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Vital Energi have been awarded a contract by the City of London Corporation to guarantee energy savings of over £480,000 a year and carbon savings of over 1,000 tonnes a year, helping the governing body of the Square Mile to take major strides towards the ambitious target of net zero carbon emissions by 2027 for its corporate estate.

The project will be delivered through the Greater London Authority’s Retrofit Accelerator framework designed to help make London’s non-domestic public buildings and assets more energy efficient, and the works will be funded via the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS).

Vital Energi will deliver multi-technology solutions through Energy Conservation Measures, which will improve energy performance within five of the City’s most iconic buildings, including the Barbican Centre, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, and the City Corporation’s Guildhall headquarters.

Energy Conservation Measures will include pipe distribution repairs, ventilation distribution repairs, pipe insulation, Air Handling Unit EC fan retrofit, LED lighting, and metering, to reduce energy use, unnecessary heat loss and help improve comfort conditions for building users.

As well as upgrading and optimising Building Management Systems (BMS), Vital Energi will also install Vital View, which is a BMS performance monitoring system. This will help deliver continuous improvement and drive energy efficiency, carbon reduction and help enhance future projects through gaining a detailed understanding of building operations and usage characteristics.

City of London Corporation Finance Committee Chairman Jamie Ingham Clark said:

“This partnership with Vital Energi will enable us to take practical, positive, sustainable steps to make our buildings more energy efficient, delivering the twin benefits of reducing carbon emissions and saving money.

“The project will play a significant role in enabling us to achieve the ambitious targets set out in our Climate Action Strategy, which commits us to achieving net zero carbon status in our buildings by 2027 and across our investments and supply chain by 2040.”

We’re improving energy performance within six of the City of London’s most iconic buildings as part of their robust zero carbon roadmap, and our decarbonisation project is taking shape.

In total, we’ll be replacing over 10,000 light fittings with LED lighting across the Barbican Art Centre, the Guildhall Complex, Guildhall School of Music, and Dance including the buildings at Milton Court, John Hossier Annexe, Silk Street and Sundial Court, to increase energy performance.

Out of the 10,000 LED upgrades, we have just 700 left to install within the Barbican, and within the Guildhall event spaces where we’re implementing specialist LED lighting. Work is due to be complete by mid-September.

We’ve also installed Energy Conservation Measures such as draught proofing, BMS optimisation, replacement of failed or end of life control valves, ventilation distribution repairs, pipe insulation, Air Handling Unit EC fan retrofit, and metering, to reduce energy use, unnecessary heat loss, and help improve comfort conditions for building users.

Once complete, the City of London Corporation will benefit from energy savings of over £480,000 a year and carbon savings of over 1,000 tonnes a year, helping take major strides towards the ambitious target of net zero carbon emissions by 2027 for its corporate estate.

We asked Project Manager, Kaushik Modasia, to take some photographs of the progress so far.

Bedford Borough Council’s brand-new solar farm has been fully energised and is now exporting low-carbon electricity to the grid. The project is made up of over 8,000 solar panels, is capable of generating up to 4.2MW of electricity and is enough to power approximately 1,000 homes.

Guests from South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP), Bedford Borough Council and Vital Energi gathered to celebrate the event at an official grand opening on 28th July 2022 and the opening was marked by the cutting of a ribbon by Bedford Borough Mayor, Dave Hodgson.

The event was be attended by:

• Neil Hart (SEMLEP), Judith Barker
• The Mayor Dave Hodgson (BBC), Paul Pace, Shah Faisal, Natasha Hollidge, Gemma Drake, Claire Wilkinson, Melanie MacLeod, Haydn Rees, Patrick Lyons, Thomas Askham, Martin Jon
• Simon Jones (Vital Energi), Chris Tickle, Tom Nolan
• Josh Freeman (Wiser) Graeme Outridge
• George Webb (G Webb), Richard Bream
• Patricia Jones (Bedford College)
• Gordon Brady (Bedford University)

Scott Lutton, Vital Energi’s Operations Director explained, “Former open cast landfill sites can be problematic, but Bedford Borough Council have created an innovative solution which will transform the areas into a 21st-century solar farm.  This approach will now generate huge carbon savings which will make a strong contribution to Bedford Borough on its net zero journey.  The topography of the land is quite uneven, which made this a challenging project to install, but we’re delighted with the technical solution and it’s a great, new addition to Bedford’s low-carbon energy infrastructure.”

Bedford Borough Council have set ambitious targets of becoming net-zero by 2030 and the solar array will play an important role in meeting these targets.

We are delighted that three of our clients have been shortlisted for their fantastic energy projects at the 2022 H&V Awards.

Westminster City Council, Southwark Council and Swansea Bay University Health Board have all been placed on the shortlist and are some outstanding examples of how the low-carbon sector is working to meet the UK’s net zero targets. By harnessing solar farms, energy conservation measures and heat pumps, these three projects demonstrate just some of the technical solutions available for helping organisations meet their carbon reduction targets.

Site work starts next week on a new heat network for the community of Torry which will provide almost 300 homes with low-cost energy.

The £10million Torry Heat Network will supply heat for 146 flats in the three high rises at Morven Court, Brimmond Court, and Grampian Court, Deeside Family Centre, along with Provost Hogg Court and Balnagask House, Tullos Primary School, Torry social work office, and about 150 homes in Balnagask Circle, Balnagask Court, and the Farquhar Road stub blocks.

The heat will be supplied by the energy from waste plant which is being constructed in East Tullos industrial estate to dispose of non-recyclable waste from Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray Councils, and the work includes a heat distribution facility which will be located within the former waste transfer station building beside the EfW site.

The UK is set for another major heat network after a new Bedfordshire-based project received £16.9 million in funding from the Government’s Heat Networks Investment Project.

Vital Energi will deliver the new project which will take waste heat from the Rookery South Energy Recovery Facility and distribute this to nearby homes and commercial buildings.

The Rookery South Energy Recovery Facility is located in a former brick clay extraction pit near Stewartby and will provide a sustainable alternative to landfill as well as contributing to a more resilient, greener grid.  Vital Energi will be constructing the infrastructure which includes heat recovery equipment plus a resilience energy centre which will take heat from the Energy Recovery Facility and convert it into useable low temperature hot water.  This hot water is then distributed through a below-ground, thermally efficient district heating network.

The heat network will be future proofed for easy expansion to serve  a number of local planned developments and could eventually be capable of delivering circa 30MW of heat to up to 12,000 homes and commercial buildings.

Vital Energi has been busy decarbonising six of Plymouth City Council’s key buildings through the installation of advanced renewable energy technologies, and we’re delighted to have been awarded a second phase 2 contract worth £1.1m, where we’ll reduce the carbon footprint of a further four buildings.

For phase 2, we’ll be delivering low carbon heat through the installation of a combination of air source and water source heat pumps across the following sites:

• Pounds House, which was formerly a privately owned manor located on the edge of the city’s Central Park. The area where the ASHP and WSHP are to be installed was extended as part of former war defences with significant steel riveted reinforcement and heavily reinforced bomb blast proof walls.
• Prince Rock Highways Agency administration centre.
• Frederick Street Centre, which is a community centre serving as a local education hub with a large ground floor open hall, various classrooms, and offices on two floors.
• Poole Farm, which has a rich history as one of Plymouth’s last working farms with a focus on community involvement through health and wellbeing, education and conservation.

Operations Manager, Robin Thorne, who is overseeing the project, said:

“We’re really pleased to have been awarded a second contract with Plymouth City Council, supporting them on their transition to a low carbon future through the decarbonisation of 10 of their public sector buildings.”

Read more about phase 1 of the project here.

Phase 1 of our works with Plymouth City Council is progressing well. Project Manager, Colin Sellers, has provided an update on four of the key buildings, along with some images.

• The air source heat pump has been crane lifted to the roof of Elliott Terrace and the installation on the rooftop is now complete.

• The air source heat pump base unit has been installed at Crownhill Court, and the steel support frame for the condensers has been manufactured and are waiting fitment. Inside the plant room, a 2000 litre buffer, and low temperature hot water (LTHW) pipework has been installed.
• All air source heat pump and ancillaries have been delivered to the Guildhall site. Excavation beneath the Guildhall to the Law Courts car park has been completed with district heating pipework installed.
• All air source heat pump and ancillaries are on site at Ballard House, and the evaporators have been lifted onto the roof and installed.

For phase 2 of the project, we’ve taken delivery of water source heat pumps for Frederick Street Centre, Pounds House and Prince Rock Admin building. The air source component of the heat pumps is due for delivery next week.

The next stages are to complete foundation works at Ballard House, and to install compressor units for the air source heat pumps at the Guildhall. Crownhill Court and Elliott Terrace are the closest to completion, so we’re working hard to reach commissioning stage!

In total we’ll be decarbonising 10 of Plymouth City Council’s key buildings, helping pave their path to net zero. Find out more about the project here.

Read more about phase 1 of the project here.

We’ve reached a major milestone at the Energetik energy centre in Enfield after completing the final section of two 25m high, 6.6m diameter, 750,000 litre thermal storage vessels, where the 6t lift was suspended in position during the extensive welding process.

Through extensive planning and scheduling, we’ve also seen the delivery and installation of some major plant items including the gas meter rig, air handling units, the chiller, and two 10MW boilers.

Once complete, this scheme has the capacity to deliver 60MW of low carbon heating and hot water to the surrounding area, including the 82-hectare Meridian Water development comprising 10,000 new homes, workplaces and a railway station.

​​​​​​​Take a look at the progress pictures below.

Vital Energi are delivering a new £13.5m Re:Fit project which will install a range of energy conservation measures resulting in £1.5 million of energy savings and 3,000 tonnes of carbon reduction per annum.

Des Keighan, Assistant Director of Operations – Estates said this was the second phase of the Re:Fit project and would see the delivery of a 4 mw solar farm.  The first phase saw investment in LED lighting, Building Energy Management Systems upgrades.

The first phase of the project has been delivered despite very challenging circumstances and is on track to be completed as planned.   The second phase will see the first Solar Farm development by a Health Board in Wales and is an exciting opportunity to progress the Welsh Government’s decarbonising agenda.  

Eight of the Health Board’s highest energy using buildings have been upgraded including Morriston Hospital, Singleton Hospital, Gorseinon Hospital and Tonna Hospital. The upgrades will account for a 12% reduction in emissions across the estate.

All carbon and financial savings are guaranteed under an energy performance contract.