Rethinking energy intenstive operations pays off

• Laundry learns that being green can be cost-effective too
• Operating costs are kept down through waste-heat use and biodegradable detergents reduce the environmental impact

BSB, and industrial-scale laundry situated in Olomouc, Czech Republic, shows that efficient use of energy in this type of operation is not only environmentally friendly, but thanks to energy savings, can be offered at competitive prices. The laundry takes electricity and waste heat from a nearby biogas station and uses biodegradable detergents.

Providing laundry services to hotels, restaurants and hospitals is usually a highly energy intensive process and involves the use of harmful chemicals. However, BSB has found an alternative solution. For its machines, it uses electricity from a renewable source (a biogas plant) and also the waste heat from the water that cools the cogeneration units.

Heat is used in the laundry to preheat water and dry clothes in hot-water dryers, which significantly cuts operating costs, especially compared to electric dryers.

In addition to these energy saving measures, the laundry consistently uses biodegradable detergents, which softens the impact of its operations on the surrounding environment while maintaining the quality of the finished job. 

Key benefits

The Olomouc laundry clearly demonstrates the advantage of revising approaches to energy intenstive operations, and exploring alternative energy, heating, cooling and drying solutions. The laundry not only significantly increased its energy independence, but also thanks to the use of green energy from the adjacent biogas station, it can offer its customers very competitive prices.