A new leisure and community facility in Oldham, which is powered by a Green2Go CHP generating system, has received national recognition by being awarded the Sustainability Award at this year’s national LIFT Awards.
Chadderton Wellbeing Centre is a LIFT (Local Improvement Finance Trust) development for Oldham Council. It houses a 25m swimming pool, gym, dance studio, library, cafe and community meeting rooms all under one roof in a brand new, purpose built facility.
The award is given to the project that demonstrates how outstanding sustainability has been embedded in the design, construction and operation of the building and recognises the sustainable features which have been incorporated into Chadderton Wellbeing Centre and the resulting benefits in terms of carbon savings.
Chief amongst these features is the innovative Green2Go generating system which uses a bio-fuel based 100% on waste used cooking oil to provide heat and power to the building. In addition, surplus power can be exported to the National Grid, allowing even greater off-setting of emissions.
Green2Go, together with its fuel partner Convert2Green, collects waste used cooking oil from commercial public sector buildings, such as schools within the Oldham area, to be reused as a bio-fuel source to help power this public building.
These features have resulted in an ‘A’ rated energy performance certificate, which shows how energy efficient the building is. This is one of the highest ratings available and demonstrates how the integration of architectural design and the Green2Go technologies are resulting in an estimated cost effective reduction in the building’s carbon emissions of approximately 450,000 kg per year.
Green2Go are working with client Community 1st Oldham towards an ‘A+’ rating, which is the highest energy performance rating available, and are confident that the Chadderton Wellbeing Centre would be the first public building to achieve this accolade.
Neil Charlesworth, General Manager of Community 1st Oldham, the building’s owners, commented: “Community 1st considers sustainability a high priority in all our developments and the inclusion of the Green2Go generating system at Chadderton Wellbeing Centre delivers considerable environmental benefits. We are delighted that this has been recognised by the LIFT Awards judges.”