North East Lincolnshire Council has secured £4,821,879 of Government funding to help deliver carbon emission reductions to nine of its council buildings.
The funding from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, through the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme Phase 3c, delivered by Salix, will reduce the future environmental impact and running costs of the buildings through heat decarbonisation and energy efficiency improvements. The council will provide match funding for the project of £657,529.
In 2021, NELC adopted its Net Zero Carbon Roadmap, which set out delivery plans to achieve its carbon neutral ambitions by 2040. Low carbon estate is one of these milestones and this grant funding will support work to decarbonise the council buildings and improve their impact on the environment. In December 2022 a Motion was approved by Full Council to accelerate NELC’s strategic priority, to achieving net zero by the Council and its assets by 2030.
The works will involve replacing ageing, fossil-fuel reliant systems with low carbon alternative technologies, as well as building fabric improvements and energy efficiency measures where appropriate for the buildings. The grant funding includes design, engineering, construction, and project management costs.
A survey of Council Assets, informed by an assessment of energy consumption data, highlighted buildings for prioritisation based on where the highest tCO2e would be saved. The final selection was approved at both the Environment Board and Estates Programme Board prior to the submission of the application.
The buildings included are: • Immingham Swimming Pool • Humber Seafood Institute • Grimsby Leisure Centre • Grimsby Crematorium • Grimsby Education and Development Centre • Cromwell House • Poplar Road Business Units • Poplar Road Offices • Doughty Road Depot Offices.
To further impact its net zero ambition, the council has also embarked on an ambitious property rationalisation programme which will deliver efficiency savings, reduce the carbon footprint, support new ways of working, drive footfall and generate capital receipts which can be applied to support the wider transformation programme. The council’s aim is for North East Lincolnshire to be carbon Net Zero by 2050.
Net Zero means reducing carbon emissions as much as possible and balancing the remainder through investing in programmes that increase carbon storage, such as planting more trees or artificial storage solutions.
Cllr Phillip Jackson, Leader of the Council, said:
“We’ve set an ambitious target to be a carbon-neutral council by 2030. Meeting this target is one of the biggest projects the Council has undertaken and is vital in mitigating the damage done by polluting carbon emissions.
“This grant funding will enable us to take a big leap forward in reducing the energy consumption in our buildings, which benefits the environment and lowers running costs, and ultimately helps keep council tax down.
“One of the biggest contributors to our carbon emissions is the energy we use to heat our buildings.
“We can reduce these emissions by increasing the energy-efficiency of our buildings, using our buildings to generate power and by switching to renewable sources of energy.
“The works we are carrying out now are a further step in our mission to becoming carbon Net Zero and follow other energy-efficiency improvements completed in recent years, such as converting our street lights to low-energy LED bulbs, upgrading our buildings and introducing more electric vehicles in our fleet.”
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