National Park chiefs have defended major £500,000 works to their Balloch headquarters – saying it will reduce their carbon emissions.
The Carrochan Road landmark, which only opened in 2008, has been closed since November 6 – with notices on the door saying: “Our aim is to be Net Zero by 2023. We are currently installing solar panels and an air-source heat pump which will reduce our CO2 emissions.”
A local resident contacted the Lennox, saying: “The building was opened in May 2008, much being made of its sustainability with a wood chip boiler for heating and hot water, the chip coming from Argyll, at the time.
“Now this is being ripped out and a new air source heat system is being installed at a cost of £573,445.
“It doesn’t seem a great lifespan for such a project, especially when the National Park’s own website recommends only throwing away materials after 30 years.”
Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park chiefs say that a grant from the Scottish Government’s Public Sector Heat Decarbonisation Fund of more than £1million is enabling works this winter at Balloch HQ, Loch Chon campsite, Balmaha Visitor Centre and Duncan Mills Memorial Slipway.
They add that the major upgrade to energy and heating systems in Balloch includes solar panels, a solar carport, e-bike station and air source heat pumps and heating system upgrades.
Explaining that the works will save an estimated 21tCO2e (carbon tonnes) per year (the equivalent of 90,000 miles in a petrol car) Gordon Watson, chief executive of the National Park authority said: “We are fully committed as an organisation to reducing our own environmental impact and this was reflected in the design of our headquarters in 2008.
“Rated as excellent against the industry standard for sustainability at that time, it was the largest building in the UK to have a structural green frame, was insulated with wool from 2500 sheep and included a low impact ventilation system and a biomass boiler.
“Now 16 years later, the building continues to benefit from those features and we are now able to go even further to reduce our emissions.
“The building was designed to provide a sound structure that we could add to as new technologies developed and that is exactly what we are doing now with the addition of air source heat pumps and solar panels this year.
“This will further reduce our reliance on fossil fuels.
“The impacts of climate change are being increasingly felt across Scotland and as part of all our efforts to mitigate this it is important that we continue to make progress in reducing emissions across all our operations.
“The work taking place this winter, assisted by external funding grants, will take us a step closer to becoming a Net Zero organisation by 2030 and help deliver Scotland’s ambition to become a Net Zero Nation by 2045.”
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