Case Study (40 Kb PDF)

Summary

The Borough of Watford is situated in Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom. The Watford and Three Rivers Energy Agency is funded by EU SAVE II, SRB and local authority resources. It also is a subcontractor to the Energy Saving Trust. Watford Council community services team decided to improve the energy efficiency of a youth community centre and invested in external solar powered lighting. By investing in staff education, time controls, water saving devices, double glazing and renewable power the council reduced its energy spend on site and helped educate children on climate change issues. It increased the amenity and availability of its facility that led to an 18% increase in visitor numbers and led to a drop in anti-social behaviour.

Results

The installation of stand alone lighting should save the facility approximately £90.00 per annum. The project officer noted that payback for the lighting should occur ahead of the estimate set by solargen.

After a six-month evaluation period the project officer noted that the number of visitors to the centre had risen by approximately 18%. The play facility manager also noted that new catchments of older youths were now using the facility. There has been a drop in vandalism in the area and the community services officer believes the extended hours at the playground has helped in this aim.

During this time energy consumption remained comparable with previous years. However water consumption dropped considerably. The project officer noted that despite an increase of approximately 5000 visitors the energy demand remained static. WTREA and the Community services team considered this a success. However, the project officer considers an evaluation period of 1 year more appropriate to report on the full extent of the measures in kWh savings.

The wider message of renewable technology is spreading up the upper levels of the Council. Due to the success of this and other projects the Watford Councillors will receive another briefing session later in the year. This represents a positive step for WTREA as in the "perception shift" campaign. The lighting columns and the adjoined solar panels are easily visible to the community and have not attracted any complaints.