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The Pioneer Group goes green with new electric vehicle

The Pioneer Group’s Estates Team has recently taken delivery of a fully electric Citroen Berlingo van in line with the companies’ environmental values to promote a more sustainable community.

In addition to contributing to the group’s environmental plan by reducing carbon emissions, the van has also enabled the housing group to operate the painting programme in house – making savings of 50%.

The painting programme was previously outsourced but in line with the housing group’s efforts to ‘Go Green’, Operations Manager Jon Dickin proposed a new approach, whereby the painting contract would be delivered in-house, providing better value for money and a single point of contact for tenants. The Pioneer Group also took advantage of government grants to further reduce the cost of the electric van.

Alongside the electric vehicle, The Pioneer Group has also installed a new charging post and has taken on two new painters who will be seen around the Castle Vale estate from May 2019.

The Pioneer Group is currently accredited with a sliver SHIFT rating – this measures an organisation’s performance against sustainability metrics. The team is working towards the gold standard and has recently installed 50 KW solar panels onto its headquarters on the High Street in Castle Vale. This reduces power costs – any money raised from the feed in tariff that is received if electricity is sold back to the grid, is given to charity Community Energy Birmingham.

Jon Dickin went on to comment:

We have a fantastic Estates Team supporting the green agenda. We are really proud of the work done so far, as sustainability is high on our agenda. The Pioneer Group is increasingly taking more responsibility towards reducing our carbon footprint. From an electric van, to solar panels, and re-evaluation of the heating & cooling of the building, The Pioneer Group is becoming a lot greener.

Lee Carter, Asset Manager at The Pioneer Group, added:

We are committed to building an environmentally-friendly Castle Vale. This electric van initiative is just one of many that we are rolling out to provide everybody on the estate with a cleaner, greener and more environmentally-friendly living and working space.

The housing group has established the ‘Go Green Group’ to deliver an Environmental Sustainability Strategy, with key outcomes including:

  • Transforming business operations to be more sustainable
  • Enabling residents to live more sustainably through increased awareness and positive practice
  • Improving the environmental sustainability of the Group’s assets
  • Monitoring and reviewing environmental sustainability performance

The Go Green Group comprises a mixed representation of employees from across the organisation plus Group Board and tenant representatives. The primary purpose of the Go Green Group is to ensure high levels of ownership, engagement and accountability for the delivery of Pioneer’s Environmental Sustainability Strategy 2017/2020 and Annual Action Plan.