Energy survey of libraries

Investigation of building fabric, services and management

In 2008, Vollmer Engineering Ltd. completed an energy survey of 12 libraries for Staffordshire County Council. In order to baseline the existing energy performance of buildings, a benchmarking tool provided by the Carbon Trust was used for assessing the libraries’ energy use against that of other public buildings. The building services (heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, lighting, water), building fabric and energy management of every library were then reviewed in detail. This revealed potential annual energy savings per library of

• up to 38MWh (£1.6k at 2007 energy prices) at no cost
• up to 77MWh (£4.3k at 2007 energy prices) with payback less than 2 years

In addition to energy saving measures, recommendations were made on improving the comfort and safety of buildings. Our findings were well received by representatives of the Council with responsibility for energy, buildings and the climate-change agenda.

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