Green loading

Firstly, the power consumption of the crane was kept to a minimum. Additionally, the system transportation requirements were considered. The typical power consumption of an average tower crane is 249 kW. The LoadSwift consumes only 37kW.

Assume five lifts of material per hour as a reasonable load rate - the equivalent of 49.8kW hours power consumption (249/5) for a tower crane per lift or 7.4kW hours (37/5) per lift for the LoadSwift. A typical construction site may have an eight hour working day and 20 days of material loading. Using the conversion factors supplied by the UK's Carbon Trust and DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), a tower crane would generate 4672 kg of carbon, whereas the LoadSwift only generates 694kg of carbon.

In Nov 2002, the UK Secretary of State for Transport stated in the House of Commons that typically an articulated diesel truck generated 403 kg of carbon based on a journey of 270 miles (435 km). The "LoadSwift" loading system was designed to enable the complete system to be loaded onto one truck instead of two separate ones, therefore saving another 800 kg of carbon generation on each journey or 1,600 kg for the delivery and collection of each system.

The reduction of carbon generation for the total project amounts to over 5.5 tonnes of pollution that would otherwise be pumped into our atmosphere. The cost to the environment should also be considered along with the amount of pollution generated. The LoadSwift loading system can be shown to produce an almost 80% greater loading efficiency than alternative loading methods and the typical hire cost is a quarter of a tower crane, therefore it is a very cost effective alternative to existing methods of loading materials into buildings.