Council offices set benchmark

The council offices were selected as one of nine ‘exemplar’ buildings across the East Border Region of Ireland which took part in a €1 million Energy Efficiency and Micro Generation Project.

Improvements were made to Banbridge Civic Buildings’ insulation, a proprietary draft-proofing system to the windows was installed and LED lighting was fitted as part of the three year initiative.

The upgrades to the council offices will ensure the internal comfort levels for occupants and visitors will be dramatically improved.

The project managers, East Border Region Ltd, have been recording the results and are ready to present them at a special event in Crown Plaza Hotel, Dundalk on November 26.

Kevin Fitzsimons from Banbridge District Council said: “The EEMG Project set out in 2011 to demonstrate industry leading energy efficiency by spotlighting nine buildings across the East Border Region. We nominated Banbridge Civic Buildings as we wanted to show how the building fabric of older buildings can be upgraded to provide greater energy efficiency.”

Councillor Alan McDowell, Chairman of East Border Region added: “Our event at Crown Plaza Hotel, Dundalk is a great chance for members of the public or local business people to hear all about the journey we have been on and how they can make easy adaptations to their own premises to save on energy costs and reduce their carbon footprint.”

Other buildings which are exemplar buildings for the project include Armagh Palace Demesne, Bangor Castle Town Hall, Craigavon Borough Council Office, Killyleagh Bridge Community Centre, Navan Library Headquarters, Monaghan Council, Louth Library and Dundalk Museum.

Another feature of the building upgrades is a display screen in each building’s foyer, which will provide monitoring of the building’s energy meters. This unique visitor experience will allow visitors to see a ‘live’ display of the building’s energy performance.

For more information call 02890393837 or www.morrowevents.com.