Thursday, November 10th, 2011
At Big Yellow we’re always on the lookout to be the best we can when it comes to being energy efficient and reducing our Carbon footprint, so we were hugely excited today to find out that we’ve come in the top 4% of companies in the newly released Carbon Reduction Commitment Performance league table!
The recognition comes hot on the heels of recent Green work we’ve being carrying out at Big Yellow stores including:
• Installing motion sensors in our stores to helping reduce energy consumption by 30%
• Adding eco-friendly ground source heat pumps
• Generating up to 20 percent of our energy from solar panels
Our quest to improve won’t stop here though as we’re committed to constantly ensuring that we remain the most environmentally sound Self Storage Company in the UK.
Tags: big yellow, energy efficient, green, solar energy
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Wednesday, January 26th, 2011
We’re very proud to announce that we’ve opened a brand new state of the art store in Camberley, Surrey on 24th January 2011. The new store maintains the high standards of energy-efficiency set by our other stores and is bordered by landscaping and a pedestrian cycle lane.
As well as creating several permanent new jobs in the Surrey Heath area, the new store features a number of eco-friendly elements. The additions include solar panels and energy efficient lighting, which are set to be rolled out across other stores as part of our commitment to reducing our carbon footprint in the future.
The area has been regenerated thanks to the bio-diverse landscaping and work to make sure that the local cycle lane continues around its perimeter. The store has been rated ‘A’ for Energy Performance with just 3% of the store requiring heating and cooling. Meaning that our customers are guaranteed the best in eco-friendly storage!
To book and reserve online at our Camberley store visit us at: http://www.bigyellow.co.uk/store/Camberley-self-storage/
Reception opening hours
Monday to Friday: 8am – 6pm
Saturday: 9am – 6pm
Sunday: 10am – 2pm
Tags: big yellow, Big Yellow Self Storage, byss, Camberley, clutter, de-clutter, declutter, energy efficient, furniture storage, garden storage, home, personal storage, self storage, self storage blog, storage, storage solution, student storage, UK storage
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Sunday, May 2nd, 2010
In one of the most crowded countries in the world, space is a big issue. To put this into context, Japan is roughly the size of California, slightly larger than Great Britain, and only a little smaller than France. However, it has over double the population of the UK.
As such, innovation in storing everything from clothes to food is standard. Storage lockers are placed around the city, as are bike racks – and data storage is a large part of the country’s economy.
What can we learn from this though? Building small can be a sign of higher ambitions, and creating a small home can be an amazingly positive and creative act, one which can enhance life in surprising ways.
‘The Very Small Home’ by Azby Brown presents stunning design advances in Japan. Particular emphasis is given to what the author calls ‘the Big Idea’ – the overarching concept that does the most to make the house feel more spacious than it actually is. Among the Big Ideas introduced here are ingenious sources of natural light, well-thought-out atriums, snug but functional kitchens, unobtrusive partitions and free-flowing circulation paths.
This book puts the house designs in the context of lifestyle trends, and highlights their shared characteristics. For each project, the intentions of the designers and occupants are examined. The result is a very human sensibility that runs through the book. A glimpse of the dreams and aspirations that these unique homes represent and that belies their apparent modesty. The second half of the book is devoted to illustrating the special features in the homes, from clever storage and kitchen designs, to ingenious skylights and nooks.
Tags: bicycle storage, big yellow, Big Yellow Self Storage, boxes, business storage, clean, de-clutter, declutter, energy efficient, furniture storage, personal storage, self storage, solar energy, storage solution
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Friday, April 30th, 2010
Did you know that the North Sea could provide Britain with a natural resource worth as much as £10 billion a year if the Government exploits it as a store for carbon dioxide (CO2), according to The Times?
Britain has more storage space for waste CO2 than all of the other northern European countries combined, with the exception of Norway, according to research that suggests carbon capture and storage could be one of the boom industries of the next 20 years.
At the British Science Festival in Guildford in September, it was announced that the existence of suitable rock formations beneath the British seas – mainly in the North Sea – means that Britain could make as much as £5 billion a year from selling licenses to store CO2 to countries such as Germany, Denmark and Poland.
While technology for removing CO2 from fossil fuel-fired power stations already exists, it’s currently very expensive, adding about a third to electricity bills. The cost, however, is forecast to plummet over the next two decades, creating a new market for storing this waste CO2 safely that Britain is ideally placed to benefit from.
Tags: Big Yellow Self Storage, energy efficient, personal storage, self storage, storage
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Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010
We’ve all had a special magazine or newspaper that we are tempted to keep for the future. It might be for reference or an historical event that we want to share with the future generations in the family. Sometimes these are valuable, but most often they won’t be worth much in monetary value. It’s the fact that “we were there” or how this event has touched our life that makes the edition important to us.
But how do you properly store those newspapers? Ask yourself some questions:
- Are these magazines and newspapers worth hanging on to, or can they be recycled to clear the clutter?
- Do you want to be able to go back and read the magazines and newspapers from time to time or are you happy to put them away and letting them sleep in a cool, dark place?
- Are your newspapers and magazines valuable or more sentimental?
- Do you want to keep them in pristine condition for 40 years or 400 years?
The biggest problem when storing paper keepsakes are pests! Here’s our top tips to ward them off:
1. Find a closet or drawer in a dry area.
2. Store and stack papers tight together, folded in half (as they are delivered).
3. Use a pest trap nearby, but not touching the papers.
4. Monitor your papers occasionally, checking for both pests and mold. Papers stored in this manner can stay in excellent condition for years.
Want more protection? Use the same basic methods as above, but purchase acid free folders to keep the papers in. Still store in that same dark, dry area and monitor for pests.
At Big Yellow Self Storage we offer clean pest free self storage, so you never need to worry about little nasties ruining your paper based keepsakes. Visit our “What is self storage page?” to find out how you can benefit from one of our self storage rooms.
Tags: big yellow, Big Yellow Self Storage, boxes, business storage, clutter, collectibles, de-clutter, declutter, energy efficient, fine wine storage, furniture storage, magazines, paper, personal storage, recycle, reduce, reuse, self storage, self storage blog, Self Stroage, storage, storage solution, student storage, UK storage, wine storage
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Friday, February 19th, 2010
The word “lager” is German and means “storage”, which refers to the lager (storage) fermentation process. The fermentation of both ales and lager is processed at a similar temperature for 7-14 days. After that time the ale, depending on the type, is ready for bottling. With lagers, this is only the start. After the main fermentation the beer is pumped into lager tanks with temperatures 10°C lower than room temperature. It is then left to mature and ferment for around 6-10 weeks to create the lager we all know and love! The longest lager fermentation process is for that of Budějovický Budvar brewery’s ‘Bud Super Strong’, the super-premium member of the Budvar family which takes 200 days to mature.
Energy efficient advancements have been made with the Cylindric-conical tanks (CCTs) used to store lager during the process of combined beer fermentation and maturation. The storage CCTs have evolved to ensure cooling and heating insulation can save up to 40% of energy consumed over previous years.
We don’t ferment lager here at Big Yellow Self Storage. However, we are extremely energy conscious throughout our operations. You can also use our self storage facilities to store anything you like for a little as a week, month, year or as long as you want. We only ask for seven days notice when you want to leave. Visit our Quote and reserve online page to get started.
Tags: beer, big yellow, Big Yellow Self Storage, boxes, business storage, clutter, collectibles, declutter, energy efficient, fine wine storage, furniture storage, lager, personal storage, self storage, self storage blog, Self Stroage, storage, student storage, UK storage, wine storage
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Tuesday, October 20th, 2009
…that Big Yellow has reduced its electricity consumption by over 1 million kWh and its carbon dioxide emissions by 7.4% this year?
Big Yellow stores have two types of carbon emission; first, the electricity used for lighting, lifts, heating, cooling and ventilation, which causes ‘indirect’ emissions and second, stores with flexi-offices have additional gas heated areas which cause ‘direct’ emissions.
The total store electricity consumption and carbon dioxide emissions per square metre of occupied storage space has decreased by approximately 3.5% for the year ending March 2009. This reduction was due to the company’s new store development program of higher standards of insulation, air tightness, energy efficiency and renewable energy generation as well, as the installation of motion sensor lighting and other energy efficiency lighting.
Tags: electricity, energy efficient, self storage. personal storage
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