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Council continues to decarbonise buildings

A photo of an air source heat pump being installed at Ballard House

The Council has taken a further step towards carbon neutrality with the installation of air source heat pumps on two buildings.

The Lord Mayor’s residence at Elliot Terrace and the main office accommodation at Ballard House have both had the devices fitted this week. An air source heat pump transfers heat from the outside air to water and is used an an alternative to using gas for heating. 

In addition, 195 solar panels have been installed on a newly insulated roof at Ballard along while secondary glazing and draught proofing has been added at Elliot Terrace.

The improvements are all part of the Council's Corporate Carbon Reduction Plan, which focusses on what the Council can do in-house to help make Plymouth carbon neutral by 2030.

Councillor James Stoneman, Cabinet member for Climate Change, said: "We know that there is a lot to do in order to get to achieve our ambitious carbon saving targets, which is why the Council must lead the way in schemes like this.

"We must be able to practice what we preach and so to drastically reduce the amount of carbon wasted on two of our buildings is significant milestone."

The plan to decarbonise nine Council buildings is mostly funded by the £3.9 million Salix Finance Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.

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.

Also in the scope of the project are the historic Guildhall, the Council House, Poole Farm, Crownhill Court, Frederick Street Centre, an office building at Prince Rock Depot and the listed Pounds House.

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.

A photo of Councillor James Stoneman on the roof at Ballard House

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.

Meanwhile, 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.