Creating the Greenest County
Suffolk, East of England, UK
PROJECT TEAM & PARTNERS
Creating the Greenest County Team located at Suffolk County Council supporting a Delivery Partnership attended by over 30 representatives from all sectors.
FUNDING
Optimal use of funds from county council, EEDA and Europe etc. For
example European Interreg funds successfully secured for Answer and
Power Cluster projects.
TIMESCALE
3 year LAA period within a 20 year Community Strategy vision
DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT
"Suffolk Leading the Development of a Low Carbon Economy."
Renewable Energy and Low Carbon Business are central to the Suffolk aspirations of Continued Economic Prosperity and Creating the Greenest County, and are an important part of the county's response to the current economic situation.
Renewable energy development in Suffolk is well demonstrated by the innovative OrbisEnergy Building in Lowestoft. This building is central to an aspiration of being the focal point for the offshore renewable energy sector in the UK, benefiting from the optimal location of Suffolk in relation to large areas of offshore wind turbines. Central to growth in this low carbon sector is external investment into the county from EEDA and Europe. Finance from these sources has supported OrbisEnergy. OrbisEnergy has just achieved a BREEAM (Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) 'Very Good' rating, which is testimony to the buildings sustainable design and build.
Development of the low carbon economy will support the aspiration of Suffolk becoming the county with the greatest reduction in carbon emissions. By 2025, Suffolk aims to achieve a 60% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions. This can only be achieved with the public and private sectors working in tandem on the same shared objectives. Many examples of Suffolk based innovation and an entrepreneurial approach in the low carbon sector aptly demonstrate what a wonderful opportunity Suffolk has in being "ahead of the wave "with the development of a low carbon economy. Whether it's the innovative UCS building on Ipswich Waterfront or the installation of wood chip boilers in schools there is an excellent array of low carbon initiative underway. By achieving this low carbon economy, and making a profit at the same time, will benefit Suffolk business as well as the environment.
It would then be worth linking this to www.greensuffolk.org where details of all the sme's engaged in low carbon economy in Suffolk can be found.
PROJECT TARGETS & LEGISLATION
LAA targets on climate resilience, carbon reduction (NI186 and NI 188) to be achieved by 2011 Community Strategy and County Council priorities to be the greenest county with the greatest reduction in carbon emissions, to be achieved by 2028.
Clearly all the current climate change and carbon reports and legislation, such as Stern, the Nottingham Declaration and so on have influenced this area.
CHALLENGES FACED
Main barriers were:
- Initially convincing funders of the viability of the low carbon sector, this has now changed spectacularly with EEDA now having this as an overriding objective.
- Convincing business that this was an area worth developing - again this dramatically changed with business now embracing opportunities.
- Economic recession - what could have been a barrier interestingly is now providing a further incentive to develop a sector which may help Suffolk recover from the recession.
INNOVATIVE PRACTICE
The ANSWER Project (A North Sea Way to Energy-efficient Regions)
is an innovative European-funded project promoting carbon reduction
across Suffolk and North West Europe, with a particular focus on
tackling the obstacles encountered by small businesses looking to
reduce energy consumption. Launched in September 2008 and led by
Suffolk County Council, ANSWER involves partners in the UK, Sweden,
Norway, Belgium and Germany - all working together to identify new
and effective means of supporting business to reduce emissions and
save money.
East Green Energy
East Green Energy, near Saxmundham, was the winner of the Creating
the Greenest County 'Greenest Business Award 2008' for
outstanding commitment to sustainable design in buildings and is
leading the way to a 'lower carbon' Suffolk.
From its own low-carbon office in Kelsale, which includes solar panelling, and air source heat pump, East Green advises businesses on renewable energy throughout the region including existing properties as well as new builds.
Robbie Gawthrop said: "East Green specialises in everything from solar energy to rain harvesters. One of the ways businesses can really lower their carbon footprint is by installing a ground source heat pump, an electrically powered system that taps into the greatest solar collector in existence: the earth. The system uses the earth's relatively constant temperature to provide heating (and sometimes cooling and hot water). The magic equation being that it only requires 1kw of electricity to run the pump to create 4kw of usable heat."
They recently completed an eco cottage in Wickham Market, including a solar heating system for the water and a small photovoltaic (PV) cell on the roof.
Carbon Reduction Partnership (CRed) Environmental Business Advisor
Paul Bradford is the CRed Business Advisor who provides a free service to help local businesses fight climate change and become more competitive by providing on-site, hands on advice. Businesses receive an on-site energy audit followed by a bespoke action plan showing them where they are using their energy, their carbon footprint and the steps they can take to reduce their climate change impact and their bills.
One of the businesses that Paul has been working with is Lattice Lodge, an Ipswich guest house which prides itself on its green credentials. Paul said "This year, as well as cutting down their waste, all of their food waste is composted, they have slashed their energy spend. As well as installing new energy efficient TV's they have fitted loft insulation, sealed drafty windows and doors and fitted a state of the art, wireless boiler management system. "
Martin Pike, the guest house owner said "There is more to it than just looking after the environment. It makes good business sense. The boiler management system for example cost us about £220 but it will save 30% of our heating costs, paying for itself in about 3 months." In the longer term Martin is planning to use a Carbon Trust interest free loan to invest in solar heating to supply the guest's hot water and cut bills even further.
PUBLICISED INFORMATION
Has this case study (or parts of it) been publicised in articles,
papers etc? If yes please feel free to attach files that are
relevant.
Please see LGA best practice case studies entitled Follow their Lead - http://www.lga.gov.uk/la/core/page.do?pageId=1358559.
And please view www.greensuffolk.org
And please view www.answerproject.eu
CONTACT DETAILS
Iain Dunnett, Project Manager
