Energy use at K2 Crawley has plummeted over the last two years making it a greener place to get fit and have fun.
This month the state-of-the-art leisure centre received a good C rating for energy use compared with its poor G rating in 2008
The good news comes after 18 months of hard work following an energy management plan drawn up by Crawley Borough Council and Freedom Leisure; all the savings will help the council hit its 10:10 target of reducing carbon emissions by 10 per cent in 2010.
Councillor Keith Blake, Cabinet member for Environment, said: “Heating an Olympic sized pool and running an extremely busy gym, along with the masses of other facilities and services on offer, makes saving energy at K2 Crawley a tough task.
“It’s a huge building with a lot of staff so they’ve done tremendously well to make such big savings in energy and also money.”
In 2008/9 K2 Crawley was using enough energy to power 517 homes which fell by 8.1 per cent in 2009/10; it now uses enough energy to power 475 homes (42 houses less) and saves around £16,000 each year.
And 40 per cent of all electricity used and 27 per cent of heat used came from renewable energy.
Some of the measures to bring such significant improvement include fitting infrared sensors in stores and offices to make sure lights go out when the room’s empty; removing unnecessary light fittings; Installing electrical sub-meters highlighting areas of high energy use so they can be reduced; and a lot of raising staff awareness.
There’s still room for improvement; Matt Hunt, Freedom Leisure’s Area Manager for K2 Crawley, said: “We’re looking at future measures to lower our carbon emissions even further. We hope to install a second combined heat and power unit and a device which changes voltage used to what you actually need rather the standard (voltage optimisation device).”
The 10:10 campaign is an international project to encourage as many individuals, businesses and organisations to cut their carbon emissions by 10 per cent in 2010.
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