Welshpool company's green energy to heat £5m dogs home
The UK's largest dog-care charity has chosen a Welshpool sustainable heating company to provide a renewable energy solution at its £5 million centre in Shropshire.
A wood pellet boiler has been installed at the Dogs Trust's site in Roden by Organic Energy to provide the canine eco-home with its heating and hot water.
The charity has completed an innovative eco-building programme which includes super wall insulation, triple glazing, rainwater harvesting and recycling and solar PV panels on the roof of the home.
Organic Energy has supplied an Energy Box to the centre - a complete heating system delivered ready for installation which can be connected to the heating system within a matter of hours.
The Energy Box, which is lowered onto a concrete base, is a complete plant room designed and pre-fabricated by Austria-based ÖkoFEN which represents the very latest in renewable, sustainable heating technology.
The timber box houses a 56 kw ÖkoFEN Pellematic wood pellet boiler as well as a fabric fuel store, flue and ash compression system.
Andy Boroughs, managing director of Organic Energy, said the installation could also provide an income stream for the charity, with the Government's Renewable Heat Incentive offering a payment for green energy installations.
He said: “We have carried out many large installations, in hotels, schools, on farms and for charities, but this is the first for a dogs' home. The ÖkoFEN Energy Box complements the numerous sustainable building techniques and renewable energy solutions which are included as part of the build.”
The charity was spending about £500,000 a year on heating and lighting bills for its 18 centres across the UK. Specifically, the Roden centre, recently renamed Dogs Trust Shrewsbury, has been consuming energy comparable with a luxury office development. Following the project's completion, the target is to cut energy consumption to less than 150 kWh per square metre – 62 per cent less than a conventional building.
Mr Boroughs added: “The Dogs Trust has taken a strategic decision to include the use of renewable energy, realising it pays to be green because there is no doubt that a wood pellet boiler will save on their energy bills.
“Along with the solar PV installation on the roof of the dogs home, the charity will also be able to access payments from the Government's RHI, which offers an incentive for renewable energy installations and also from the Feed-in-Tariff launched this year. “
Dogs Trust Project Surveyor Paul Wass said the ÖkoFEN Pellematic wood pellet boiler system fitted well with the scheme's sustainability agenda.
"Throughout this project, we have looked for effective, cost-efficient solutions for our energy needs which are considerable at the Dogs Trust Shrewsbury centre. The centre previously was using energy at a rate of around 400 kWh per square metre and we are aiming to cut energy consumption to less than 150 kWh per square metre following completion.
"The Energy Box provided by Organic Energy was the perfect answer, being able to house an ultra-efficient and low carbon 56kW ÖkoFEN boiler and a large enough wood pellet store to ensure we will only need perhaps two or three deliveries of pellets a year.
"Although sustainability was the main driver for the choice of a wood pellet boiler from Organic Energy, there will be an added benefit in the form of reduced heating and hot water costs as well as being able to take advantage of the Government's Feed-in-Tariffs."
The Dogs Trust Shrewsbury was officially opened by Wrekin MP Mark Pritchard on August 2 2011.
Organic Energy can be contacted on 01938 530070 or email info@organicenergy.co.uk. You can follow us on Twitter @organicenergy or become a fan on Facebook at www.facebook.com/organicenergy
