Greening South Cambs Hall

"Being green to our core" has been the central theme of our Business Plan. This included the aim to make our district zero carbon by 2050, and we went on to officially declare a climate emergency in November 2019. 

 As part of this, we’ve set a goal for South Cambridgeshire to reach zero-carbon by 2050. 

Part of our aim to achieve net zero as an organisation is to retrofit the South Cambridgeshire District Council offices in Cambourne (known as ‘Greening South Cambs Hall’). This will help to: 

• reduce energy bills  
• cut the building's carbon emissions in half during year 1
• reduce the building's carbon footprint to 25% of current levels by 2030, and 10% by 2050.

Net-zero meaning

Fossil fuels (for example petrol, diesel, coal, and gas) release greenhouse gasses when they burn. These gasses released in the atmosphere raise global temperatures increasing the risk of floods, wildfires, and drought around the world. The most commonly produced greenhouse gas is carbon dioxide.  

We’re now in a global climate crisis and must stop relying on carbon-emitting fossil fuels. The district will be net zero when we are no longer releasing more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than we are removing, for example through tree-planting and land management.  

Funding

This retrofit project will pay for itself in less than 20 years of operation. The project was funded using business rates collected by renewable energy sites within South Cambridgeshire. This fund is called our "renewables reserve". The money is used to provide green initiatives like the Zero Carbon Communities Grant. This grant funds groups, charities, and parish councils to deliver projects that support our goal of a net zero district by 2050.

Energy reducing measures

Bouygues E&S, renewable energy specialists, have carried out this project. They will provide us with set performance guarantees and savings of almost £100,000 in the building's first year of running. 

The 7 green energy measures are as follows: 

1. solar carport system: generates renewable energy to supply 20% of the building's electricity demand  
2. ground source heat pump (GSHP) - provides low carbon heating to the building and reduces the building's gas use by 79% 
3. LED lighting upgrade - reduces the building's current energy use by 15% 
4. building energy management system renewal: makes the most out of renewable energy use through controls connected to the GSHP and chiller 
5. chiller efficiency improvements: reduces the building's current energy use by 28% 
6. air unit fan replacement: reduces the building's energy use by 20% 
7. electrical vehicle chargers: encourages drivers to move away from petrol and diesel cars.