Ambitious plans for carbon neutral leisure centre
In this video, Lancaster City Council Climate Change Project Manager Robert Boschi explains how the council received £6.8m in funding from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme which is initiated by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and delivered by Salix Finance.
A leisure centre which is among the first in the country to be carbon-neutral has featured in a new video.
The innovative Lancaster City Council project at Salt Ayre Leisure Centre has reduced the council’s emissions from natural gas by a substantial 30%.
In the video, Lancaster City Council Climate Change Project Manager Robert Boschi explains how the council received £6.8m in funding from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme which is initiated by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and delivered by Salix Finance.
As well as impacting the environment the successful scheme has also saved on energy bills.
Robert said: “In its first year of operation the decrease in overall energy demand has meant a saving of approximately £300,000 in energy costs compared to if we had kept using a gas boiler system.”
The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme funding has been used to replace the leisure centre’s gas boilers with a two-stage heat pump system, external LED lighting and upgraded glazing to reduce energy consumption.
It has also included a solar farm which has been built on neighbouring land which used to be an old landfill site. This is now used to generate electricity provided to the leisure centre and the 2,880 panels will produce enough electricity to fully power Salt Ayre during peak times.
Salix assistant director of programmes Chiara Lorenzetti said: “The Salt Ayre Leisure Centre has been highly ambitious, and it is certainly an impressive site. We have been delighted to work with Robert and the council on their net zero journey.
“By tackling the carbon footprint at the leisure centre the council has made huge steps, and this has put it in a strong position to meet its 2030 climate neutral goals.”
The city council declared a climate emergency in January 2019 and aims to be climate neutral by 2030.
The council has also spent about £1m of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme Funding on improving the energy efficiency of its buildings and this will include LED lighting, air, and ground source heat pumps, upgraded insulation, secondary glazing and solar PV.
