Rathroeen
The All of Government Climate Action Plan 2019 “To Tackle Climate Breakdown” sets out a number of actions for local authorities, including increasing the energy efficiency of public buildings by 50%, achieving a BER “B2” rating and reducing our carbon emissions by 50%. Mayo County Council Authorities we are working towards reducing carbon emissions and increasing energy efficiency of all our public buildings including these main offices. We are moving towards meeting our targets for this building by implementing efficiency projects such as behavioural change initiatives, installing LED lighting, fabric insulation upgrades, heating and lighting systems and controls and through renewable energy installations.
In September 2021 the installation was completed of a 30KW PV array with annual energy production of 25,000KWh. This offsets approximately 20% of the electrical usage on this site and is now producing green electricity to reduce Rathroeen dependents on importing external electricity. In addition, there is LED lighting throughout the site.
Rathroeen Landfill was selected in 2021 for Better Energy Communities grant (BEC) through SEAI for the installation of 30KW solar photovoltaic array. This site was chosen due to its high energy usage when compared to other building and sites in Mayo County Council. Rathroeen has a large sorting shed for waste adjacent to the civic amenity and has ample room on the roof with a south facing pitch to accommodate the solar panels.
The site uses approximately 120,000KWh per annum. This consumption is from the main offices and the adjacent landfill which requires large pumps to operate throughout the day and a landfill flare which also consumes large amounts of electricity 24 hours a day.