The Lighthouse has become Scotland’s Centre for Architecture and Design and accommodates a major retailer, offices and an Architecture and Design Centre.  The Lighthouse hosts the renewable energy advice centre for the promotion of renewable energies.  Natural lighting, active solar systems, photovoltaic, modules and passive ventilation and cooling systems are implemented.

Objectives and target audience

A key objective throughout the scheme was to produce an environmentally sensitive design that achieves the lowest practical energy demand through the utilisation of innovation in the context of an existing building.
As the centrepiece of Glasgow’s response to it’s selection as European City of Architecture and Design in 1999 the building has been used to demonstrate opportunities of urban renewable energy.
The “Viewing Gallery” an integral part of the building’s refurbishment was designed to achieve low energy demand through effective passive solar design, and improved thermal performance standards achieved.
The design team then used energy simulation software to produce a renewable energy solution capable of meeting a significant portion of this reduced demand.
The key benefit to the adoption of this strategy is that power is generated when it is required and can be used directly as oppose to exporting to the grid.
In order to describe the scheme further this report will first consider the methods used to reduce the energy demand and then describe the renewable energy technologies which will meet a significant proportion.

Financial Resources and Partners involved

Funds for this have been provided through the European Commission’s THERMIE programme set up to encourage renewable energy strategies in cities. Glasgow City Council and fellow members of the “REStart” project, including Turin, Barcelona, Lyon and Dublin, are working together on energy measures to reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
Techno-investment 1.028.101 euro.
Project Team :
Glasgow City Council
Scottish Enterprise Glasgow
Energy & Sustainability consultant ECD Energy & Environment.

Process

The design brief for the Viewing Gallery required the development of a low energy scheme that will not have a negative impact on the aesthetics of the existing
building.  The technologies chosen to meet these
criteria included the following components:-
Low emission argon filled double glazing to reduce winter heat loss and summer solar gain;
Transparent insulation materials with integral shading provided to facades to reduce winter heat loss whilst increasing daylight utilisation and solar heat gain;
Improved insulation standards over and above building regulations were applied where it was practical to do so.
For the building as a whole it was important to minimise the major energy demands as far as practically possible.  The following technologies were used to achieve this:-

• Illuminance responsive lighting control designed to maximise use of natural daylighting & minimise use of artificial lighting;
• Displacement ventilation strategy where the extract air velocity is varied in accordance with the number of people in the space controlled by CO2 sensors located in the extract;
• Underfloor heating system installed to maximise operating efficiency of gas fired condensing boilers;
• Within the “Viewing Gallery” the following renewable energy technologies were used to meet deman:-
• Facade mounted PV (10m2) with integral heat recovery;
• roof mounted ducted wind turbines (DWT) with integral Photovoltaic (PV) cells;
• The Ducted Wind Turbines (DWT) produce electricity predominantly during the winter period where windy conditions occur frequently and the PV facade can contribute little.

In the summer period when winds are lighter the PV facade is predominantly responsible for supplying the power. During the spring and autumn periods when winds are light and the solar contribution reduced both systems contribute.
This combination of the way in which the systems are used gives rise to an embedded renewable energy approach that is ideal for the climate of Glasgow, this could only have been achieved by using the simulation software to direct the design from the outset.

Results

Saving  3.432 kWh/y, Renewable energy 32%.

Critical Success Factors / Challenges

Charles Berry, Managing Director of Scottish Power’s Energy Supply business, said Scottish Power was uniquely placed in the energy sector to offer a green energy scheme. The company was an experienced renewable energy generator with a well-established customer service infrastructure, including a new multi-million pound utility billing system.
“We believe that ‘Green Energy’ is an ideal opportunity for customers and other stakeholders who want to encourage renewable energy and we are delighted our first customer, The Lighthouse, shares this aim,” he added

Lighthouse Director Stuart MacDonald said:-
“The building provides an exciting illustration of how sustainable energy features can be incorporated seamlessly in to the overall design, even within the city centre, and Green Energy also fits in well with the concept.
“In his own work Mackintosh demonstrated a respect for nature and awareness of energy conservation and we are sure he would have approved”.

The process that led to the project began in 2002. At that time GSHP technology had been shown to work in new-build homes. Penwith Housing Association completed the first social housing new build project to include them in 1998, and several other social housing providers had also proved their effectiveness in new dwellings.
In Cornwall the recently formed Cornwall Sustainable Energy Partnership was drawing attention to fuel poverty, the lack of energy efficiency in many homes, and the connections between these issues and climate change.
There was (and still is) a major need for affordable heating in homes in areas where mains gas is not available, preferably from a low carbon technology. Chy An Gweal was chosen as a highly appropriate site. Off the gas network, the residents struggled to cope with solid fuel heating, and whilst the homes were well insulated, the heating systems caused both high running costs and CO2 emissions. It presented an ideal opportunity to demonstrate the potential for a renewable energy technology to solve this problem. Denys Stephens of Penwith HA, Dr Robin Curtis of GeoScience and Tim German, manager of CSEP, discussed the idea of fitting GSHP’s to existing homes. This had been a theoretical possibility for some time, but the logistics of producing a replicable and affordable method of installing it in many homes had not been addressed. It was decided to take up this challenge in Cornwall.

Objectives and target audience

• To demonstrate that ground source heat pumps could provide a renewable energy solution for space and water heating in fuel poor homes.
• To identify and solve the technical problems associated with fitting ground source heat pumps in existing homes.
• To give residents the choice of the technology to be used in their homes and assess the acceptability of a renewable energy system to end users.

Financial Resources and Partners involved

Project Costs
Total cost: € 233,000.00
Funding: Clear Skies Programme: € 102,000.00
Penwith District Council: € 37,000.00
Penwith Housing Association: € 94,000.00
Project Partners

• Penwith Housing Association
• EarthEnergy Limited ( part of the GeoScience consultancy at the time of the project) – Geothermal Energy company, specialising in Ground Source Heat Pump systems to provide Renewable Heating and Cooling for buildings across the UK.
• Powergen: Powergen is part of E.ON, the world’s largest investor owned energy company.
• Penwith District Council: Local Authority for the Penwith area
• Cornwall Sustainable Energy Partnership: Cornwall Sustainable Energy Partnership (CSEP) was established in 2001. CSEP’s aim is to create a sustainable energy future for Cornwall and the isles of Scilly by actively integrating sustainable energy into public, private and community sector strategies.

Process

In June 2003 Penwith Housing Association obtained a grant offer for the project from the Clear Skies programme. Additional funding was also received from Penwith District Council. From this point the project moved into a detailed design and contract preparation stage. This work was carried out by Denys Stephens of Penwith HA and Dr Robin Curtis of GeoScience with technical support from John Parker on behalf of Powergen. The support of Mike Newell of Powergen contributed significantly to the success of the project.
A number of key design decisions were made:
! Vertical borehole systems were chosen as the best means of installing ground loops to allow installation in small gardens.

• Positions of existing services on the site were checked and recorded very carefully to avoid any possibility of damage during drilling work.
• Heat pumps were to be installed in small purpose built enclosures outside the dwellings. This avoided loss of internal space in the small homes.
• Heat distribution inside the homes would be by high water content radiator systems. The systems were designed to include the special hot water cylinder supplied with the Powergen Heatplant kit, which delivers 100% of the hot water system requirements.

Alongside the design a process contracts were arranged for drilling/groundwork and heat distribution systems.
Following the appointment of contractors the work on site was carried out between January and July 2004.
During the course of the work it became clear that whilst installing plumbing systems to suit ground source heat pumps was not unduly different to conventional heating systems, the challenges for a social housing landlord in employing a drilling contractor were considerable. So whilst the work was completed to a good standard and functioned well, there was a question mark against the likelihood of other social housing providers being willing to replicate the procurement method used for this project. In response to this an enhancement of the Powergen HeatPlant scheme was developed, which was extended to include complete installation of the ground source heat pump, including all of the groundwork, for a fixed price. This effectively removed the most significant element of risk from future projects, and was perhaps a turning point in establishing the viability of GSHP technology in the UK social housing sector.

Results

At Chy An Gweal itself the residents were happy with their new central heating systems. The project has served as living proof that ground source heat pumps can deliver space and hot water heating at an affordable cost, coupled with low CO2 emissions. Shortly after completion the project won a South West Green Energy Award (Best Community Project 2004) and the 2004 National Home Improvement Council Award for ‘Innovative Approaches to Central Heating and Domestic Hot Water Installations.’ In 2006 the project was awarded the Building & Engineer Awards ‘Energy Efficient Project of the Year.’ These awards have done much to raise awareness of the technology. One of the most important outcomes of the project is that it has encouraged other social housing landlords to install ground source heat pumps. In the EST Innovation Programme funded project ‘Closing the Loop’ the project partners are working to promote the use of ground source heat pumps in UK social housing. Under the Powergen HeatPlant programme (which includes both new build and retrofit projects) to date 25 housing associations and local authorities have GSHP installations either completed or in progress, and the total number of systems running or being installed is in the region of 700. In Cornwall these include two further Penwith HA projects, four projects for Cornwall Rural Housing Association, one for Coastline Housing, and a very substantial programme being carried out by Carrick Housing. The Carrick Housing project won the 2006 South West Green Energy Award for ‘Best Housing Installation.’
Interest in ground source heat pump technology has increased dramatically following the recent high profile of climate change and associated new legislation. It is a field in which Cornwall can justifiably claim to lead the UK in terms of the expertise of businesses based in the county, the ground breaking projects that have taken place and the number of installed systems.

Critical Success Factors / Challenges

Before this project was carried out, in the UK ground source heat pumps were regarded as a renewable energy option for heating new dwellings but very few had been installed in existing homes. It was an important aim of the project to devise a means of retrofitting GSHP’s in existing homes that would be readily replicable, as one of the greatest challenges in CO2 reduction in the housing field is to reduce the emissions from the vast number of existing homes that do not have the possibility of benefiting from high efficiency gas boilers. The main problems that needed to be overcome to achieve this were not technical but cultural. There was no practical experience in the social housing sector of drilling boreholes in close proximity to occupied homes, and the viability of the technology to deliver reliable heating had not been proved. It was not known if this new application of the technology would be acceptable to the occupiers of the homes it was installed in. The project demonstrated that all of these challenges could be met successfully. Since the completion of the project a number of UK social housing providers have carried out similar projects, proving the potential for gshp’s to be fitted to a very large number of existing homes both in the UK and Europe. Specific lessons learned from the project include:

• Vertical boreholes work well for gshp ground collectors for homes with small gardens / external areas. With careful management the disruption traditionally associated with drilling boreholes can be reduced to a very acceptable level even for occupied homes.
• The costs of drilling boreholes can be reduced considerably if the installation is facilitated by an energy company or contractor who can procure drilling work in a significant volume. In the UK the Powergen ‘HeatPlant’ scheme has pioneered this approach.
• For small homes there are significant advantages in installing the heat pumps in external weatherproof enclosures.
• Despite the common association of ground source heat pumps with under floor heating, they can work very well using a radiator system for internal heat distribution. This is much easier to install in an existing home. Where radiator systems are used it is essential to use high water content radiators unless a buffer vessel is used in the system.
• The heat pumps used in this project are designed to deliver domestic hot water in addition to space heating and to meet the full heating load of the home. Heat pumps which do not deliver domestic hot water or require supplementary flow boilers to augment the heating capacity can incur higher running costs and CO2 emissions.
• Insulation levels in homes to be fitted with a GSHP should be increased to the highest practical level by means such as cavity fill of external cavity wall, top up roof insulation, replacement double or triple glazing and draught proofing. The overall design heat losses of the home should not exceed the heating capacity of the heat pump!
• There is a need for plumbing and heating engineers to familiarise themselves with the operating characteristics of GSHP systems, but once this has been done the plumbing and heating installation process for radiator systems involves no greater challenges than are normal for fossil fuel systems.
• There is a need for an expert installer, particularly for assessing the suitability of ground conditions at proposed sites and to design the ground loop correctly.

Estimated consumption, costs and emissions based on paper billing systems for large multi site users are no longer valid.  Therefore, there is a need for real time data flow.

Objectives and target audience

In coherence with the emission reduction targets set by UK government and the Kyoto Protocol, Liverpool City Council (LCC) aims to achieve Zero CO2 emissions. The first step to achieve that was to install absolute real time measurement systems to the entire property portfolio of LCC in order to allow full data control and protection from the energy market risks.

Financial Resources and Partners involved

No information available

Process

LCC has put a lot of efforts preparing its systems, with the installation of Automated Meter Reading (AMR) equipment across its entire estate providing half hourly consumption and emissions data on its entire utility portfolio. The systems handle large volumes of information providing actual real time data, total budget control and a shared basis for analysis and benchmarking.
The benefits of the new meter systems are immense to both customer and supplier alike along with the risk protection they provide in the future markets of time-based pricing and demand response strategies essential to mitigating new generation capacity. This is a clear winner with the ability to clearly target and reduce environmental impact. Such a strategy can provide the single largest direct load control system.

Results

The information provided so far has had immediate effect providing real management information pinpointing exactly where to target scarce resources.

Electricity: LCC policy has been purchasing green electricity for nearly ten years presently acquiring 100% for all of its commercial building stock, street and traffic lighting.
Oil: consumption continues to reduce through conversions to gas.
Gas: LCC is a founder member of the LGIU Carbon Trading Councils and is looking to offset its Carbon Emissions via Carbon Trading through this or other mechanisms. The ability to measure 100% of all real time gas usage is an essential makeup of the trading mechanism.

The end result will be that all data will be available 24/7 to all 500 utility accounts in a variety of displays and analyses. The LCC will be able to:

1. monitor budget absolutely (no estimates);
2. the site can report all anomalies immediately to maintenance (e.g. high consumption all night);
3. provide complete profile data for future flexible purchasing;
4. provide all CO2 data /profiles for future carbon trading;
5. Demand management shaving their own individual peak.

LCC will therefore manage all sites more precisely, having the ability to head towards Zero Carbon via carbon trading

Critical Success Factors / Challenges

• Data standardisation is essential. The whole exercise has taken much longer than expected in order to unify all utility data with our own in housing systems, our supplier system, and that of the various national database systems such as MPAS and Transco.
• The openness of the system will be essential for many of LCC’s savings with more individuals playing a part in the efficient management of LCC’s energy use.
• The strategy of offsetting 100% carbon emissions may at first look to be the easy option but LCC believes it to be achievable and the appropriate route to take. LCC continues to reduce emissions through projects on individual sites but to achieve the same result against the entire LCC estate will require considerable long-term investment for generations to come.

Birmingham City Council is aiming for a 20% reduction in their CO2 emissions by 2010. To help them achieve this goal, they have installed their first Combined Heat and Power (CHP) scheme.

Objectives and target audience

The aim of this project is to install a CHP scheme, which will provide heat and energy for several Birmingham City Council buildings and will have a significant impact on helping the city to meet its CO2 emissions reduction target of 20% by 2010.

Financial Resources and Partners involved

The CHP scheme costs €9 million (£6 million). The scheme has been drawn up by the Sustainability and Energy Management team of the City Council’s Urban Design service. Urban Design was awarded a grant to develop the scheme under the Government’s Community Energy programme.
Community Energy is a €75 million (£50 million) UK-wide capital programme for installing and refurbishing community heating. Schemes are mainly based on CHP with innovative approaches also encouraged.
Utilicom Ltd will run the ESCo, called Birmingham District Energy Company (BDEC), which will finance all capital works needed to develop the scheme. It will design and operate the CHP plant, supplying energy services to customers at discounted rates. Utilicom Ltd is a developer and provider of community and district energy schemes.

Process

CHP is a process where electricity is generated and the resulting heat, which is normally wasted, is used to provide heating, chilled water for air conditioning and hot water. In this case, the heat from the CHP will be incorporated into a district heating scheme.

Results

When phase 1 of the scheme is completed it is estimated that some 4000 tonnes of CO2 emissions will be saved.
Financially, the building owners will be able to save some 5% per year on their energy supply costs, on a whole-life cost basis.
Future building developments or refurbishments will be able to positively consider connection to the system, which it is envisaged will enable unproblematic compliance with the legislation adjusted by the EU Energy Performance of Building’s Directive.

Critical Success Factors / Challenges

The City Council acted as a co-ordinator and facilitator, successfully engaging with various public and private bodies to create the CHP scheme. The scheme, which has now become a reality, will encourage more progressive private sector operators by increasing confidence in the formation of ESCos.

Leeds City Council employs over 35,000 people spread throughout the city including offices, schools, depots and leisure centres.  In 2005/06 the Council’s estimated carbon emissions were 78,790 tonnes of CO2  and its annual spend in electricity alone exceeds  £10million.

Objectives and target audience

The key objective is to achieve a reduction in carbon emissions through behavioural change. Initially the project was targeted at all council employees to encourage as many participants as possible.  The focus has now moved to targeting the team managers who haven’t as yet an Energy Guardian, especially those in high density buildings.

Financial Resources and Partners involved

Originally £20,000 was allocated to launch the initiative and cover the cost of materials such as “turn it off” stickers.  After the launch approximately £1500 has been spent in Energy Guardian network meetings and newsletters.

This is very much a solus initiative within Leeds City Council, driven by the Environment Policy team.

Process –

There are 2 key processes that underpin the project:-

Recruitment – we focus on maintaining awareness of the initiative to attract volunteers and increasingly we are targeting managers to appoint an Energy guardian for the team. They key is to ensure that the role is voluntary and that the individual is naturally interested in climate change issues.
Materials are used to recruit at managers’ conferences and the news section of the LCC intranet.

Support- the initiative needs to support the energy guardians in their role through the supply of tools and information.
Tools include:
•    Stickers to remind people to switch off lights and PCs, leaflets and posters;
•    Networking meetings with guest speakers and workshops;
•    An energy guardians resource site on the council Intranet;
•    E-newsletter to all energy guardians with news and sharing of best practice.

Results –

Currently we are limited in the overall results we can report but this should improve as energy consumption monitoring improves over the next few months. Feedback from the energy guardians collated in September 2008 listed the following successes:
•    Increased recycling of paper and card;
•    Reduced use of paper by initiating double sided photocopying;
•    Apex House reduced it’s electricity consumption by 7% after introducing initiatives such as behavioural change, reduced lighting wattage and timers;
•    Timers on the water boilers have reduced their potential energy consumption by over 50%.

Unexpected results
•    Additional  focus on recycling;
•    Energy guardians are encouraging colleagues to take energy saving behaviours home;
•    The guardians feedback reports of increased composting, cycling to work etc.

Critical Success Factors / Challenges

Critical Success factors :
•    Regular updates, meetings and communication to maintain the impetus.
•    Support for the guardians from their senior managers to facilitate volunteering.
•    Resource to co-ordinate the network.
•    The guardian is encouraged to develop a plan that fits with their team rather than implementing a “one size fits all” policy.  For example, a school would need an energy guardian plan compared to a large office.

The concept could easily be transferred to another organisation, whether public or private sector .

Oldham Council has a Carbon Management Action Plan to help manage its enviornmental impacts.

Objectives and target audience

The Carbon Management Strategy set out a long-term strategic vision: “To minimise Oldham MBC’s impact on climate change to improve our local and global environment.” The action plan and strategy set out how Oldham Council will reduce carbon emissions from its activities and operations over a five-year period. In order to provide a very clear focus for action planning and future policy decisions this strategy has two clear aims: To identify the tonnes of CO2 generated and released by Council activities and operations; and to monitor, manage and reduce the tonnes of CO2 released by Council activities and operations. The target audience is the employees of Oldham MBC and the borough as a whole.

Financial Resources and Partners involved

The implementation of the CMAP was paid for by Oldham MBC under its ‘Invest to Save’ policy. The Council worked closely with the Carbon Trust and Oldham Environment Partnership.

Process

Oldham Metropolitan Borough Council (OMBC) was one of the 24 authorities selected to participate in the second phase of the Carbon Trust’s Local Authority Carbon Management Programme which has provided OMBC with a comprehensive process for managing carbon emissions. The Trust worked with officers from the Council for six months, and many areas for improvement were identified. A base lining exercise was undertaken to discover the levels of carbon produced by different sources. Projections were also made for future emissions, both following the ‘Business As Usual’ model and if all the improvements identified by the Carbon Trust were identified. A Carbon Management Action Plan (CMAP) was drawn up, outlining the areas for investigation. The CMAP was the catalyst for many carbon reduction policies within the organisation.

Results

Under the umbrella of the CMAP, there have been many initiatives aimed at reducing our Carbon emissions.
•    A 1% reduction in car travel as the main mode of commuting;
•    A 6% reduction in the car being used for commuting on 5 or more days a week; and
•    An 11% reduction in the car being used for business travel

Other areas of saving eg. fleet, street lighting and building energy are to be calculated.

Critical Success Factors / Challenges

Critical success factors included ensuring that all staff are aware of the aims of the CMAP and their roles within the plan. This involves the need for awareness raising exercises and ensuring that staff are fully trained to carry out their tasks within the Plan. The lessons learnt by Oldham could easily be transferred to other organisations in the form of case studies or consulatancy support.

Oldham MBC has an Affordable Warmth Strategy to tackle ‘Fuel Poverty’ within the borough.

Objectives and target audience

The Council’s Affordable Warmth Strategy is focused on working with a range of partners to reduce incidents of Fuel Poverty and to improve the energy efficiency of homes across the borough. The long-term strategic vision is: “Working together to eradicate fuel poverty in vulnerable groups by 2010.”
The target audience of this scheme are the ‘vulnerable groups’ in Oldham. At risk people include the elderly, children, the disabled and the economically disadvantaged. The commonly applied definition of a fuel poor household is one that needs to spend in excess of 10% of disposable income on heating. This means that approximately 18% of homes in Oldham are the victims of fuel poverty. This leads to around 155 excess winter deaths per annum.

Financial Resources and Partners involved

The project was initiated by Oldham MBC. Partners and organisations include Oldham Housing Investment Partnership, the NHS, the Energy Savings Trust, Age Concern and First Choice Homes.

Process

In late December 2003 a core team of OMBC Officers with assistance from ‘Energy Inform’ was setup to identify and agree a plan to make sure that all residents were given the opportunity to access energy efficiency assistance and advice. Oldham MBC (OMBC) was at the forefront of establishing an Energy Efficiency Advice Centre (EEAC) for North Manchester. After consultation workshops in 2004, a strategy was developed. This involved the development of a very successful multi-agency steering group led by OMBC’s Housing Strategy Section, in association with the other agencies outlined above. Each organisation pledged to carry out individual actions within their own organisations to tackle this problem.

Results

The Affordable Warmth Access Referral Mechanism (AWARM) was introduced. The scheme involved employees from the Council and partner organisations, being given training. Front line staff were trained to identify the causes and signs of fuel poverty and how to refer them to EEAC. So far, 170 staff have been trained in this referral system.
Under the Home Energy Conservation Act 1995 (HECA) the Council is committed to reducing energy consumption in housing by 30% by 2010 and the promotion of affordable warmth initiatives will help ensure we meet these important goals.
FCHO became the first local authority housing organisation to use a unique package of funding to improve the heating systems in homes. There has been installation of high efficiency heat metering, heating controls, tank insulation jackets and pre-payment equipment for 615 households on a local district-heating scheme. The second phase of this work will see the remaining 465 homes benefiting from these measures.

Critical Success Factors / Challenges

A major challenge with tackling this issue is the country-wide economic situation and the rising cost of fuel. This means that more people are becoming at risk of Fuel Poverty. Critical to the success is ensuring that all at risk homes are assessed by trained staff and referred to the relevant organsiation. The knowledge that Oldham has gained could easily be transferred to other areas.

Eighteen environmentally friendly homes, with renewable energy sources.

Objectives and target audience

The previous scheme at Selwyn Street, built in 1986, consisted of houses and flats. A significant proportion was built for older people who lived in Coppice at a time when there was a demand for this type of accommodation in the area. However, in recent times the scheme suffered from a lack of demand and security and access problems. The flats became increasingly hard to let and a hot spot for crime and anti-social behaviour. The objective was to build eighteen homes which were environmentally friendly and have renewable energy generation. The target audience of the project was the residents of Coppice, one of the more economically deprived areas of Oldham. The area has a high percentage of residents from South Asia, so the development had to be suitable for Asian families.

Financial Resources and Partners involved

The £3 million project was developed by Manchester Methodist Housing Association – (part of the Great Places Housing Group), and has received over £800,000 from the Housing Corporation and a £280,000 contribution from The Oldham Rochdale Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder Project.

Process

The previous houses were demolished to make way for 18 contemporary, large family homes that now make up the new Selwyn Street. The Housing Corporation approved a replacement housing scheme for local families in late 2004, with additional funding from Oldham Rochdale Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder. Renewable energy technology is used extensively on the homes. The mono-pitch roofs accommodate solar panels that are connected directly to all hot water tanks. These should provide 90% of hot water in summer and 60% in winter. Prevailing wind conditions restricted electricity-generating wind turbines to the higher houses where, at one of the highest points in Oldham, they should provide up to 1kw of power. In the back gardens, which are orientated to avoid overshadowing, water butts collect rainwater from flat kitchen roofs. Over the next few years Great Places will be carrying out a monitoring exercise to assess the true running costs for the houses and the effectiveness of these renewable energy alternatives.

Results

Selwyn Street was one of only two housing schemes in the country to achieve the ‘Building for Life’ gold standard. Thanks to the high levels of insulation, wind turbines and solar-heated water, annual energy bills for residents in the new homes are on average over £700 lower than neighbouring houses. Residents are very satisfied with the eco features, especially water collecting tubs and solar panels. Residents were also satisfied with the recycling features: recycling of glass, paper, tin cans and plastic has increased significantly. A high percentage of residents stated that moving to the buildings improved their lives. The project created a lot of positive publicity for Oldham Council’s regeneration programmes. Wayne Hemingway, fashion designer and chairman of Building for Life, praised the innovation behind Selwyn Street’s environmentally-friendly features, saying: “The gold standard only goes to schemes which score well on environmental impact as well as the other criteria, and Selwyn Street’s features set a new standard for the pathfinders.”

Critical Success Factors/Challenges

The key for success was communicating to people in the area, and potential buyers, the benefits of the wind turbines and solar panels. Such developments could easily be built with success in other locations, as this development has shown that this type housing can be both popular and environmentally friendly.
Challenges including communicating all the eco-features to the residents. Not all of the residents were aware of all the features the houses have. Further work should be carried out on the process of providing residents with information about the features of their eco-home to ensure that they fully understand what features they are benefiting from, how to maximise their use and suggestions for living in a more eco-friendly way.

Objectives and target audience
The objective is to manage and improve the environmental performance along with the sustainability of Oldham Council on a continuous basis. All Council operations will be assessed to discover possible areas for improvement. These include ensuring compliance with environmental legislation, reducing our carbon emissions and reducing the volume of waste generated. The system will also provide cost savings, by increasing energy efficiency and reducing business travel. The project will help in the establishment of baselines, monitoring and improvement for the National Indicators regarding CO2 and Air Quality. The project is aimed at Council employees, but our long-term aspirations are to help mentor our partner organisations improve their environmental operations. We will also be communicating our successes with local people.

Financial Resources and Partners involved
The project costs £35,000 per year for staffing, and a one time fee of approximately £10,000 for certification. The whole process is funded by Oldham Council under its Invest to Save Program. The Council received consultancy support from The Carbon Trust, Global To Local, Groundwork Blackburn and High Peak Borough Council. We also received support from a Defra funded EMS Regional Development Group.

Process
A formal Environmental Policy was drawn up, which was signed by the leaders of the Council. This document outlined the aims for the organisation. All Council offices are in the process of being audited to discover their environmental performance. Practical and economically viable measures will be put into place to improve environmental performance. A group of staff act as volunteer environmental officers (Eco-Champions), who assist with the communication of environmental policies and schemes. The offices will be reviewed on a regular basis after accreditation, to ensure continuous improvements.

Results

Site audits have revealed areas where improvements can be made to help protect the environment. The EMS has improved the organisation’s waste management policies: in a 9 month period, over 75 tons of paper and card was recycled. As part of the EMS, a Corporate Risk Register was produced, indicating risks such as Climate Change and legal compliance. This register can be used throughout the Council. The process has also helped improve intra-departmental communication on energy and transport issues. The Environmental Policy and Eco Champions network has helped stimulate staff to contribute to saving energy. The EMS has helped establish Oldham Council as a leader on combating Climate Change, and has helped us drive the environmental agenda at the local level.

Critical Success Factors / Challenges
Success is dependent on several factors. Firstly, there must be commitment from senior management, and a sufficient budget allocated to complete the project. Staff with clearly defined roles need to be in place. Communication is crucial to the process, as all staff need to be informed of changes to environmental operations. Staff also need a means of communicating with Environmental Policy staff, to ensure any problems are properly reported. There also needs to be a culture change in the organisation, with individuals taking responsibility to reduce their own environmental impacts.

Any organisation can implement an Environmental Management System, but the lessons learned by Oldham could be transferred to other authorities in the form of case studies. Once certification has been achieved, we could also provide consultancy support or advice to our partner organisations or to other local authorities.

The Council has purchased several vehicles which produce less NOx than older vehicles.

Objectives and target audience

The aim was to reduce the detrimental affect that the Council’s operations can have on local air quality. It also helped to improve our performance with regard to the National Indicator, which deals with air quality. The current fleet of vehicles travel up to 160,000 miles per year, meaning that the reduction is very significant. The vehicles meet the rigorous new EU emissions standard, called ‘Euro V’.

Financial Resources and Partners involved

The five vehicles are leased by Oldham Council, from Specialist Fleet Services (SFS). Each vehicle is worth new £130k

Process

A part of the process of implementing our Environmental Management System, the Council undertook audits of its various operations. It was identified that the Council’s fleet caused major impacts on the local environment. The use if bio diesel was trailed, but was found to be ineffective as it blocked pumps. Other options were investigated and it was discovered that when purchasing new vehicles, there was potential to purchase more environmentally friendly vehicles. Five new vehicles were leased. These are fitted with a new type of engine, which release fewer pollutants into the air. An additive known as Adblue is injected into the engine, which reduces the levels of harmful nitrogen oxides in exhaust fumes. Later in 2008, the Council will replace five more of their existing vehicles with these new vehicles, meaning that approximately half of the waste disposal fleet has Euro V engines.

Results

The new vehicles produce around 43% less NOX than older vehicles.  NOX, are formed in the high temperatures of vehicles’ engines. In the atmosphere they can form a haze, called a photochemical smog, which is significant in the summer months. These smog’s can affect young children and people with lung problems. NOX can also react with the moisture in the air to form acid rain.

Critical Success Factors / Challenges

We could demonstrate through site visits of how the vehicles work.