Landmark buildings across Birmingham were plunged into darkness as they joined businesses around the world to mark Earth Hour.
The event saw The Mailbox, Baskerville House, the National Exhibition Centre, the International Convention Centre, National Indoor Arena and LG Arena, turn off non-essential lights for one hour between 8.30pm and 9.30pm on March 23 to raise awareness of climate change.
The NEC Group said it saved enough energy to make 13,700 cups of tea. “It’s the NEC’s intention to replicate, as a minimum, the saving achieved during this single WWF Earth Hour, which will mean saving more than 1,420 tonnes of CO2 per annum,” said Phil Dyke, the NEC Group’s engineering manager.
The Mailbox and Baskerville House were prompted to join Earth Hour, organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) since 2007, by the properties’ managing agents Jones Lang LaSalle, which also powered down its Church Street office in Birmingham city centre.
Christopher Taylor, director at Jones Lang LaSalle, originally trained as a marine biologist, working with sharks in California before retraining as a surveyor.
He said: “Earth Hour is all about individuals, businesses and governments taking a leadership on environmental issues and solutions through their actions and both The Mailbox and Baskerville House are ideally placed to take a lead on this initiative as two of the most recognisable buildings in the city.
“The Mailbox in particular is extremely prominent in the city with its distinctive lighting and I think it really makes people sit up and think when the lights do go out on a building that helped shaped the city’s regenerated skyline.”
Alan Anderson estate manager at The Mailbox added: “We have always been environmentally conscious and considered the impact we have on the planet by complying to standards used to measure our energy and water use, waste is incinerated to generate energy to be returned to the grid.”
