Council buildings to be made more efficient

“No brainer” plans to make some Monmouthshire council buildings more energy efficient have been approved by the full council.

The process could cost up to £2.5 million and would be funded by a Welsh Government interest-free loan.

Buildings would be made more energy efficient through a number of methods including installing LED lighting, solar panels, boiler upgrades, heat pumps and high efficiency showers.

Councillor Roger Harris said: “It’s a no brainer

“We absolutely have got to do it, it’s almost criminal if we don’t do it.”

Cllr Debby Blakebrough said she would support the proposal even if there weren’t any financial gains.

Cllr Jo Watkins asked if there were plans to include all the council buildings in the programme.

The council’s energy officer, Ian Hoccom, said: “The intention would be to roll this out across all the authority portfolio of buildings.

“Because of the capacity of service providers, we could only really look at doing any 20 buildings in one phase.

“We started out with a prioritised phase.”

A survey indicated that the first phase of the programme could generate savings of £492,399 over a ten-year period or £49,240 a year on average.

The carbon savings as a result of the programme are equivalent to approximately nine per cent of emissions from the council’s portfolio of buildings.