Wicklow's first fully decarbonised building, Bray Fire Station, has officially been launched.

The fire station was identified as one of the largest fossil fuel users in the Wicklow County Council's building stock and after planning development of energy measures over the past three years, the Energy Office proposed a number of improvements.

These included a window replacement, new appliance bay doors and a complete overhaul of the heating system including a renewable air to water heat pump, new radiators and pipework.

The result of the decarbonised building means the requirement for natural gas heating at the premises has been removed. The energy use at the station will also reduce by 60% with a complete removal of direct carbon emissions. This has brought the building's energy rating from E1 to B1.

Taoiseach Simon Harris, Cathaoirleach Cllr Paul O’Brien, Leas Cathaoirleach of Bray Municipal District Cllr Erika Doyle and other distinguished guests were at the unveiling last Friday.

-- Advertisement --

"I'm proud to be in my home county to officially open the refurbished fire station here in Bray as the first decarbonised building within the county," said Taoiseach Harris.

"I am delighted to see Wicklow County Council leading the way with decarbonisation initiatives such as this one which will contribute to our efforts to reduce emissions and reach our climate goals.

"I want to thank all of you involved in this project which will provide a model of best practice for other services to replicate across the country. I also want to pay tribute to our fire-fighter personnel here who are so dedicated to serving their communities every day."

In order to develop the project, a delivery team was established which was made up of representatives from the Mid-East Energy Unit - that are four local authorities including Wicklow, Meath, Louth and Kildare County Councils - Energy Office and Wicklow Fire Service. The project was delivered with support from the SEAI Pathfinder Programme.

Commenting at the launch, Cllr O'Brien said: "This project demonstrates best practice in reducing carbon emissions and decarbonisation of the council’s building stock. It also builds capacity for the four local authorities in the region and allow for scalable models for future projects."

Meanwhile, Chief Executive of Wicklow County Council, Emer O’Gorman added: "The delivery of this project will assist Wicklow County Council in meeting their 2030 energy and carbon reduction targets, I would like to thank the SEAI Pathfinder team for their support in the delivery of this project."