Image courtesy of sunworxsolar.com
Late last year the Fairland Campus FNB car park in Johannesburg was transformed from a dilapidated and ugly shade cloth parking area into a futuristic 1.99 MegaWatt peak energy producing parking space capable of keeping both cars cool and making much needed supplemental electricity. The project makes use of 7647 photo voltaic solar panels connected by over 83kms of copper wire to transform the DC current into AC via 83 inverters. This extra energy is utilised throughout the building to power air conditioners and lighting and any surplus energy flows back into the national grid.
Total Energy Reduction (metered) of 6,202 MWh/p.a
Not only has FNB turned it’s car park into a green space – but it’s building, which now has a 5 star rating from the Green Building Council Of South Africa, has some innovative ideas in place too. The air conditioning systems condensation (which you usually see dripping from the outside of buildings) is harvested and re-used in irrigation for the property gardens. How much you ask? Between 30,000 to 60,000 litres are collected which is an enormous help in our water scarce country.
And that’s not all – they have also installed a separate solar water heating system which heats the hot water for the bathrooms. Then there’s the sun screens on the exterior of the building which insulate and reflect the suns direct heat away from the building – all helping to keep it cool.
More? Yip – the building does something quite clever – it has proximity sensors for its lighting systems that detect when human activity has stopped and automatically turn off the lights when not needed. How smart is that!
So as you can see – FNB have put a huge amount of technology into their building and surrounds to benefit not only the company, but to be less demanding on the environment. What a great company FNB is – no wonder FNB car insurance is head and shoulders above the competition.
FNB is a leading car insurer in South Africa and has been at the forefront of technological initiatives that not only benefit FNB, but drive value for its customers by giving them more options and better services.
Wouldn’t you want your vehicle insured by a company as forward thinking, as innovative and socially responsible as a company like FNB? I know I would! It’s time you switched your car insurance to FNB now.
Sources:
http://sapropertyinsider.co.za/2016/10/28/wesbank-and-fnb-fairland-campus-to-bank-on-solar-in-2017/
http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/solar-switch-flipped-at-wesbank-and-fnbs-fairland-campus-2017-11-07/rep_id:4136
