New Report Provides a Road Map for Sustainable Community Spaces in the Glenkens
Thanks to funding from the Scottish Government's 'Community Led Vision' fund, administered by D&G Council, eleven community buildings in the Glenkens have received detailed assessments of their energy efficiency upgrade options. They all now have clear recommendations of the most effective ways for them to improve their energy efficiency and sustainability, summarised in a report produced for the Glenkens Community and Arts Trust by Natural Power Consultants.
Natural Power Engineers with Trustees at Mossdale Village Hall
Town and village halls and other community spaces play a vital role in the rural population centres of the Glenkens, but due to their age, many of these buildings are poorly insulated, in some cases using oil boilers which are reaching the end of their operational lifespan, or in others using expensive electric heaters which are not always powerful enough to heat the space to a comfortable level in the midst of winter.
This new report gives an overview of potential improvements for each building, backed up by technical data which can be used by the committees of participating halls to develop bids for grant funding in order to make the halls more sustainable, both environmentally and financially. Recommendations have been made as appropriate in the areas of lighting and energy efficiency improvements, improvements to the building fabric and potential for renewable generation.
The report's authors will present their recommendations at a stakeholder event in the summer, alongside a second report which considers opportunities to decarbonise and reduce power usage in domestic properties in the Glenkens.
This project was coordinated by Becca Nelson, Glenkens Community Spaces Network facilitator. She commented:
“One of the key concerns of Glenkens Community Spaces Network members is rising utility costs, with some members expressing concern that the viability of venues is under threat in light of the price increases. However, grant funding is available to help community buildings become more sustainable. I am delighted that two of the participating venues' committees have already used the assessments to support grant funding bids for feasibility studies. I hope that their bids are successful, and that other participants will be able to use this data to help them to implement capital projects to future-proof their own community building. We will be looking for opportunities to collaborate when finding contractors to carry out any works as well as sharing successes and potential pitfalls.”
Click to download.
The report, titled ‘Energy Efficiency and Decarbonisation in Glenkens Community Buildings’, is available to download from the Reports and Resources Archive of the Glenkens Hub website.
The Glenkens Community Spaces Network provides a forum for the management committees of our village halls, town halls, community centres and other community spaces to come together to share ideas, successes and issues. The Network is a GCAT project and is funded through 2023-2025 by a grant from the Glenkens and District Community Benefit Fund.
Find out more or join: https://glenkens.scot/glenkens-community-spaces-network