Nick Hill of Business Daily reports on a Yorkshire company to showcase green tech for RBS, Envirowater Ltd.

Two Yorkshire-based firms will now have the chance to trial their eco-innovations in the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) buildings.

Free Flow Valve from Envirowater, based in Halifax, is a retro-fit, water free urinal system which saves water, prevents bad odour and reduces costs.

Supergreen, based in Morley, will be testing its infra store electrical thermal storage system, which ensures heating and hot water requirements are met with optimal energy interest.

These products are among 12 eco-innovations which will now be tested in the bank’s Trinity Quay building in Bristol and NatWest’s Fishponds branch in the city, which is set to become its very first carbon neutral branch.

The bank launched the RBS Bristol Innovation Gateway in June as part of its engagement with Bristol European Green Capital 2015 and specifically Bristol 2015′s Go Green scheme.

The challenge has three aims: to help RBS and NatWest save more energy, water and waste; to nurture new ideas and help innovators and SME’s to accelerate their ideas to market.

Matt Hatcher, NatWest’s director of commercial banking for Bristol, said “Taking part in the Bristol Go Green initiative was the perfect opportunity to introduce the RBS Innovation Gateway to the city and to launch a search for new, exciting and innovative ways to improve resource efficiency across our properties in Bristol.

“We had 93 applications and it was a tough task to select the final 12 to be trialed. If those innovations prove to be successful in our Bristol properties we hope to introduce them across the entire RBS estate to help us achieve our targets around sustainability.”

“This test-bed also gives us an excellent opportunity to learn which innovations may be of use to our customers. It’s a win-win for the companies who now have the chance to trial their products in our buildings and for our customers who will benefit from what we learn.”

The Bristol Innovation Gateway is just one of the several RBS Innovation Gateway Challenges that provide innovators and SME’s with the chance to trial innovative resouce efficiency solutions on the RBS estate. By offering access to the RBS property portfolio as a test bed, RBS can trial new technologies, obtain real data, and achieve long term, significant changes to the resource efficiency of its buildings.