Not one, but two unique environmentally friendly automatic door systems developed by ECO Automation Ltd were unveiled at a special launch event held recently at the House of Lords hosted by Lord Mackenzie of Farmwellgate OBE LL.B.
Founded less than two years ago, the Corby-based company has produced two new products developed in line with the Government's Low Carbon Initiative, namely Eco Swing and Eco Slide, both of which are energy efficient automatic door operating systems with Eco Swing requiring no mains power whatsoever.
Having set up a Research and Development division, the team at ECO Automation quickly identified a vast number of "energy efficient" automatic door operators already on the market, all of which required mains power. The revolutionary Eco Swing is a standard door closer which operates by storing kinetic energy through its normal open and close motion. The system has the added bonus of also being able to facilitate automatic opening by way of push pads or key fobs when required, all this despite not being connected to mains power.
In addition, ECO Automation has developed an energy efficient sliding door operator Eco Slide, which features a 'plug and play' design for radars, sensors and control switches greatly reducing installation time, together with a low wattage cycle making the system energy efficient and over 95% recyclable.
Gillian Ward-Stokes, an innovation advisor with the Sustainable Construction iNet which recognises and supports business initiatives throughout the East Midlands attended the event and was clearly impressed with what the company has produced so far.
"These fantastic products, which on the face of it seem highly marketable are exactly the type of innovation and product development we at Sustainable Construction iNet would look to encourage, whether that be through business advice, expert knowledge or grant support," commented Gillian, "I was pleased to be part of this exciting launch and am looking forward to developing an ongoing relationship with the team at ECO Automation in the future."
ECO Automation's director of business development Anant Peshavaria said: "Eco Swing is currently being assessed for a UK Patent grant and large scale production is planned for the last quarter of 2010 with availability from February 2011. Eco Slide has passed full EMC testing and CE marking and will be available from September 2010. We are looking forward to working with Gillian and the team at Sustainable Construction iNet as we continue to refine our existing products and develop new ones. This is a very exciting time for a new business like ECO Automation."
To date the Sustainable Construction iNet has helped more than 35 businesses in the East Midlands region with targeted funding support, and more than 150 with specialist advice & guidance. It also aims to run 12 - 15 events throughout 2010 and expects to see upwards of 1500 firms utilising the network.
One of four iNets, it aims to achieve business growth and development and ultimately, create new jobs. Each iNet is a regional consortium, funded by East Midlands Development Agency (emda) and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), which incorporates a range of stakeholders across businesses, universities and other bodies, who have shared interest and expert knowledge of the particular sector.