Council secures £15m to combat Climate Change in Hertfordshire

Hertfordshire County Council has successfully secured £15m of funding from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, managed by Salix Finance, to help fight the climate change emergency in the county.

The scheme enables public sector organisations to tackle climate change by delivering capital energy efficiency schemes and heating decarbonisation projects.

The county council’s success in securing this funding means it can now deliver several sustainability led projects at a number of its sites including its school estate, fire stations, libraries and main office buildings.

Some of the many projects planned include the installation of an air source heat pump at County Hall, an air handling unit upgrade at Farnham House, mass installation of solar panels at 23 fire stations and maximising green energy consumption.

In addition, there will be the installation of modern, energy efficient boiler systems at various schools across the county – locations to be confirmed.

The funding will also allow for improved building insulation and other building improvement schemes.

In its Sustainable Hertfordshire Strategy, the county council committed to be a carbon neutral organisation by 2030.

This is why it worked collaboratively, with support from its multiple services, to carry out building surveys, condition reports, energy consumption data analysis and submit joint bid applications for all its proposed sites.

This proactive approach and collaborative commitment contributed to the success of the £15m funding received.

Teresa Heritage, deputy leader for Hertfordshire County Council said: “This is fantastic news and another positive step for us in achieving our countywide sustainability goals.

"We are leading in our efforts to fight climate change as an organisation and have committed, through our recently approved Sustainable Hertfordshire Strategy and Action Plan, that the management of all our operations will have an exemplary sustainability focus.

“Research has shown that buildings and transport are the highest emitters of carbon in our county.

"This funding will go a long way in helping us to achieve our goal of being carbon neutral in our own operations by 2030.”

At its meeting on 14 December 2020, Hertfordshire County Council’s Cabinet unanimously agreed the Sustainable Hertfordshire Action Plan and committed substantial funding to support it.

The action plan is the key to delivering the county council’s nine green ambitions, including increasing resource efficiency, improving biodiversity on its land, and making Hertfordshire a net zero greenhouse gas county before 2050.