Energy upgrade for civic centre

Front Row Alan McDowell Chairman East Border Region; Dette Hughes East Border Region and Alderman Arnold Hatch Craigavon Borough Council Representative of East Border Region. Back row: - Paula Patton EMS Officer; Paul McArtain Dundalk Institute of Technology; Nigel Dawson Craigavon Borough Council Senior Duty Officer; Michael Ferguson, Aramark

Ten local authorities, seven in Northern Ireland and three in the Republic of Ireland, selected five of their most energy hungry buildings, fifty buildings in total, to undergo detailed energy audits.

As a result of the energy audits, nine buildings were selected to undergo upgrades to building fabric and building services to reduce the energy consumption.

One of the buildings selected for an energy upgrade is Craigavon Civic and Conference Centre, involving the installation of an energy efficient LED lighting system, which is currently nearing completion.

The refurbishment of the lighting throughout the older part of the conference centre is expected to significantly reduce electricity consumption on site as well dramatically increase the lighting levels throughout the centre.

Another feature of the building upgrades will be a visitor experience display screen in the building foyer which, through collaboration with project partners Dundalk Institute of Technology, will provide monitoring of the building’s energy meters allowing visitors to see a ‘live’ display of the building’s energy performance, comparing live data with historical energy consumption and carbon emissions data.

It is expected that the project works will showcase best practice and the renewable technologies most suited to the local climate to local SME’s and homeowners alike.

Craigavon Borough Council representative of East Border Region Alderman Arnold Hatch, added: “We have almost completed the new lighting throughout the building and it has made a significant difference for both staff and visitors. Not only is the lighting much brighter but as it is energy efficient it will significantly reduce our overall lighting costs.”

The cross-border initiative, the Energy Efficiency and Micro-Generation Project, funded through the European Union’s INTERRREG IVA programme started in the East Border Region in 2011.