NEARLY £1m has been awarded to the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service to reduce its carbon footprint.
The money comes from the government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) and is aimed at helping the service improve its energy efficiency over two years, with a focus on five of its least energy-efficient buildings.
These include Whitley Wood Fire Station, Wokingham Road Fire Station, and Caversham Road Fire Station (accommodation building). Completing the quartet are Langley and Newbury stations.
Features will include new LED lighting, solar panels, air-sourced heat pump systems and improved building insulation. These improvements are forecast to save 132 tonnes of carbon generation and tens of thousands of pounds off its energy bills every year.
The £927,845 grant will be matched by the Royal Berkshire Fire Authority (RBFA) leading to a total investment of £1.77 million in sustainability improvements over the next two years.
Mark Arkwell, Deputy Chief Fire Officer, said: “This funding is a fantastic boost to help deliver our ambition of rapidly improving our estate for the benefit of staff, the public and the planet. I believe it’s right for us to play a leading role in responding to the climate emergency and with 65% of our carbon coming from the estate we are sensible to focus on this area first.”
This was supported by Councillor Jeff Brooks, chair of Royal Berkshire Fire Authority, who said the service had a key role to play in protecting the environment.
“I am delighted that the Service has now received the PSDS grant and that we can match the Government funding of £927,845 with a RBFA contribution of £736,777 to make some of our least energy efficient sites more environmentally friendly,” he said.
