7. Energy and Arun District Council's Corporate Estate
While much of this strategy is focussed on energy in homes in the District, this section briefly outlines some of the efforts and energy saving actions being taken within the Council’s own estate and planning policy. Arun District Council has made significant improvements in terms of energy efficiency with their corporate estate even with the restrictions of a limited maintenance budget. When maintenance and improvement works are required energy efficiency is taken into consideration and measures are incorporated where possible and applicable.
The Council actively support renewable technologies. The Arun Civic Centre has a 49.9kWp solar PV panel system.
7.1 Asset Management
The Council is in the process of producing a new Asset Management Strategy and it is planned for this to be in place within the next 12 months.
This is being driven by the Property Investment Strategy. This is an extensive exercise which will involve looking at each individual asset and the development of a long-term plan which will incorporate future proofing.
The Council encourages sustainable practice amongst its suppliers, such as the use of renewable resources and Eco-friendly transport.
Electrical product procurements are always energy saving goods such as energy saving hand dryers etc. Voltage optimisation units have been installed and the IT department use a Power down system. With regards to ICT equipment, the Council have a PC Power Management software solution, which automatically switches computers into a very low energy hibernation mode when not in use, saving unnecessarily wasted energy. This allows the Council to manage all power policies centrally.
Where roofing replacement has taken place on sections of the Civic Centre, in Littlehampton, high specification ‘laid to falls’ insulation has been installed. Where window replacement is required energy efficient double-glazed units are fitted.
In areas upgraded in the Civic Centre PIR LED lighting is installed. Light graduated level controls have been installed in the new planning section and building management system heating controls have been installed in the Civic suite.
The Council has a wide range of assets from Council offices like the Civic Centre and Bognor Town Hall through to toilet blocks, beach huts and leisure centres as well as the recently purchased Bognor Arcade, all of which Arun District Council hold some level of responsibility for in terms of maintenance and or improvement.
The Arun Leisure centre has had a new energy efficient air handling unit and building management system installed. There are also plans to upgrade the heating in the gym which will dramatically improve the energy usage of the site.
The new Wave leisure centre was completed in March 2019, this high spec centre was constructed with a clear appreciation of energy efficiency. The centre has incorporated a highly efficient CHP Combined Heat and Power plant. CHP generates electricity whilst also capturing usable heat that is produced in this process. This contrasts with conventional ways of generating electricity where vast amounts of heat are lost.