Pinsent Masons unveils Demand Side Response energy reduction for London HQ

As the firm advances its journey to net zero, it’s partnered with DSR aggregator OakTree Power to become one of the first law firms in the UK to implement the energy usage technology. The DSR system enables electricity use in their London office to be intelligently reduced for short periods, without impacting performance whilst supporting the National Grid when grappling with energy shortfalls.
The smart DSR system is integrated into the firm’s existing building controls and automatically turns down non-critical electrical equipment such as pump motors, fans and air conditioning chillers.

Head of Sustainability and Facilities Compliance at Pinsent Masons, Allan Clark, said: “We’ve made significant progress in addressing our energy usage and reducing consumption across our UK offices. DSR enables us to build on this and embed a smart system that drive efficiencies and supports our journey to net zero.

“While DSR is an established energy technology for large scale businesses, more needs to be done to advance its use across the UK. We see this model as a valuable tool in our arsenal as we strive reduce our impact of the environment.”

Pinsent Masons and OakTree Power say that the solution is set to reduce otherwise inaccessible carbon emissions by over 50,000kg every year across the 200,000 square feet building.

CEO of OakTree Power, Chantel Scheepers, comments: “The UK has made a bold commitment to achieve net zero goals by 2050, and in order to hit this target, more companies need to be following Pinsent Mason’s lead in adopting DSR. If every commercial building 200,000 square feet in London used DSR, the CO2 emissions reductions achieved would be the equivalent of taking 45,000 petrol cars off the road - something we should all be working towards.”

In recent years the firm has unveiled a number of initiatives to progress its net zero ambitions and collaborate with clients and communities to tackle climate change. In 2020, prior to the pandemic, the firm exceeded is 20% by 2020 energy consumption reduction target by 10% following a five-year programme designed to target energy usage across its UK offices.

Earlier this year the firm spearheaded the One Million Hours pledge, which seeks to pool the legal industry’s intellectual capital and pledge time to support projects that seek to arrest climate change and reduce biodiversity loss.