Net-zero audit of 342 facilities reveals a shortlist of Highland Council’s 40 worst performing buildings for carbon emissions
A net-zero audit of 342 Highland Council buildings has produced a shortlist of what are the worst performing facilities for carbon emissions.
The climate change committee will be briefed later today about the worst buildings which have been graded on specific criteria as well as given an idea of how much it would cost to upgrade them to improve their carbon footprint.
Energy manager Ronnie Macdonald also set out some of the challenges facing the council in the way of cost-benefit ratio when it comes to reaching net zero.
He said: “The deliverables of this work will not only inform the longer-term transition of the nondomestic estate but also identify opportunities that cost-effectively reduce energy consumption, reduce emissions and reduce cost.”
There Glen Urquhart High School is taken as an example of what investment is needed for investment-grade “deliverables” and what can be achieved for recommended Energy Change Measures (ECM).
Three of those measures are heating controls, LED lighting and solar panels (50kW), which when combined are expected to save £20,476 annually in electricity costs and emissions and 19.3 total carbon dioxide content (tCO2).
The total cost of those measures is £180,246 or £3238 per lifetime ton of CO2 – in short it would take just under a quarter of a century to recoup the cost based on a simple payback.
The following metrics and weightings were considered: heating fuel - presence of fossil fuels; asset rationalisation – significant refurbishment planned, disposal; relative energy performance – poorly performing; energy usage/cost - overall cost and consumption; and strategic – strategically important.
On that basis the top 10 worst performing buildings are:
1. Nairn Swimming Pool Sport Centre - Wet
2. Durness PS Primary School
3. St Clements Special School Special Needs Centre
4. Kilmuir PS Primary School
5. Dingwall Roads Depot Depot/Yard
6. Dornoch Academy & PS Secondary School
7. Inverness Family Resource Centre Offices
8. Beauly PS Primary School
9. Tain Royal Academy Secondary School
10. Inverness Leisure Centre Sport Centre - Wet
