STBAH Case Study | Woolly Shepherd: Natural Acoustic Sound Absorbing Solutions

Woolly Shepherd: Natural Acoustic Sound Absorbing Solutions

Wellington-based startup Woolly Shepherd founded in 2011 produce sustainable acoustic solutions from natural fibres and British wool to treat noisy, reverberant rooms.  The acoustic panels enhance the environment, reducing background noise and improving speech intelligibility, thereby creating a less stressful and more productive space.

Woolly Shepherd have worked with a diverse range of customers ensuring that venues such as restaurants and schools have the best acoustics by using the right products for the relevant environment.

Woolly Shepherd initially applied for business consultation support through the funded ERDF programme, the Sustainable Technologies Business Acceleration Hub - a business support programme for innovating sustainable companies in the West of England. Following an initial meeting it became apparent that Woolly Shepherd were requiring help on a life cycle assessment (LCA)*.

The STBAH team introduced Woolly Shepherd to Prof Marcelle McManus at the Centre for Sustainable and Circular Technologies (CSCT) at the University of Bath for a possible collaboration on research. The project would focus on conducting an LCA of the production of the wool based sound insulation product from the point of wool processing to installation.  The project would facilitate knowledge exchange from the University to the SME as well as having the potential to lead to more sustainable products, both in terms of the environment, economics and acoustic treatments.

EPSRC IAA funded research was awarded (IAA prefix 19-03963) for three months and research assistant Rowan Green worked with Marcelle McManus and Woolly Shepherd to undertake a Life Cycle Assessment. Rowan had recently completed her MEng in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bath. 

Based at the University of Bath, Rowan collated the data necessary for the LCA, she then used that data to complete a LCA of the acoustic treatment and provided suggestions for improving the cost of the product both in terms of expense and to the environment.

Prof Marcelle McManus, Professor of Energy and Environmental Engineering, who was involved with the project, said,

“Working with Woolly Shepherd was an excellent opportunity to share knowledge of LCA and really benefit from applying and trailing methods and approaches with industry. We were happy to be able to identify where critical areas for environmental improvement lay, and it was great to work with such a passionate and enthusiastic partner.”

Feedback about the support Woolly Shepherd received, Tim Simmons, Managing Director, Woolly Shepherd, said,

“As a company working hard to make its products and its business model as sustainable as possible, it is vital that we are able to produce independently verified evidence of how we assess our progress. However, as a relatively small business with only eight staff and a very modest turnover we have to choose very carefully how our profits are spent. Therefore we were delighted to discover the STBAH with their access to a wealth of expertise and knowledge in measuring life cycle impacts of materials and products.

The whole process from initial meetings with the University of Bath staff through to our final, dissemination meeting was simple fast and effective, requiring very little additional input from ourselves once the process was underway.

We now have an independently produced LCA for our main product and a valuable, well-structured starting point from which to move thing forward. Thank you!"

The collaboration of the project has helped develop a new partnership between the SME The Woolly Shepherd and the University of Bath.

For further information about Woolly Shepherd visit the website.

If you are interested in learning more about the STBAH programme and how to apply for this fully funded bespoke support, visit the website, here.

* LCA, also known as Life Cycle Analysis, eco balance and cradle-to-grave analysis - a technic to assess environmental impacts associated with all the stages of a product’s life from raw materials extractions through material processing, manufacture distribution, use, repair and maintenance and disposal or recycling.