In a first for a local cooncil in Scotland, nine public buildings in Edinburgh – including seven schools, the Usher Hall and the toon hall – are to undergo energy efficiency upgrades as part of an energy performance contract between E.ON’s energy efficiency specialists Matrix and the city council.
The upgrade programme is designed to reduce energy consumption across the nine cooncil buildings – saving over £330,000 in energy costs and reducing carbon emissions by more than 1,500 tonnes per year.
The £2.1 million improvement scheme could result in energy costs at those sites being cut by almost a quarter and will be carried out under an agreement that means E.ON will guarantee the energy savings from the implementation of a number of energy conservation measures.
The project is part of Edinburgh’s plan that to reduce carbon emissions across the capital by over 40% by 2020. It is being funded mainly through a scheme which provides interest-free loans to public sector bodies to finance energy efficiency projects. The improvements are ‘guaranteed’ to pay for themselves in eight years.
Dave Lewis, Managing Director of Matrix, said: “Edinburgh is looking to significantly reduce its carbon emissions and energy costs by 2020. The scope, scale and complexity of solutions we can offer customers will certainly help them on that journey, saving them on their energy and maintenance costs which can then be reinvested for the benefit of local residents.
“Being chosen as Edinburgh’s preferred partner is a sign of their confidence in our ability to develop the best solutions for them. We are already in discussions with the council about phase two of this project which we hope will see further significant carbon and financial savings achieved.”
Cooncillor Lesley Hinds, Environment Committee Convenor, said: “This will be part of an ongoing programme of work initially supported by the Scottish Government and we will look forward to taking future phases of energy retrofits through the Scottish Government’s new framework.”
** ‘Cooncil’ is the Scots language word for ‘council’ and is not pejorative:
Dictionar o’ the Scots Leid / Dictionary of the Scots Language – http://goo.gl/7xo5Bk
Pixie Energy is an incubator and a facilitator of strategic research and project work, focusing on energy regulation, policy and markets at the local and national level. Find out more about Pixie Energy