Halton Borough Council

Companies involved:

• Sure Maintenance (Principal Contractor)
• Halton Borough Council (Client)
• Cassidy & Ashton (Architect)
• KGA (M&E Consultants)
• KDE (Contractor)

Team involved:

• Renewables Manager
• 8 fully qualified engineers (6 x mechanical / 2 x electrical)
• Specialist sub-contractors

Scope of work:

Decommission and strip out of 3 gas fired boilers and 4 gas fired water heaters in the South, West and North stands. Installation of 14 Mitsubishi air source heat pumps and associated works.

Innovation:

Due to the proximity of a high density of residential properties, it was critical that noise pollution was kept to a minimum. Pre-contract, we worked alongside an acoustic specialist to assess noise levels, which resulted in the project requiring acoustic hoods in order to reduce the levels of noise output.

Following commissioning, and with acoustic hoods being installed, all parties were extremely satisfied with how little noise output the units produce, resulting in little / no impact on local residents.

Economic benefits:

• Heat pumps are well known in the industry, and if well maintained, will greatly outlive a traditional gas appliance – lasting up to 25 years. During this time, a gas appliance / boiler would typically be replaced twice (average lifespan is circa. 10 years)
• Before this scheme Halton BC invested heavily by installing a local 1MW solar PV farm which is already connected to the stadium. It is estimated that the stadium would use 45% of that energy generated. As the heat pumps use electricity to produce energy in the form of heat, more of this energy produced can be utilised rather than exporting it to the grid
• Due to the scale of the works it will significantly reduce the HBC’s carbon footprint and in future years will avoid routine boiler maintenance. Over years it also has potential to reduce the running costs of the stadium (with electricity provided from a local solar farm)

Environmental achievements:

• With the innovative use of acoustic hoods, noise output from the units is significantly dampened, meaning that the running of these units will be virtually undetected
• Completion of this major project has resulted in a carbon saving of 136,561 KgCO2e p/a at the stadium (for Halton BC). This achievement goes a long way towards supporting their carbon reduction agenda -decarbonising and producing heat through electrification
• Local labour was used throughout the project, employing locally based resources and specialists and supporting local economies and communities. This resulted in less travel, thus reductions in carbon emissions

"The process of introducing renewable energy technology to our stadium has been a major milestone. We want to promote the use of clean energy and are proud to be in-line with current net-zero targets and, as a community, operating in a more sustainable carbon-neutral manner. Sure Maintenance, throughout the whole process, has been outstanding – we are more than satisfied with the quality of work undertaken throughout the project and of keeping within the set budget. I want to personally thank the team for leading this project and its success and look forward to our continued relationship.” Mark Prendergast, Halton Borough Council