Our Location
FB Chain is based in the world’s first Garden City – Letchworth. The great urban planner and social reformer, Ebenezer Howard founded the garden city movement based on the principles outlined in his book ‘Garden Cities of Tomorrow’ first published in 1898. His ideas, that of towns free of slums, homes away from factories and employment in a clean air environment were made real when the first foundations were dug in Letchworth in the early 20th Century.
Our Building
Our building was completed in 2018 and stands on a former brownfield site previously occupied by a plating and metal finishing company which left highly contaminated soil and water full of chrome industrial solvents and left abandoned for over 10 years. A full scale clean-up involved among other things, the excavation of 900 tons of soil sent away for specialist cleaning and then returned.
The company worked closely with The Letchworth Garden City Foundation during the design of the building ensuring that it was as environmentally friendly as possible in accordance with the Garden City ethos and our own objectives to be a sustainable company of the highest order.
The building was designed to re-use heat generated from our production areas making our gas consumption extremely low for a building of its size whilst in warmer weather a cool air filtration system ensures a comfortable working environment. As with any sustainability programme it’s the combination of the smaller things that make a real difference. In our case having LED lighting which is motion controlled and having all our vehicles electric powered keep our programme on track.
Solar Panels
The roof on our building in Letchworth is fitted with solar panels but fitted in a way that doesn’t obstruct the generous amount of natural light filtering in through the windows in the roof. The panels are smaller than usual which allows them to be positioned around the roof windows rather than block them.
The savings are impressive – it is estimated that the total electricity generated over the next 25 years would be 2, 085,965 KWH and has an equivalent fixed price value of 5.43 pence per KWH over 25 years.
Social Responsibility
The concept of “corporate social responsibility” (CSR) refers to an approach to doing business that encourages businesses to conduct their daily operations in a manner that is beneficial to both society and the environment, rather than one that is harmful to either.
FB Chain has a long track record of contributing to our immediate community. We sponsor local hospices, school sports teams, local environmental projects and donate to children’s charities. We have an open door policy and encourage charitable organisations to approach us. Read more…
Savings Made Through Choice
Choice Of Materials
We use steel that is of a higher quality in some of our chains specifically chosen for its greater durability so that we can reduce the amount of raw materials that we need to use. If you want your machines to have a longer service life, you should make use of materials that are more resilient and well-suited. A smaller weight in order to lessen the amount of energy required is often the way to go. Savings can be made in having the ability to boost the application’s capacity by reducing the material’s weight while simultaneously improving its strength. All of this is related to one another and adds to cost reductions of varying natures, which result in savings for you, your company, and our world.
Choice of Lubrication
RotaLube, our automated chain lubrication system, puts the exact amount of lubrication onto the chain in the right place without wasting lubricant through drips and splashing.
- Reduces environmental contamination.
- Reduces lubricant consumption.
- Increases chain life.
- Reduces system power consumption.
- Reduces downtime.
How do you make conveyor operations more sustainable?
More and more companies all over the world are coming to the realisation that natural resources are becoming increasingly scarce, and that the consumption of energy has a negative impact on the environment. We’ve noticed a trend among many of our customers in the paper and pulp, sawmill, energy, steel, and cement industries, who are starting to ask questions about how we might assist them in becoming more sustainable. This is a trend that we’ve noticed among many of our clients. You can read more about how the choice of material affects sustainability here.