At Glencoldon Cottage, the main objective of collecting resource, waste and carbon emissions data is to help inform ongoing action to minimise these and, ultimately, to reach sustainable “net-zero” operation.  Only by identifying “hot spots” of energy + water consumption, raw material / product use, and waste generation can we prioritise our action to reduce and minimise.  Other recognised methods for prioritising are also used; for example, “waste hierarchy” principles guide us, where elimination, reduction, reuse and recycling are all preferentially considered before any sort of “disposal”. 

We have blogged on many climate and other environmental solutions we’ve implemented!

Glencoldon Cottage occupancy is still fairly inconsistent due to the combination of being a relatively new self-catering business (started Oct 2017) and the closures / diversions of the pandemic.  The latter has also made it more difficult to establish a representative “baseline” year from which to demonstrate our progress.  However, we have done our best to provide the fullest picture possible (where we have had to estimate, we have been conservative).  Please also have a look at our derived current Carbon Footprint vs baseline, which also outlines our potential pathway to “Net Zero” by 2030.

The table below shows our most recent representative data and information summarising performance Oct 2017 to April 2022:

  RESOURCE / “WASTE”Total Annual Quantity  Specific Resource Consumption (per occupied-night)Period / Dates + Comment
Oil – Kerosene(864 L /
8940 kWh)
(3.6 L / 36.8kWh)BRP *
From April 2022 – Zero, eliminated entirely
Solar thermal (on-site panels)Oct 2017 – April 2022 reduced oil consumption
From April 2022 – monitoring system enabled
Electricity (grid)1160 kWh5.48 kWhBRP *  
Electricity – Solar (on-site PVs)00From April 2022 – Installed, operating + monitored  
Wood fuel (local)0.67 tNot meaningful measure, as highly seasonal  
Water76 000 L357 LBRP *  
Waste – landfill442 kg2.1 kgApril 2021 – April 22
Highland Council collected data 
Waste – recycled208 kg1.0 kgApril 2021 – April 22  
Highland Council collected data 
*  BRP = best representative period = Sept 2018 – Sept 2019

Energy usage is clearly seasonal due to the cottage being located in an area that records both the highest and lowest temperatures Scotland ever experiences; although this effect is minimised by above-spec insulation in all areas.

We have made very significant changes to our energy systems in March – April 2022, so these figures will be refreshed once meaningful data for solar systems and grid electricity has been collected.

Please contact Derek any time if you have any queries or would like further information on our resource consumption and waste generation:

[email protected]