Sun power for eco lender
Monday 26 July 2004
Ecology Building Society's new "low impact" HQ in West Yorkshire is now powered by both sun and wind power. Photovoltaic panels have just been fitted to the roof of the UKs youngest building society, to supplement the power supplied by Ecotricity.
Photovoltaics (PV's) are just one of the eco-friendly features of this uniquely designed building which incorporates high levels of Warmcell insulation, a condensing boiler, sun-pipes and rainwater harvesting. A sedum nature roof and drystone walling help the building blend seamlessly into its Aire Valley surroundings. A circular straw bale constructed meeting room is planned for early 2005.
Amongst other things, the electricity produced helps to power the Ecology Building Society's computer systems. The Ecology lends throughout the UK specialising in mortgage finance to bring derelict buildings back into use, for timber property and for low impact self-build.
Ecology Chief Executive Paul Ellis said:
"We are delighted with the performance of our new PV installation, and the further contribution it makes to mitigating the effects of climate change through reduced carbon emissions. It also feels good to have lessened our dependence on the grid!"
The 5 Kwh, grid connected PV's, were installed by Powys based renewable energy specialist, Dulas. With twenty years experience in the field of solar PV's Dulas has recently been awarded a Queens award for Enterprise, recognising a period of significant growth. The Kyocera modules were mounted using Unistrut and UniRac rails and grid linked through a Fronius inverter. The whole installation took only two days to complete.
