The energy efficiency programme announced in UK last year has already started showing results. The RE:FIT scheme works by helping public organisations retrofit their buildings with energy-saving technology that did not exist when they were first built such as combined heat and power, photovoltaic solar panels, low-energy lighting and more efficient boilers.
Already 63 public sector organisations across London have signed up to participate and a number have already seen real benefits, says a Guardian report. Ealing council's £1.1m scheme took 10 months to complete, has found a 29% per annum saving on the local authority's energy bills. It has also cut the council's CO2 emissions by 1,000 tonnes a year. With a five year payback, transferring the risk from the public purse to the private provider of the work, it has made both environmental and financial sense.
By 2015 when complete, the projects will have created more than 1,000 jobs and CO2 emissions will have been reduced by nearly 47,000 tonnes a year – the equivalent to 5,402 flights from London to Paris. Nearly 1.7m sq metres of public property will have been retrofitted, space which could be stretched across 250 football pitches, finding energy cost savings of nearly £9.7m. That is something. From a 'mere' retrofit?
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment