Published: Friday, 3rd July, 2009 1:18pm

Borough on the meter for cost cuts

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A DRIVE to reduce energy bills in Royal Borough council buildings has been give the go-ahead.

Councillors agree to install smart metering and sub-metering technology throughout the council"s buildings in order to drive down the energy consumption and reduce costs.

The equipment will be used to automatically monitor energy use in specific areas such as individual floors, identifying opportunities to reduce energy consumption.

Lead member for policy and performance, Cllr Liam Maxwell, said payback on the £30,000 initial cost would be expected within two years and from then on the council would be saving on energy bills.

He said: 'This bold initiative will cut energy costs in our offices and at the same time help us as a council to achieve our goals of reducing waste, meeting carbon and energy reduction targets and embedding a low carbon culture.'

In addition the public will be able to go online and see how much energy is consumed in individual council buildings and even submit suggestions to further reduce consumption.

Other organisations have reported energy consumption savings of 15 per cent by introducing and acting on information from smart metering.

A pilot scheme in the council offices in York House, Windsor, initiated in December last year, has already identified a number of energy-saving opportunities, including the installation of more efficient energy control devices, better housekeeping, resetting controls and bringing about changes in behaviour by increasing staff awareness.

As an added incentive, council teams will earn RecycleBank points for the energy savings achieved.

Cllr Maxwell added: 'Hopefully, seeing the reduction in council energy consumption for themselves online will inspire residents and businesses to also make changes for the better.

'We will be writing to organisations in the borough to encourage them to install smart metering, and will be more than happy to advise and share good practice with them.'