Schneider Electric joins the Kew and plants seeds of progress for Royal Botanic Gardens
As Kew’s official Energy Sustainability Partner, Schneider Electric will help Kew transition away from fossil fuels and reduce carbon emissions while maintaining a consistent energy supply essential to protecting the world’s largest, most diverse botanical collections.
Schneider Electric will also provide a dedicated energy optimisation engineer, located onsite and on long-term secondment to Kew, helping to support the organisation in evaluating the impact, cost, and priority of energy efficiency, controls, and monitoring projects.
Owner of AVEVA in Cambridge and a partner of the University of Oxford, Schneider Electric will also identify, assess, and implement energy-saving opportunities within Kew’s Building Management Systems and Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning plant.
And it will explore available innovative solutions, such as cost-effective electricity use, battery storage, and microgrid opportunities, at both Kew Gardens and Wakehurst, Kew’s wild botanic garden in Sussex.
As a UNESCO World Heritage site with a sizeable footprint, Grade 1 and 2 listed buildings, and high visitor numbers, Kew Gardens faces unique challenges in achieving its sustainability plans and targets.
Rachel Purdon, Head of Sustainability at RBG, Kew said: “We are proud of our commitment to urgently tackling the dual climate and biodiversity crises through everything that we do at Kew. Our partnership with Schneider Electric marks a major step forward in our sustainability journey.
“Working together we can accelerate progress towards our ambitious goals, including becoming climate positive in less than five years. With Kew’s unique combination of historic buildings, globally irreplaceable collections, and role inspiring diverse audiences to connect with nature, we face complex and wide-ranging challenges.
“Schneider Electric’s expertise and hands-on support will be invaluable – it will help us deliver real, measurable decarbonisation progress across our sites.”
Kelly Becker, President, Schneider Electric UK and Ireland, Belgium and Netherlands, added: “Both of our organisations are impact makers, united in our vision for a more sustainable planet. By combining our climate positive partnership, expertise, and energy management and automation solutions, we’re able to take real action to realise a more sustainable future at RBG Kew.
“We also have deep experience with helping organisations like Kew advance their energy resiliency, a growing priority across businesses, utilities, and communities worldwide. In Kew’s case, maintaining a consistent energy supply is essential to protecting the world’s largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collections for humanity – and we’re honoured to be a part of the solution.”