Dover Museum to and Dover District Council offices to become carbon neutral in £830k project
13:49, 18 February 2021
updated: 14:02, 18 February 2021
A £830,000 grant will enable a museum and a district council's offices to become carbon neutral.
Dover District Council (DDC) is to decarbonise its main Whitfield offices and Dover Museum as part of its ambition to become carbon neutral by 2030.
This comes after the cabinet approved a Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan in January which includes £224,270 for car charging points across Dover, Deal and Sandwich.
The cash comes from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme for a programme of energy efficiency and heat decarbonisation measures.
Now the council will switch to renewable energy sources at its Whitfield office.
Gas boilers will be replaced with air source heat pumps and solar photovoltaic roof panels.
Existing LED office lighting will also be upgraded with new wireless controls that include daylight saving.
And a new building management system will better regulate energy usage throughout the building.
Dover Museum benefit in the same way and new low-energy LED lighting will be installed in the Market Square building.
Cllr Oliver Richardson, cabinet member for the environment and corporate property, said: “We’re determined to show leadership on climate change by putting our own house in order.
"Making our buildings more efficient makes sense for both the environment and the tax payer.”
The council declared a climate change emergency in January 2020.
At its cabinet meeting in January, it was announced a quarter of a million pounds had been made available from the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles. That cash will pay for 49 points on separate sites.
The administration has revealed that about 460,000 tonnes of C02 were emitted from its own estate in 2018, which includes motor vehicles, gas and electric power.
It is the rough equivalent of 90,000 cars on the road driven for a 12-month period. One of the main sources relates to council bin collection vehicles.
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