Energy savings of almost 72,000 euro per annum expected

Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) supported the sustainable energy features of the 4,000 m2 Waterford Regional Sports Centre through its Public Sector Model Solutions scheme.

The building contains a host of energy efficient and renewable energy features including solar heating, geothermal heat pump and landfill gas recovery systems which will benefit the environment and the community long into the future.

The additional sports hall, changing facilities, café, outside changing facilities, crèche and public toilets were developed by Waterford City Council. Liam Fleming of the Waterford Energy Bureau provided technical advice and support for this project.

Kevin O'Rourke, Head of Built Environment, Sustainable Energy Ireland (SEI) said: "We can expect the high quality of energy features in buildings such as this to soon become the norm across our new generation of commercial and public buildings. This pace of change is being driven by strong economic and environmental forces.

"The market and policy realities now being shaped by high energy prices, concerns about secure supplies of fossil fuels and our Kyoto commitments look set to be sustained in the medium to long term. As a result, both building owners and professionals responsible for energy design and specification are looking to projects such as this to show the way to a more sustainable future."

In this project the most modern renewable energy technologies have been utilised. The Centre uses solar water heating panels to supplement the domestic hot water and space heating systems. It is estimated that 50% of domestic hot water needs will be provided in this way. An innovative heating system is also used which will utilise heat pump technology to meet the heating demand. This operates in conjunction with a concrete core and under floor heating.

The site is located close to the Waterford city landfill. The Council has included a landfill gas recovery project combined with CHP (100kW) plant to provide hot water and electricity to the site. This project will therefore reduce not only thermal and electrical requirements in the building but also the emissions of Methane gas, the other main greenhouse gas (GHG) currently being targeted under Ireland's National Climate Change Strategy.

Higher levels of insulation, lightweight timber framed construction combined with low-e glass will see an improvement of almost 50% on Building Regulations standards. Detailed thermal modelling has been completed for this project and the building has been orientated to reduce solar gain while maximising natural daylight. Artificial lighting loads will be reduced by about 40% as a result.

It is anticipated that there will be a total annual energy saving of 912,774 kWh, which translates into a projected annual CO2 saving of 558 Tonnes. The total expected annual cost savings of introducing all of the sustainable energy measures is calculated to be in the region of €71,997.

Total support provided by SEI for this project is €374,255 which is 50% of the cost of the additional energy efficiency and renewable energy features.