Dr Spence Memorial Hall Udny Green Final Project Report Udny Energy Efficiency Project CCF – 4132 1. Project: Udny Energy Efficiency Project – CCF-4132 Organisation: Dr Spence Memorial Hall Management Committee Contact: Garth Entwistle Gilmorton, Udny Green, Ellon, Aberdeenshire AB41 6ST T: 01651 842412 M: 07789 997884 E-mail: [email protected] 2. Starting Point: The Dr Spence Memorial Hall – commonly known as the Udny Green Hall - was opened 29th September 1937 as an extension to the original 1850 “Hamilton Hall”. Since then, under the direction of its Management Committee, it has been in almost continuous use by the surrounding district. Community activities were only discontinued during WWII when soldiers evacuated from Dunkirk were temporarily billeted in the hall. It provides an attractive and comfortable venue for dances and ceilidhs, wedding celebrations, funeral suppers, family parties, art shows, music and drama. For many years it projected films of all kinds. It has hosted on a very regular basis, the local Boy’s Brigade, a youth club, bowling club, dance and fitness classes and dog trainers. In recent years, the Hall’s Management Committee has commissioned work to improve, repair and/or replace the heating system, roofing, toilet facilities and internal decorations with the community taking part in various hall-painting sessions. By 2013, the hall was, however, looking tired and in need of a complete refurbishment with a great deal of attention required to cut down on heat loss and improve heating efficiency. The Udny Energy Efficiency Project was formed in 2014 by the Hall’s management committee to support the refurbishment of the Udny Green Hall as an energy efficient space with a Steering Group of (4) formed to drive the project forward. This Steering Group, supported by the Udny Community Trust, have used the hall’s refurbishment and this CCF project as a catalyst for action by the “Hall Community”. It is a project which has involved and energised the whole of this community, those living around the hall within Udny Green and all the hall users who, on a regular basis, come to the place from far and wide. Formartine Community Planning Group Aberdeenshire Council Households within this community are being encouraged to make their own changes which lead to reductions in energy use. The project has, however, retained the essential character of the hall while making the current set of facilities more accessible, convenient, attractive and comfortable to use so that they continue to be used by the local community and by others for a wide variety of activities. The refurbishment of the Udny Green Hall has been recognised as one of the “Top Four Priorities” for community action by the local Aberdeenshire Community Planning Partnership – The Formartine Partnership - in the “Udny Community Action Plan 2012”. These priorities were drawn from an extensive consultation with the Udny community as part of a “Planning For Real” exercise conducted by the Udny Community Council over the period 2008 -2014. CCF Project Outcomes were set out as: Outcome (1) CO2e Outcome(s) – Udny Green Hall Cut CO2e emissions from Udny Green Hall by 178.42 tonnes by reducing heat losses by the introduction of highly insulated, energy efficient wall linings, loft linings, windows, doors and lighting. Outcome (2) CO2e Outcome(s) – Udny Green Hall “Community” Cut CO2e emissions by 123.75 tonnes by the “Hall Community” by encouraging at least 100 households to adopt sustainable energy efficient behaviour with a particular emphasis on space heating giving a 10% reduction in annual electricity requirements. Continue the communities longer-term focus on energy efficiency and climate change with a regular programme of activities supported by the Udny Community Trust Outcome (3) Community Outcome(s) Outcome (3.1) Social Greater community participation in the use of the refurbished village hall. Outcome (3.2) Economic Building a more sustainable income stream for the village hall to support its ongoing maintenance and future development Outcome (3.3) Environmental Encouragement of more environmentally friendly practices by all hall users. Formartine Community Planning Group Aberdeenshire Council 3. Headline Achievements The Udny Energy Efficiency Project, supported by the Scottish Government’s Climate Challenge Fund and administered by Keep Scotland Beautiful, has: (i) Allowed the refurbishment of the Udny Green village hall, creating an attractive, highly energy-efficient space for the hall community to use. This project, costing £250,000 approximately, was supported by a £150,000 grant from CCF with the remainder financed principally by the Udny Community Trust using funds generated by the community-owned 800kW Udny Community wind turbine. (ii) Involved the entire Udny community in their own review of their own household’s consumption of energy with 100+ households encouraged to introduce a variety of energy saving measures. The programme was launched in June 2015 by the Udny Climate Change lecture (Appendix 1) in Udny Green Hall with over 100 people encouraged to express their interest in the Udny Energy Efficiency Project. Work commenced in July 2015 on the refurbishment of the Udny Green Hall using contractors and architects previously selected within a rigorous tendering process. All works were completed to a high standard in November 2015. Business Solutions Scotland was commissioned by the Udny Community Trust in May 2015 to engage with the Udny community, starting August 1st, and encourage the adoption of energy saving measures. The HUGS (How Udny Gets Saving) programme (Appendix 2) was launched with a series of workshops and household visits to motivate individual households to adopt energy saving measures. Udny Green Hall was expected to reduce CO2e emissions by more than 178 tonnes pa (Outcome 1). The refurbishment of the hall with energy efficient materials and the replacement of an oil-burning heating system by an Air Source Heat Pump (ASHP) initially reduced CO2e emissions by an estimated 30% over the first 3-months of full operation (Oct/Nov/Dec 2015). Following the refinement of the ASHP control settings, electricity consumption was significantly reduced with CO2e emissions falling by 48%. This amounts to a net reduction of 7.666t CO2e/yr or 230t CO2e over the 30 year life of the hall’s insulation – against a target reduction of 178.43t CO2e. The Udny community was expected to reduce CO2e emissions by at least 123 tonnes (Outcome 2).. Initial estimates, based on just (2) of the households visited with Home Energy Surveys completed, shows a reduction of 11,2013.31 tonnes CO2e emissions will be achieved over the entire lifetime of the home energy efficiency measures. With (87) households actively looking to reduce CO2e emissions following a visit by our local “Energy Champion” (against a project target of 100 households) and more households undoubtedly influenced by this project, total household reductions in CO2e emissions will be significant. Formartine Community Planning Group Aberdeenshire Council The Udny community is increasing its participation in the use of the Udny Green Hall (Outcome3) with a new group formed to develop the hall as a “Community Hub” providing a range of services including the provision of health and social care within the Udny community. The Hall will build a more sustainable income stream to support its ongoing maintenance and future development (Outcome 4). Hall users are now more likely to undertake environmentally-friendly practices in their use of the hall (Outcome 5). Un-expectantly, the HUGS programme has allowed the fuel poor households identified by household visits to be supported out of Fuel Poverty and helped those found to have suffered from poor energy advice to improve their own domestic situation. 4. Outputs 4.1 CCF Project Launch – Friday 5th June 2015 – Appendix 1 The Udny Climate Change Lecture - Udny Green Hall – Evan Williams, Environmental Economist, Member of the Al Gore Foundation – speaking about the evidence for Climate Change and its implications for the world, the UK and the North East of Scotland with specific climatic forecasts for NE Scotland. Attendees encouraged to sign an “expression of interest” in the Udny Energy Efficiency Project. 4.2 Hall Refurbishment – starting July 1st – completed November 2015 Significant 48% reduction in CO2e emissions by the hall giving a total estimated reduction of 230 tonnes over the lifetime of the hall’s insulation against a target reduction of 178 tonnes. Complete removal of all hall interior linings taking the hall – the main hall, the small hall to the rear, the kitchen and toilets - back to the supporting granite work. Completer removal of all central heating radiators, pipe work and disconnection of oil-fired boiler. Complete removal of all asbestos Complete re-wiring of the hall ready for the installation of LED lighting circuits Replacement of all windows throughout the property by wooden double- glazed (sash & case) units in-keeping with the conservation area requirements – leaving only those windows to be completely removed in Stage II of the hall’s re-development Reconstruction of interior hall linings with new, deeper framing to allow for the insertion of very thick insulating panels in all exterior walls and thick insulation rolls over the entire ceiling. Replacement of original wooden Formartine Community Planning Group Aberdeenshire Council panelling with oak veneer and oak fitments to rebuild the original features of the hall. Staining with a lighter colour to suit modern-day tastes. Replacement and/or refurbishment of all external and internal doors with efficient, well-fitted, draught-proof doors – leaving only those doors to be replaced or removed in Stage II of the hall re-development. Installation of an “air-sourced heat pump” heating system to replace the original oil-fired heating system. This system to be fully controllable with heater air vented into the hall and then recirculated through the system to allow the efficient heating of the hall.