News

Dublin City Council continues to lead by example in energy management with the awarding of a new Energy Performance Contract (EPC) to the energy services company (ESCo) Noel Lawler Green Energy Solutions, to upgrade seven of DCC's Sports Centres. The contract will save the Council up to €129,000 on its energy costs per annum and reduce carbon emissions by 321 tonnes.

Codema’s role in the project was that of project facilitator; Codema carried out an initial assessment of project suitability, facilitated the procurement process and acted as a mediator between the ESCo and the client. Codema has developed this expertise through its involvement in European projects such as GuarantEE, a 2-year Horizon 2020 project which had a focus on supporting EPC pilot projects with experienced facilitators.

The City Council, working closely with Codema - Dublin's Energy Agency and the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) who provided financial and technical support, is the only local authority in Ireland to implement this EPC model, which delivers a performance guarantee, to upgrade the energy efficiency of its public buildings.

The project will play an important role in achieving the climate and energy efficiency targets set out in Dublin City Council’s Climate Change Action Plan 2019 -2024 and it will act as an exemplar for other Public Bodies in this area.

Under the EPC project seven of the City Council’s sports centres will be upgraded, namely Ballyfermot Sports and Fitness Centre, St Catherine’s Community Sports Centre, Ballybough Community, Youth & Fitness Centre, Cabra Parkside Community Sports Centre, Poppintree Community Sports Centre, Irishtown Sports & Fitness Centre and Bluebell Community & Resource Centre.

The project will also achieve average energy savings of more than 35 per cent per year through a range of energy-efficiency upgrades.  These include:

• New LED lighting
• New combined heat and power system to efficiently heat the swimming pool in Ballyfermot
• Improved building control systems for effective management of all equipment
• Renewable energy measures through the installation of solar photovoltaic panels

This project follows on from a very successful pilot EPC project, which involved the upgrading of three of the Council’s Sports and Fitness Centres in 2016. Since the works were carried out, energy savings of 42% have been achieved, offsetting over 700 tonnes of CO₂.

Speaking ahead of signing the contract, Owen Keegan Chief Executive Dublin City Council said “I am delighted that the City Council is entering into an Energy Performance Contract, which will see the energy upgrade of seven of our sports facilities and contribute to achieving our energy and carbon reduction targets. I would like to thank Codema - Dublin's Energy Agency, the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland and the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment for their support and technical assistance. I would also like to congratulate Noel Lawler Green Energy Solutions on winning the contract.”

Daniel Ring, Managing Director, Noel Lawler Green Energy Solutions said “We applaud Dublin City Council and Codema in their use of this innovative Energy Performance Contract model. Being first to the market with this model required vision and commitment to deliver an improved energy upgrade and maintenance model which had to fit within public procurement guidelines. We would encourage public and private sectors alike to embrace this model as it has a proven track record that maximises environmental impact while simultaneously generating commercial savings.”

Joe Hayden, Senior Executive Engineer with Codema, added: “The EPC model is very successful and is well-established in countries such as Germany, Austria and the Czech Republic, so it is great to see it getting a foothold in Ireland.  EPC not only provides the Council with the security of guaranteed energy savings, it also saves on the cost of maintaining these upgrades over the lifetime of the contract.”

Jim Gannon, Chief Executive, SEAI said: “It is very encouraging to see public organisations like Dublin City Council using innovative delivery models to achieve significant energy savings. Efficiency and upgrade projects like these have helped the public sector to achieve €1billion in energy savings in the last decade. Against the backdrop of the Government’s recent Climate Action Plan, energy performance contracting will be a key enabler for public bodies to achieve more challenging 2030 targets.”

This EPC contract involving the energy upgrade of seven of the Council’s sports and fitness centres will run for eight years and brings to ten the number of Council facilities managing their energy under an Energy Performance Contract. Works on this project are due to be completed by the end of 2019.

You can also read the full project case study.

To find out more about the GuarantEE project visit their website. You can also read the GuarantEE’s Policy Recommendations report here.