initiatives alone produce a total saving of 1365 tonnes of CO₂ per year and, relative to turnover, contribute to an improvement in our carbon efficiency of 8.6 per cent.

• Optimisation of the McLaren Technology Centre’s air-conditioning system to run only when staff occupy specific areas. A monitoring system also ensures the correct amount of fresh air is delivered within the building. This project saves 812 tonnes of CO₂ each year.
• Installation of energy-efficient lighting and controls across the whole premises, including pioneering work from a McLaren engineer to develop and manufacture bespoke low-energy lamps to illuminate car parks and access roads. These initiatives save 400 tonnes of CO₂ every year.
• Rationalisation of compressed-air supply throughout the factory in order to improve overall efficiency. This saves 153 tonnes of CO₂ per year.

Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team principal Martin Whitmarsh said: “We’re delighted to have achieved the Carbon Trust Standard. As an environmentally conscious company, we first commissioned an independent study of our carbon emissions as long ago as 2007, so we’ve spent three years working towards this certification.

“It’s not only satisfying to become one of the first 500 companies in the UK to achieve the Standard, but it’s also particularly pleasing to be the first-ever Formula 1 team to do so.

“More important, however, it further underlines Formula 1’s continuous quest to develop leaner, longer-lasting and more efficient energy solutions – whether in the workplace or at the racetrack.

“In fact, we’re probably the only sport in the world with the resources, know-how and commitment to drive forward pioneering new technologies that have the potential for huge mass-market crossover.”

Antony Sheriff, managing director of McLaren Automotive, said: “McLaren Automotive is particularly conscious of its responsibilities as a car manufacturer to provide both short-term and long-term solutions for designing and engineering exciting cars that innovate and offer new standards of technology to customers. It’s part of that ambition that we develop technological solutions that lower CO₂ to significantly below what is expected in sports cars. 

“Accordingly, the MP4-12C is anticipated to be the most efficient car in the high-performance sports car market, with by some margin the lowest carbon emissions of any car in its class. Not only that, but our lightweight engineering solutions could even deliver a car that, per horsepower, emits lower CO₂ than even today’s hybrid cars.

“Whilst achieving the Carbon Trust Standard is a valuable recognition for all our efforts so far, we fully understand that this is an ongoing programme. Reducing our carbon emissions and improving our carbon efficiency represent a constantly moving target – and one that our whole company is committed to pursuing.”

Harry Morrison, general manager of the Carbon Trust Standard, said: “The Carbon Trust Standard helps organisations to accurately calculate their carbon footprint, quantify their exposure to risk, and measure and benchmark progress of their carbon management initiatives. We congratulate the McLaren Group on their certification.”

Achieving the Carbon Trust Standard is only the first step in a comprehensive emissions reduction plan across the entire McLaren Group. Maintaining the Standard requires re-certification every two years and will coincide with the implementation of further exciting new ideas to further reduce the Group’s carbon footprint.

These include construction of the brand new McLaren Production Centre as an environmentally efficient building from the ground-up, the trialling of a solar-panel system on the roof of the McLaren Technology Centre and the introduction of new energy-efficient server rooms.

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