Councillors and officers are working hard on how they intend to update and upgrade Dorset Council’s properties using £19 million of grant funding, awarded by the government to help to tackle the Climate and Ecological Emergency.
This programme of work will be a major step in the Council’s ambition to become zero carbon by 2040 and accelerate several actions in the Climate and Ecological Emergency Strategy Action Plan, helping to meet our 2040 carbon targets without total reliance on capital funds.
The money will go toward switching heating systems away from fossil fuels to heat pumps, improving energy efficiency through measures like insulation, LED lighting and the installation of solar panels on building roofs.
Last year, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) launched the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme. Delivered by Salix Finance, the national scheme offers £1bn of grant funding for capital energy saving projects such as making public buildings more energy efficient and installing low carbon heating measures.
Dorset Council’s Sustainability team, supported by the Assets and Property team, applied for grant funding to deliver low carbon projects across its estate, as this has been identified through its Climate and Ecological Emergency Strategy work as one of the best opportunities for the council to reduce its carbon footprint.
It was the Council’s early focus on the development of a draft strategy before setting target dates for carbon neutrality that put officers on the front foot when applying for the funding, especially as these grants are being awarded on a “first come first served” basis.
By examining schemes and having several projects ready to help deliver the proposed climate change action plan, the Sustainability and Assets and Property teams were able to put the applications together quickly and make a robust case for why the money is needed.
Dorset Council will now develop a works programme for its properties in the coming months. This will include surveys for lighting, fabric, roof structure and solar, as well as systems design for heat pumps, solar panels, LED lighting, building energy management systems and fabric improvements.
The grant will also cover costs for contractors, consultants and work to deliver a retrofit programme of low carbon projects on selected Dorset Council properties. This programme will be targeted at four areas: –
- All properties supplied by oil or LPG, suitable for heat pump heating solutions
- Leisure centres eligible for advanced heat-pump technology for pools and air handling, as has been installed at Gillingham
- A selected number of larger gas-supplied properties where heat pumps or hybrid heat pump solutions are suitable. These will include some larger offices and Tricuro sites
- Installation or upgrade of our Building Energy Management System equipment across most of the estate, enabling improved or continued energy efficiency savings.
Each project will change heating systems from fossil fuels to electric heat pumps, but also backed up by energy reduction through improvements to building fabric (insulation etc.) and switching to LED lighting. Each building will also have renewable energy generation in the form of roof mounted solar panels.
The programme will lead to significant carbon and revenue savings for Dorset Council, estimated to be in the region of 3-3,500 tonnes of carbon per year (approx. 10% DC footprint) with revenue savings from reduced energy use in the region of £400k per year.
There are also wider economic and social value benefits through strengthening low carbon supply chains and the potential for growth in low carbon sector jobs within Dorset and beyond.
All works under this grant must be completed and commissioned by September 2021.
Cllr Ray Bryan, Dorset Council’s Portfolio Holder for Highways, Travel and Environment, said:
“I’m thrilled that we have been awarded this grant funding for such vital work. The £19 million is a huge help in realising our carbon-neutral ambitions as per our Climate and Ecological Emergency declaration and I want to thank Salix, BEIS and all the officers involved in this successful bid.
We were also delighted to discover that Dorset Council has received the largest share of this round of grant awards by a substantial margin. By investing considerable time and effort to get our approach right, we have put ourselves in the best position to successfully bid for this kind of central government funding both now and in the future.
Dorset Council has a leadership role in making sure our beautiful county becomes carbon neutral. This grant will not only fund a range of low carbon technologies within public sector buildings, but hopefully inspire Dorset residents and businesses to see what we’re doing and join us in tackling the threat of climate and ecological change.”
Well done officers And a big thank you to Extinction Rebellion for their significant role both locally and nationally in pushing forward this agenda. However a target of 2030 is required to avert a catastrophic 2 degree rise in earth’s temperature.
This must also include refusal of the proposed Powerfuel waste incinerator
on Portland
I welcome the improvements to council owned buildings but would like to see more advice for property owners.
As the owner of a 19th century cobb cottage with no central heating, I contacted the fuel poverty helpline last year with a view to finding out how I could bring my heating into the 21st century. When prompted, they gave me some information on heat pumps but also suggested gas central heating.
Of course, grab £19million while you can but, please, Dorset Council don’t hide behind this green wash of saving 3,000 tonnes of carbon whilst you are minded to consider emitting 200,000 tonnes of CO2 from the Portland Incinerator, for which there is no need and the SWest is already oversupplied. This is now classified as more dirty than burning coal!
Nice try but how about sticking to your declared Climate Emergency and, oh yes, the overwhelming opposition from Council Tax payers?
Glenn – We are legally obliged to consider all planning applications and the decision on the incinerator has not been made yet. We don’t get to throw out or approve any planning application before considering all the facts, data and evidence – James
Encouraging to see the intentions and proposals.
I think a lot needs to be done for existing private properties on oil central heating.
I’m also curious as to why little incentive is being given to the building industry to build eco housing, use ‘grey’ water, heat pumps, compulsory solar panels, electric charge points etc
At a stroke saving on pollution: use a tiny amount of this multi-milion pound grant, by allowing a right turn for cars leaving Poole Hospital car-park* and, if necessary, using traffic-lights there. *This saves cars intending to pick up disabled patients from the hospital entrance/exit having to negotiate almost a mile round-trip on congested town roads to get from the carpark to the hospital.
Sorry Anthony, but this would be a concern for BCP Council – James
Well done, as stated this current grant will save up to 3500 tonnes of CO2 generated by council owned properties. Dorset’s Climate and Ecological Emergency Strategy states that last year Dorset households produced 174,002 tonnes of waste resulting in the emission of 18,768 tonnes of CO2e. When will you announce how you will specifically address this much greater emissions problem and is there a further grant application to cover this?
Thanks Ken, but there’s only so much the Council are responsible for. As per our Climate and Ecological Emergency declaration, we’re working on all the things we have control or influence over. But the biggest measures (eg. cars and industry) are largely outside of our remit and need to be addressed on a national level. We’ll be joining with Councils all over the country to lobby central government to take action, but the biggest impacts will be had from the general public changing their habits and behaviour – James
Gillingham has plans for 1500 new homes. How will you justify at least 1500 more cars on our rural roads with their environmental damage.
Free parking at Council car parks for electric cars?
Good to see the council are trying. They do have to be aware of the unforeseen consequence of some of their good intensions.
If you encourage people to put heat pump type heating into older type houses without the very modern insulation values, the heating will produce more carbon than the older heating systems.
Another example they put a short cycleway in Gillingham in the hope that more people will cycle, then put a set of traffic lights for a supermarket turn off. They diverted the cycleway onto the pavement with a button operated crossing that stops the traffic in all directions to let the cyclist cross the junction. To stop a car from 25 mph and bring it back up to speed will cost extra carbon. If 100 average cars do this start stop, you will have to get one of those car drivers to swap 50 car miles to cycle trips. This is just to make it carbon neutral. That’s not accounting for the power used by the standing traffic, or the power to run the lights. Now if one car wants to come out of the supermarket, in even low traffic conditions all the traffic has to stop in both directions.
The council want to cut carbon but for some strange reason want put traffic lights on every junction. I agree there is a need for traffic lights for one or two hours of the day. Making traffic lights part time would give a massive carbon reduction across the whole of Dorset. It’s cheep to do.
Property owners don’t seem to get any help. We have already had solar panels and led lighting and all electric heating installed at our own expense. Would like to add heat pump and battery storage but cost is prohibitive. Can only do so much on a pension when not on benefits.
I am delighted to hear the news of such a generous £19M government funding to reduce our Dorset Carbon footprint.
Well done to all those involved. Such success is most cheering in this Gloomy time of the Covid-19 Pandemic.
Well done.
£19m invested in council properties- any of this going into the council owned domestic housing stock?
Installing a heat pump in an existing property in some cases with solid walls (and there are many of these in Dorset) and without an expansive and indeed expensive intention at the same time to install under floor heating will be both inefficient and probably a waste of money for anyone contemplating such a build.
Good luck with getting this work done by September this year.
Lynda Coombe.
Congratulations Dorset on winning this money .
Can we hope that a grant system might be extended to Housing Association’s
to encourage and support the installation of ground source heat pumps in the housing stock?
Is this £19m for use in the BCP area or other areas in the larger Dorset?
The funding is for Dorset Council buildings and infrastructure – it doesn’t include anything in the BCP area.