New 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.’

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.

New Business Case about the municipality of Fredensborg and their use of Resource Central to book electic cars and thereby saving Money, energy and CO2.

The municipality thus reduced its CO2 emissions by as much as 20.7% in the period 2008-2013 by making energy-saving renovations to its buildings.

One of the many initiatives to reduce the municipality’s own CO2 emissions was to buy nine electric cars for the municipality’s staff for use in connection with inspections, meetings etc.

In order to increase the employees’ use of the new electric cars instead of their own cars, which involves CO2 emissions and mileage allowance expenses for the municipality, five of the nine electric cars have now been registered in the calendar-based booking system Resource Central from Add-On Products.

ResourceFinder, which is part of Resource Central, was already used to book conference rooms, including equipment and refreshments, at the town hall.

The five electric cars were registered in Resource Central in September 2013, and it has been quite a success, says Anders Thorborg Mørk, climate consultant at the municipality’s climate department, and continues:

“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.”

The reason for the last four electric cars not being registered in Resource Central is that they must be available for employees who must be able to go at a moment’s notice.

Saving money, energy and CO2

Due to the simple booking system, an increasing number of employees now use the electric cars instead of their own car. This means lower mileage allowance expenses and reduced CO2 emissions from approx. 120 grams to 0 grams per kilometre driven. At the same time, the electric cars are utilised more efficiently.

As a general rule, using an electric car saves approx. 1 tonnes of CO2 per 10,000 kilometres driven compared to a petrol-powered car. Each of the municipality’s electric cars travels around 10,000 kilometres a year, generating total savings of approx. 9 tonnes of CO2 a year. In addition, the municipality has saved approx. DKK 200,000 in 2014 because the employees are now using the nine electric cars instead of their own.

The decision to implement the Add-On Products system was made in collaboration with the municipality’s IT department, explains Anders Thorborg Mørk, and continues:

“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.”

By using ResourceFinder to keep track of the cars, the municipality has achieved considerable 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 municipality because they stand out on the streets, as shown on the photo.

Municipality of Fredensborg and its energy policy

The Municipality of Fredensborg has adopted the following Climate and Energy Strategy:

1. With a clear focus on energy efficiency, energy savings and increased use of renewable energy, we wish to support the transition to a fossil-free Danish society .
2. The municipality’s contribution to the national and global climate efforts is based on the goal of the Danish Commission on Climate Change Policy and the Danish government of becoming independent of fossil fuels by 2050.

The Municipality of Fredensborg has almost 40,000 inhabitants and is named after the royal castle Fredensborg which was built in the 1720s to celebrate the end of the Great Northern War. The castle is used as a summer residence by the Danish royal couple. Try our free trial or Request a demo.