Royal borough hails carbon saving success – along with the challenges
The Royal Borough of Greenwich takes firm strides towards its net zero goals
The Royal Borough of Greenwich is celebrating significant progress in its journey towards net zero and is reflecting on some of the challenges to inform its next steps.
At Salix we’ve supported the Royal Borough across six Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme projects – with works ongoing across three sites.
The council has secured nearly £14 million in Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) funding, enabling carbon reduction works across 44 sites within its corporate estate, including schools, leisure centres and office buildings.
The upgrades are projected to deliver annual carbon savings of 1,921 tCO2e - the equivalent of taking 7,700 round-trip flights from London to New York out of the atmosphere.
Greenwich has installed a range of solar panels
Photo credit: Royal Borough of Greenwich
Cutting carbon - and modernising buildings
Across the programme, a wide range of energy-saving technologies have been installed through the work. These include:
- Air source heat pumps
- New heat emitters
- Solar photovoltaic (PV) panels
- Wall and roof insulation
- Heat recovery ventilation
- LED lighting upgrades
- Electrical supply improvements
- Plant room upgrades
Several landmark sites, including a listed former Town Hall in Royal Hill, have already benefited, with works ongoing at three more locations.
A spokesperson from the Royal Borough of Greenwich said: “We are proud of what we have achieved here in Greenwich, but there is still a long way to go for us to meet net zero targets.
“We’re committed to our Carbon Neutral Plan and determined to continue to reduce carbon emissions. The support from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme funding has enabled us to better understand the challenges and refine our approach.”
Heat pumps have been included in the energy efficiency works
Photo credit: Royal Borough of Greenwich
Challenges along the way
While the successes have been clear, delivering such an ambitious programme has not been without obstacles.
The spokesperson added: “Winning buy-in from building users has been a challenge. People are understandably concerned about future utility and maintenance costs, especially given the wider uncertainty over energy prices.
“Timescales, funding pressures and the complexities of bolting modern technology onto older systems have also tested the team.
“We’ve even faced practical issues, such as finding space on the site for large air source heat pumps as they cannot go inside existing plant rooms.”
Despite these hurdles, the council sees clear long-term benefits. The scheme funding has enabled works that otherwise would not have taken place, lowering the overall cost of delivering carbon savings for the council.
“It has also provided the chance to modernise sites, and to explore and understand the new technologies available today and for the future,” the spokesperson added.
Towards 2030
Like many other local authorities, Greenwich has set ambitious climate goals. Its Carbon Neutral Plan sets a vision for the borough to reaching net zero emissions by 2030.
The plan not only increases understanding of climate change it helps understand sources of emissions within the council and in the wider community.
The Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme projects mark an important step towards achieving this, bringing both environmental and financial benefits to the community.
The council has also been successfully awarded funding under the Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund, focused on housing. Salix is delivery agent for the fund.
People’s homes are the biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Greenwich, so this funding also helps cut bills and emissions too.
We’re on a mission to save the planet
At Salix we’re proud to support the UK government in driving the transition to a low carbon future and meet challenging net zero targets. We’re on a mission to save the planet.
Every day we’re busy delivering and administering grant and loan funding on behalf of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, and the Scottish and Welsh governments. This is delivered across the public sector as well as housing.
We also play an important role in increasing awareness of energy efficiency and heat decarbonisation across the public sector throughout the UK. Our teams work closely with the public sector organisations throughout their decarbonisation journey, from the moment a grant is allocated to the moment the scheme is fully operational.
