Dublin City Council’s Second EPC Project

Project Background

After the success of Dublin City Council’s first EPC project in 2016, Codema helped to facilitate the procurement of a second Energy Performance Contract (EPC) by DCC in 2019. This contract was for energy upgrades of the following seven of Dublin City Council’s leisure and dry sports centres:

• Ballyfermot Sports and Fitness
• St. Catherine’s Community Sports Centre
• Ballybough Community, Youth & Sports Centre
• Cabra Parkside Community Sports Centre
• Irishtown Sports and Fitness
• Bluebell Recreational Facility
• Poppintree Community Sports Centre

Project Description

Dublin City Council identified seven leisure and dry sports centres as appropriate for upgrade using an Energy Performance Contract (EPC).

An EPC is a contractual agreement by an Energy Services Company (ESCo) to guarantee energy savings over an agreed period of time. It differs from the traditional method of carrying out energy efficiency measures, as the ESCo must approach the building holistically rather than small ad-hoc projects, and must ensure that energy savings are achieved to receive their payments, rather than being able to walk away from an unsatisfactory job.

After a rigorous competitive dialogue procurement process, DCC awarded this contract to Lawler Sustainability in August 2019. The contract includes a works period where the measures are implemented, and following this, an eight-year services period where the ESCo will perform Measurement and Verification (M&V) of the energy savings and provide maintenance and repair services.

The energy upgrades at the seven leisure centres were completed in March 2020 and included:

• Pool pump upgrades
• Building Management System Optimisation
• Air Handling Unit upgrades
• CHP replacement and optimisation
• Solar PV
• LED lighting and lighting controls upgrades
• Boiler replacement

Results to Date

Codema oversees the ESCo’s Measurement and Verification (M&V) of the savings for this project. The energy savings so far achieved are 14%, compared with the predicted total savings of 22%. The energy cost savings achieved are 34%, compared with a predicted 35%.

Codema will continue to assist DCC with managing this M&V process for the duration of the contract period.