Multi-million pound investment being put into these Calderdale buildings to make them more energy efficient

Funding of £2.8million from The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, is being used to install new technology to replace existing gas fuel systems with electric heat pumps (ground source and air source) at a number of buildings across the borough.

Bankfield Museum, Brighouse Library, Todmorden Market Hall, Manor Heath jungle experience, Spring Hall register office and Halifax Town Hall have all been identified as sites which would benefit from works, as they are all older buildings, with ageing heating systems which are expensive to run.

Work is beginning this week at Spring Hall, followed by Brighouse Library and Bankfield Museum, to install the technology required for the ground source heat pumps.

This work requires specialist construction as depending on the space available, deep vertical bore holes or horizontal trenches will need to be dug.

Calderdale Council’s Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Resilience, Cllr Scott Patient, said: “As part of our commitment to tackle the climate emergency, we’re aiming to achieve net zero carbon emissions in Calderdale by 2038 and even sooner with in-house emissions. The installation of this heat-pump technology at six of our buildings will support this ambition, bringing the heating systems of our historic buildings into the modern age.

“By using the heat energy from the air and ground, it will allow us to reduce the carbon footprint of these Council buildings by up to 82%. The pumps will use less energy to deliver the same level of heat – in the longer term this will also protect the Council from energy price rises.

“The work will be carried out as quickly as possible and although the installation of the ground source technology will require some level of temporary disruption to the land around the buildings, once complete the ground will be reinstated and the pipes will be hidden from view.”

The work should be finished by the end of the year. Disruption will be kept to a minimum and once work is finished, the ground will be recovered and there will be no evidence of the pipes underneath.

Ground heat sources can’t be used in some locations due to the amount of adjacent land required.

Work at Todmorden Market Hall, Manor Heath jungle experience and Halifax Town Hall will use air pump technology which will not require ground excavation works. Work at these buildings is scheduled for early in the new year.

The project is funded by The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, with additional support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.

A further Council contribution of £350,000 will support the project as part of the £1million Carbon Neutral Fund, previously agreed as part of the Council budget.

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