A number of Council buildings are set to be drastically decarbonised thanks to new government funding.
The historic Guildhall, the Council House, Ballard House, the Lord Mayor’s residence at Elliot Terrace, Poole Farm, Crownhill Court, Frederick Street Centre, 1 Derriford Business Park, an office building at Prince Rock Depot and the listed Pounds House are all included in the project.
The £3.9 million grant comes from Salix Finance’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme and will allow a number of improvements to help reduce the Council’s carbon footprint.
Salix administer funding which is provided by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and can be used on a range of carbon reduction projects.
The funding commitment allows the Council to tick off yet another action on its Corporate Carbon Reduction Plan, which sets out a series of steps necessary to help the bid to become carbon neutral by 2030.
Estimates suggest that once complete, these improvements could save more than 400 tonnes of carbon per year, which us the equivalent to an average new car driving over 2 million miles or driving from Lands’ End to John o Groats 2,600 times
Councillor Maddi Bridgeman, Cabinet member for the Environment and Street Scene, said: “This is a huge step forward in plans to tackle the climate crisis and I’m really pleased we’ve been able to secure the funding.
“I know that for a lot of people out there, the Council changing how it heats its buildings isn’t ground breaking news. But for us, it’s about setting an example.
“We have loads of ideas of how we can encourage behaviour changes that will lead to positive outcomes for the city but before we do that, we must have our own house in order and projects just like this will help us to achieve our goals.”
As part of the project, all the sites in scope will get new high temperature air source heat pumps. In addition, insulation will be installed at Ballard House and secondary glazing at Elliot Terrace to reduce the heating needed.
In the city centre, the high temperature air source heat pump located at the Guildhall will be extended to provide district heating connections to the Council House and Combined Courts.
Solar panels will also be installed at Council House to help the electrical demand of the heat pump. Works in this area will benefit future developments at the Civic Centre.
Solar panels and batteries, to ensure any unused solar can be stored and contribute to evening heat pump demand, will be installed at Crownhill Court and on the admin building at Prince Rock depot.
Work is underway and expected to conclude in the spring.
More information on the Council’s plans to tackle climate change can be found at www.plymouth.gov.uk/climateemergency