SaveMoneyCutCarbon helps Chichester council on its carbon neutral goals

The Client

Chichester City Council is the parish council for the historic cathedral city of Chichester in West Sussex.

The Brief

The council, which declared a “climate emergency” in 2019, approached SaveMoneyCutCarbon to devise an action plan to reduce costs and carbon emissions at its Grade II-listed 18th century office building. The Council House in North Street is a group of connected buildings built at different times between 1731 and 1881.

Along with other local authorities, it is responding to growing pressures to help in the battle against climate change, with the UK now committed to cutting its carbon emissions by 78% by 2035.

Given the building’s listed status, any works would need to comply fully with regulations and win approval, while delivering optimal energy savings and carbon reductions. The project would also need to work within the tight constraints from a continued squeeze on finances.

SaveMoneyCutCarbon has worked with a range of public and private sector organisations on hundreds of carbon-cutting and energy saving projects.

The SaveMoneyCutCarbon team carried out a full survey and energy audit of the Council House to identify all areas for energy savings and carbon emissions reductions. Using its unique Savings Opportunitunity Report Tool (SORT), SaveMoneyCutCarbon generated a comprehensive report for the council, with a Carbon Roadmap to guide net zero strategy.

It specified and installed a 5.5-kilowatt solar panel array on the rooftops, designing an architecturally sympathetic layout, as well as specifying LED lighting and energy-efficient hand dryers. Electricity generation from solar in the first year should be 6238 kWh.

Switching to LED lighting is one of the simplest changes and provides the fastest payback with savings of up to 90%.

SaveMoneyCutCarbon also used its extensive funding experience to help the council obtain interest-free Salix grant funding for 75% of the costs for the decarbonisation initiatives.

There are plans to replace ageing gas boilers with possibly with an air source or ground source heat pump, as well as cutting carbon beyond the main office building.

Results

Solar array

• Annual electricity savings – £927
• Annual carbon savings – 1,590 kilos

LED lighting & hand dryers

• Annual electricity reduction 5,500 kWh
• Annual savings – £821

The savings from these changes that can be allocated for services or could be invested in further green initiatives that make further savings.