November 2021
With COP26 in full swing this week, many governments leaders and industry heads have been looking for ways toward a greener and more sustainable future. Whilst Zonegreen may be well known as the supplier of depot protection systems, what you may not know is that they are also one of the greenest, although there may be a clue in the name Zonegreen.
It is innovation that has not only made Zonegreen the world leading supplier of depot protection systems, but also made them one of the greenest. Nearly 20 years ago, Zonegreen’s Depot Personnel Protection System (DPPS) started to include LED technology in its warning lights. Not only do LED lamps offer a much longer life therefore being more sustainable, they have a much-reduced energy consumption.
DPPS was the also first system to employ field bus wiring technology in a rail depot environment, which replaced many hundreds of wires installed as part of traditional point to point wiring schemes with a single twisted pair cable. This massively reduces the amount of copper cabling and cable containment required whist also greatly increasing the reliability of the depot protection system.
A recent result of Zonegreen’s continued research and development has been the introduction of a pit light interfaces for maintenance depots that switches off the lighting when staff are not working in that area. This not only reduces the amount of electricity used, but highlights the roads under protection leading to a safer working environment for staff.
Zonegreen also developed a light weight actuator for its Network Rail approved derailer making use of advance composites materials, reducing material usage and avoiding energy intensive and CO2 polluting manufacturing processes. Whilst alternative depot protection systems require the use of large, complex control cabinets; Zonegreen’s DPPS panels are slimline, using comparatively minimal amounts of material in their construction, they are also highly energy efficient and of course have extremely low running cost.
Christian Fletcher, Zonegreen’s technical director, said: “We have worked hard with our supply chain, and whilst like all manufactures of electronic products we do use components from overseas, the entirety of our depot protection system is manufactured here in the UK with the majority of it being locally manufactured in Sheffield and Rotherham.”
Zonegreen continue to emphasis on innovation to provide not only the safest and most efficient depot protection systems but also the most sustainable.
