Council buildings in Enfield will receive £3.8 million to become more energy efficient and lower carbon in use, helping Enfield Council become carbon neutral by 2030.
Enfield Council successfully bid for money from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme to help deliver heat pumps, solar panels, double glazing, light and heat controls and insulation on council buildings.
Most of the funding – close to 40 per cent – will be spent on the Civic Centre, the Council’s biggest and busiest building.
Other buildings which could benefit include the Edmonton Library and Housing Hub and Thomas Hardy House in Enfield Town Centre.
Carbon emissions from corporate buildings make up the majority of Enfield Council’s direct emissions.
Enfield Council’s Deputy Leader and Chair of the Climate Change Task Force, Cllr Ian Barnes, said: "With an ambitious but achievable target for the Council to be carbon neutral by 2030, this project sets us on a path to achieving our goals which will in turn benefit the whole borough. We must also look at how our services are delivered day-to-day, how we procure services and how staff commute for work. These are fundamental but not insurmountable challenges for Enfield.”
The £1 billion funding pot provided by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy was heavily over-subscribed. The aim of the fund is to help public sector bodies, including local authorities, to invest capital in energy efficiency and heat decarbonisation projects for non-residential buildings. It is running alongside other programmes such as the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund Demonstrator, which the Council also bid for.
Enfield Council’s successful bid will help to build on existing energy efficient and environmentally friendly efforts as part of an already established Re:fit programme. Between 2009 and 2019, Enfield Council reduced its emissions by around 50 per cent by investing in making existing buildings more energy efficient and consolidating operations into fewer buildings.
More information about Enfield Council’s climate action work can be found at www.enfield.gov.uk/climateaction .