Salisbury's Five Rivers Leisure Centre now carbon neutral
One of the country's biggest air source heat pumps has been installed
Five Rivers Health and Wellbeing Centre in Salisbury is now carbon neutral - thanks to a huge new piece of kit installed there.
An air source heat pump's been put in by Wiltshire Council, in one of the biggest projects in the country, to reduce emissions and improve energy usage.
The equipment works by transferring heat from outside air into water, which then heats rooms through radiators and underfloor heating.
It also heats water stored in cylinders for taps and showers on site - while using less electrical energy than the heat it produces.
Solar panels have also been put up on the Five Rivers roof, with plans to put up a car park canopy next year, with extra solar energy capabilities.
Cllr Ian Blair-Pilling, Wiltshire Council Cabinet Member for Leisure and Operational Assets, said:
"Installing these air source heat pumps shows our commitment to the climate strategy, with all three centres now fossil-fuel free when heating the buildings and the water in the swimming pools.
“The installation at Five Rivers is one of the largest air source heat pumps in the country. The leisure centre is also expected to generate approximately 420,600 kWh/a of photovoltaic energy from around 1200 rooftop solar panels, with an additional car park solar canopy installation generating a further 140,000 kWh/a when it is installed early next year– which combined will be worth approximately £140,000 of electricity per annum.
“Leisure centres are integral to our communities and as such it’s important that we maintain these facilities and lead by example by improving their environmental footprint, while continuing to help improve people’s health and wellbeing.”
Similar work's been carried out at leisure centres in Corsham and Chippenham.
It's all been paid for through a Government scheme to encourage decarbonisation on public sector buildings.
Cllr Richard Clewer, Wiltshire Council Leader and Cabinet Member for Climate Change said:
“We are committed to making our council buildings more sustainable and lowering our carbon output, which we hope inspires other organisations to do the same. This project is a great way of implementing our business plan priority to become carbon neutral as an organisation by 2030 – something we are very much on track to achieve.
“Thank you to our Energy Team for their work in obtaining the grants and implementing these hugely positive projects, and we’ll continue to look for ways to keep this momentum going.”