Loch Lomond National Park chiefs defend £500,000 of works to Balloch headquarters

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.

loch lomond national park chiefs defend £500,000 of works to balloch headquarters

“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.”

News Related

OTHER NEWS

FA confident that Man Utd starlet will pick England over Ghana

Kobbie Mainoo made his first start for Man Utd at Everton (Photo: Getty) The Football Association are reportedly confident that Manchester United starlet Kobbie Mainoo will choose to represent England ... Read more »

World Darts Championship draw throws up tricky tests for big names

Michael Smith will begin the defence of his world title on the opening night (Picture: Getty Images) The 2024 World Darts Championship is less than three weeks away and the ... Read more »

Pioneering flight to use repurposed cooking oil to cross Atlantic

For the first time a long haul commercial aircraft is flying across the Atlantic using 100% sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). A long haul commercial flight is flying to the US ... Read more »

King meets world business and finance figures at Buckingham Palace

The King has met business and finance leaders from across the world at a Buckingham Palace reception to mark the conclusion of the UK’s Global Investment Summit. Charles was introduced ... Read more »

What Lou Holtz thinks of Ohio State's loss to Michigan: 'They aren't real happy'

After Ohio State’s 30-24 loss to Michigan Saturday, many college football fans were wondering where Lou Holtz was. In his postgame interview after the Buckeyes beat Notre Dame 17-14 in ... Read more »

Darius Slay wouldn't have minded being penalized on controversial no-call

Darius Slay wouldn’t have minded being penalized on controversial no-call No matter which team you were rooting for on Sunday, we can all agree that the officiating job performed by ... Read more »

Mac Jones discusses Patriots future after latest benching

New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones (10) Quarterback Mac Jones remains committed to finding success with the New England Patriots even though his future is up in the air following ... Read more »
Top List in the World