Greene King unveils a new dawn for sustainable outdoor heating

Greene King is trialling an innovative and environmentally friendly way to keep pub customers warm in beer gardens when the air temperature drops, thanks to an industry-first solar pergola.

Early indications at the trial pub show that the solar pergola is a more sustainable way to heat outdoor areas by capturing the sun’s power. This heating method reduces the pub’s carbon footprint.

The first solar pergola has been installed at the Ock n Dough, a popular Hungry Horse pub in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. At the push of a button, it brings a natural warmth for people seated under the pergola.

Greene King is working with UK-based Solar Polar, which has created the solar pergola. The test site has a 2.5m x 2.5m wide and 2.4m high solar pergola. The solar power is generated by capturing the sun’s heat (even on cloudy days) in solar collector vacuum tubes which have a black inner surface which absorbs the heat, this heat is then stored as hot water in an insulated tank. The hot water can then be pumped through the network of channels on the solar panel creating a warm surface which radiates the heat to the customers. This is simply controlled by the touch of a button.

Work is underway to try retro-fitting the solar heating equipment to existing garden structures while this initial trial is monitored. These could be larger structures than the trial pergola, capturing more solar power and reducing the carbon footprint even further.

Additionally, there is a future potential being explored for the hot water stored in the tanks to be used in the pub’s day-to-day operations.

Following successful factory testing, it was installed in May. Daily monitoring has found that expected annual savings could be around 300 kWh electricity and 70 kg of carbon a year. Solar Polar says this is the equivalent energy needed to boil a kettle to make almost 12,000 mugs of tea.

Paul Garland, Greene King’s property director said: “Seeing this solar pergola in place and enjoyed by our pub customers is really pleasing. We are working hard with a whole host of businesses and new and emerging technology to decarbonise our pubs and this is not always very visible for our customers. Here, we are tapping into a natural resource and customers can see and feel its benefit in action while at the same time it helps to reduce our carbon footprint.

“We have many lovely beer gardens and we know people like al fresco eating and drinking but the British weather isn’t always favourable. This is a promising and bright start for a sustainable outdoor heating solution.”

General Manager at the Ock n Dough, Matthew Gist added: “The feedback from customers has been really good. The novelty of it is a good talking point and they like the fact that it warms them up with natural solar power.”

Michael Reid, Solar Polar’s chief technical officer explained: “This is the first of its kind and we are delighted to see it in the pub garden with customers enjoying its warmth. Already, the performance and cost and emissions savings are pleasing. Our summers aren’t always warm and when the air temperature is just 8°C, customers can feel comfortably warm when dining outside under the solar pergola. The feedback from customers has been wonderful. It creates a lovely warmth, not an intense directional heat. Of course, the best news is that it is a sustainable outdoor heating method.”

This highlights just one of the many ways that Greene King is innovating to tackle its carbon footprint, with a net zero target of 2040, working in collaboration with partners and trialling new opportunities.