Fredensborg Municipality

Resource Booking System Optimises Use of Electric Cars in the Municipality of Fredensborg

“With a clear focus on energy efficiency, energy savings and increased use of renewable energy, the Municipality of Fredensborg wishes to support the transition to a fossil-free Danish society.”

Municipality of Fredensborg, Climate and Energy Strategy

This is one of the key messages in the Municipality of Fredensborg’s Climate and Energy Strategy, which was adopted unanimously by the town council in 2011. Since then, the strategy has generated a large number of initiatives designed to put the municipality at the forefront of the climate efforts in Denmark with a view to reducing both the energy consumption and CO2 emissions of the municipality and its citizens. As part of these initiatives, the municipality successfully reduced its CO2 emissions by 20.7% in the period from 2008 to 2013 by making energy-saving renovations to its buildings.

Customer Profile

Country: Denmark

Industry: Government

Customer Profile: The Municipality of Fredensborg has adopted a clear focus on reducing CO2 emissions through a variety of strategies, including the use of electric cars for staff. Their goal is to support Denmark’s transition to a fossil-free society.

Electric Cars for a Greener Future

One of the municipality’s initiatives to reduce CO2 emissions was to purchase nine electric cars for staff use during inspections, meetings, and other duties. In order to increase the usage of these electric cars instead of personal cars, which generate CO2 emissions and incur mileage allowance expenses for the municipality, five of the nine electric cars were registered in the Outlook calendar-based booking system, Resource Central from Add-On Products.

“The almost 400 employees at town hall can now quickly get an overview of the current status of the electric cars and reserve a car straight away for the requested time, unless all five cars are booked. Because the user interface is the same as the one they use for conference room booking, there has been no need for supplementary training.”

Anders Thorborg Mørk, Climate Consultant, Municipality of Fredensborg

ResourceFinder, which is part of Resource Central, was already in use for booking conference rooms, including equipment and refreshments at the town hall, and it was an easy decision to expand its usage to the electric cars.

Saving Money, Energy, and CO2

Thanks to the simple and user-friendly booking system, more employees are now opting to use the electric cars instead of their personal vehicles. This has resulted in lower mileage allowance expenses and a significant reduction in CO2 emissions. The carbon emissions from a petrol-powered car are approximately 120 grams per kilometer, whereas the electric cars generate zero CO2 emissions per kilometer.

As a general rule, each electric car saves about 1 tonne of CO2 per 10,000 kilometers driven compared to a petrol-powered car. Since each electric car travels around 10,000 kilometers annually, the municipality saves approximately 9 tonnes of CO2 per year. Furthermore, in 2014 alone, the municipality saved about DKK 200,000 because staff used the electric cars instead of their personal vehicles.

“Using an electric car saves approximately 1 tonne of CO2 per 10,000 kilometers driven compared to a petrol-powered car. Each of the municipality’s electric cars travels around 10,000 kilometers a year, generating total savings of approximately 9 tonnes of CO2 a year.”

Anders Thorborg Mørk, Climate Consultant, Municipality of Fredensborg

Implementation of Resource Central

The decision to implement Resource Central for booking the electric cars was made in collaboration with the municipality’s IT department. The municipality had already been using Resource Central for conference room bookings, so it was a seamless transition for staff.

“I knew that we already had a booking system for our conference rooms, Resource Central, which could also be used for the electric cars, so it was an easy choice. Also in light of the fact that our staff knew the system already.”

Anders Thorborg Mørk, Climate Consultant, Municipality of Fredensborg

By using ResourceFinder to keep track of the electric cars, the municipality has achieved substantial savings in terms of CO2 emissions, fuel consumption, and mileage allowance expenses. In addition, the electric cars have strengthened the municipality’s image as a climate-friendly entity, as they are often visible on the streets, showcasing their commitment to sustainability.

Resource Central: The Solution

Resource Central is the booking solution for Microsoft Outlook and Exchange, allowing users to book resources such as meeting rooms, electric cars, catering, AV equipment, and other services across the organization. The system automates the handling of orders from different service providers, streamlining operations and saving time. Advantages of the solution:

• Booking of electric cars completed in about 2 minutes
• Comprehensive overview of available electric cars
• Familiar system for staff (already used for conference room bookings)
• Significant savings in CO2 emissions and mileage allowance expenses

For more information on the Municipality of Fredensborg:
Website: www.fredensborg.dk