John Ruck Construction

Profitable manufacturing without compromising the environment

John Ruck Construction design, fabricate and erect structural steelwork and clad steel framed buildings. Their service includes the whole process for structural steelwork projects, all the way from the beginning to paint. The company was established in 1976, and since then they have worked with industrial, commercial, agricultural and prestige projects. John Ruck Construction is committed to health and safety, quality and equality in their work, but also to the environment; they are working for a sustainable future and always look for ways to minimise harmful effects on the environment.

Side by side in the custom build factory operates a woodchip production business, Elms Green Woodchip. The company provides locally sourced, dried, stored and delivered woodchip throughout Shropshire, Hereford, the Midlands, Gloucester and Mid Wales. The trees that are sourced for woodchip are used in their natural state to ensure there is no contaminant. With that, and by allowing the wood season and by mechanically reducing the moisture level of their woodchip, the company can guarantee the high quality of their product. Trees harvested for woodchip are replaced to ensure the renewable aspect of their business.

Reducing energy costs with sustainable on-site energy production

Since the two companies are operating at the same premises, the energy demand of the site is high. The owner John Ruck started to search for a way to reduce energy costs. Having the interest in renewables, he started to consider CHP systems. Volter 40 Combined Heat and Power plant was selected because it provided the perfect solution for both their electricity and heat demands.

Power of three Volter 40 CHPs providing enough electricity to sell the excess

Three Volter 40 Indoors were installed to cover most of the site’s electricity need. These independent CHPs are also feeding heat to different buildings within the manufacturing plant, for example, to dry the steelwork painting. In addition, the heat from the CHPs is used for drying woodchip, which has added the drying capacity. Outside working hours, the electricity is exported back to the grid, making the site itself a net exporter of electricity.

Below a time-lapse video of the Volter 40 Indoor installation at John Ruck Construction:

Best Volter 40 CHP performance of the year 2017

Volter granted the best performance of the year 2017 award to John Ruck Construction for obtaining highest Volter 40 Indoor unit operating hours. The company has reached a respectable performance of over 8200 hours per year, which is even above specified 7800 hours maximum annual run time.

This installation was done by Volter’s distributor in the UK, Arbor Heat and Power.