West Sussex Decarbonisation Feasibility
West Sussex County Council
Services
- Building Surveying
- Electrical Engineering
- Feasibility
- Mechanical Engineering
- Sustainability
- Name
RICHARD GAWTHORPE
GROUP BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR BSc, MRICS Building Surveying, RICS- Telephone
- 07702 556965
- Richard.Gawthorpe@norsegroup.co.uk
- View Biography
Project Summary
BEIS have facilitated a Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme through Salix Finance to support UK-wide incentives to be Net Zero by 2050. The funding for available to the public sector included heat decarbonisation feasibility plans intended to set the foundations of future implementation of fabric efficiency improvements and installation of Low-Zero Carbon (LZC) technology, such as solar photovoltaic panels and heat pumps.
West Sussex County Council (WSCC) approached Hamson Barron Smith (who brought in Norse Consulting) to create a heat decarbonisation plan feasibility study of its maintained schools and corporate estate. The project saw the
assessment of 50 WSCC corporate buildings including care homes, libraries, offices and fire stations.
To secure funding, the plan was required to take a holistic review of the buildings, and included:
• Current energy consumption
• Analysis of the building and its fabric
• An assessment of mechanical and electrical infrastructure
• In-depth analysis of energy saving opportunities and LZC technology together with any energy, carbon, and cost savings
Project Overview
Hamson Barron Smith provided mechanical and electrical engineers who attended 50 sites across West Sussex to obtain building-specific information used to create individual site-specific feasibility plans, which subsequently supported the overall Heat Decarbonisation Plan summary for Salix submission.
Project Impact
The project has seen a number of positive outcomes, including:
• Outlined pathways for local authorities to work towards net zero carbon in their buildings
• Reduced energy demand through the improvement of the building fabric
• Short-to-long term energy cost savings
• Increased the client’s knowledge of what is required to decarbonise its built environment
• Improved public perception of local authorities’ efforts to preserve environment through reduction in carbon emissions WSCC intend to arrive at net zero by 2030 and their built environment contributes 27% of carbon emissions to its total footprint.
The LCSF HDP feasibility report submitted to Salix in March 2022 sets out the opportunities to reduce energy demand and consumption and therefore support the transition to Low-Zero Carbon (LZC) buildings through:
• Analysis of current energy consumption
• Survey of the building (including mechanical and electrical components) and its fabric
• In-depth review and application of energy-saving opportunities and LZC technology together with any energy and cost savings that are specific to each site
• Opportunities provided to provide multiple retrofit pathways for the client to support the transition to net zero in the current built environment
The project will contribute towards reducing WSCC’s carbon emissions and therefore assist with achieving a net zero carbon status if the feasibility studies are implemented. The implementation of LZC technology and building fabric improvements at WSCC could result in an 82% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 when compared to the current building emissions.
The project set the foundations for future building improvements and, if acted on, would also improve the building operations and functionality for its users as well as, in some cases, reducing energy costs (although this is dependent on what LZC technology is implemented) in the longer term if not immediately.