To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillor Marion Mills - Councillor Ed Wilson was sub.

Apologies were also received from Martin Fry (MRF&A / City University).

To receive declarations of interests from Members of the Panel in respect of any item to be considered at the meeting.

None received.

The Chairman informed everyone present that the meeting was being recorded and would be made available on the RBWM website.

To note the Part I minutes of the meeting of the Panel held on Monday 30 November 2015.

The Part I minutes of the meeting held on the 30 November 2015 were agreed as a correct record.

Opening remarks by the Chairman on the Panel’s role.

The Chairman informed everyone present that the prime objective of the Sustainability Panel was to save energy and carbon tax for the Council and ratepayers but also to looked at new technology that would benefit everyone involved. 

By the Transport & Access Team Leader (Lynne Penn), RBWM.

The Transport & Access Team Leader, Lynne Penn, gave Members an update on the Staff Travel Plan. 

Members were informed that the Council was in the throws and process of a transport review in order to bring together all elements of transport under one umbrella which the Transport & Access Team Leader had been delegated responsibility for.  It was noted that different elements such as fleet, home to school transport, social care transport, community transport and the shop mobility service now came together as one group. 

It was noted that in July 2015 the Energy Savings Trust had been invited to meet with the Council to review what had taken place to date (making provision for staff to go about their duties) and to look at the vehicles being used across the Council.  A copy of the Energy Savings Trust report would be provided by the Transport & Access Team Leader to the Clerk so that it could be circulated with the minutes.  Members were informed that some of the information included in the report for the period 2014 – 2015 was that as a whole the Council had driven 1.69 million miles which equated to 553 tonnes of carbon dioxide.  The Transport & Access Team Leader explained that most of that mileage had been staff mileage (1.2 million miles / 71%) which had produced 358 tonnes of carbon dioxide (65%). 

Members were informed that the Fleet Manager, Mark Green, now worked for the Transport & Access Team Leader. 

Members were informed that a question that would be asked going forward would be:

v  Do you need to travel or can you use telephone and video conferencing facilities instead? 

It was noted that whilst all journeys (e.g. by social workers, street care officers, etc) could not be eliminated, the possibility of sharing vehicles, using public transport to conferences and hiring cars might all be an option.  It was noted that another big aspect of this was pool cars and whilst there had originally been seven pool cars that had been ‘pretty well used’ there were a new fleet of fuel-efficient, low-emission vehicles available for business use which were arriving this week (a fleet of thirteen Minis with increased availability based at various Council locations).  The Transport & Access Team Leader explained that the Council, through the Staff Travel Plan, hoped to reduce the Council’s carbon footprint by making a 30% reduction in the mileage of fleet vehicles and increase efficiency, whilst securing saving for the Council in line with the financial priorities of the Council.

The potential benefits of this initiative were considered to be considerable as travel was one of the Council’s most significant expenses, and a great deal of officers’ (and members’) time was lost shuttling back and forth to meetings. Reducing travel would enable the Council to cut costs and use time more productively.

In the ensuing discussion the following points were noted:

Ø  The Nissan Leafs (electric vehicles) had been leased vehicles based at Tinkers Lane.  It was noted that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.

By the Energy Reduction Manager (Michael Potter), RBWM.

The Energy Reduction Manager, Michael Potter, referred Members to pages 11-18 of the agenda and explained that the report provided an overview and business case for the upgrade of the Town Hall building management system (BMS).

The Energy Reduction Manager highlighted the need to replace and upgrade the existing Town Hall building management system (BMS).  It was noted that the BMS currently controlled the boiler, hot water cylinder and chiller systems and due to its age it could no longer be maintained or accessed by relevant staff.  Members were informed that this lack of control meant that energy was not being properly controlled in the Town Hall.

Members were informed that some budgeting costs had been sought from external contractors to determine the extent of the project.  It was noted that to upgrade the Town Hall building management system and connecting the air conditioning system to the building management system was estimated to cost £30k. 

The Energy Reduction Manager explained that the contractors that had been contacted had stated that a 10-15% saving could be achieved by upgrading the building management system.  It was noted that in gas terms this would equate to roughly £2.5k per annum.  The Energy Reduction Manager went onto explain that further to this the connection of the air conditioning to the system should also yield some electrical savings.

In the ensuing discussion the following points were noted:

Ø  The system was last upgraded in 2006 and that the Council’s IT infrastructure no longer allowed the system to be controlled over the Councils servers, which meant adjustments could not be made.

Ø  That the heating and cooling systems could theoretically be working at the same time.

Ø  That the user interface for the BMS system would ideally control all of the Town Hall control panels from one access point.

Ø  That since the Town Hall was refurbished, elements of the BMS system have been controlled separately and it was felt that it was critical to install a new system that would connect these elements up to ensure the building temperatures were appropriately regulated. 

Ø  That a software based system currently in place simply switched the heating on as programmed. 

Ø  That the Mechanical Engineer (Building Services) was now part of a shared service with Wokingham.

Ø  That the Energy Reduction Manager would work with Building Services to put together a tender package.

The Chairman stated that he felt that the savings could be far in excess of those stated however the costs could be greater too. 

The Chairman requested that the detailed BMS specification be sent to himself and the Vice-Chair once it was available.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLEY:

i)       That the upgrade of the Town Hall building management system (BMS) be approved and be funded from the Energy Initiatives capital budget.

ii)      That delegation be given to the Head of Governance, Partnerships, Performance & Policy (David Scott), in consultation with the Chairman of the Sustainability Panel and the Lead Member for Sustainability, to review the outcome of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

By the Energy Reduction Manager (Michael Potter), RBWM.

The Energy Reduction Manager referred Members to pages 19-28 of the agenda and explained that the report provided an update and gave the Panel an overview of the progress being made to deliver the Panel’s energy reduction strategy. 

The key areas covered were noted as follows:

·         Energy Performance Target

·         Building LED project

·         Collective Energy Switching

·         Town Hall Solar Display

·         Street lighting LED project

·         Work planned over the next period

In the ensuing discussion, the following points were noted:  

Energy Performance target

·         A 5.1% reduction in energy consumption was currently being achieved in the 2015/16 financial year and an 8.8% reduction over the whole year compared to the baseline was expected. 

·         Leisure buildings, schools and street lighting were not included in the energy consumption figures. 

·         The two buildings located opposite the Town Hall that had since been demolished were no longer included in the energy consumption figures. 

Building LED project

·         That the Building LED project was progressing and Hines Meadow Car Park was now almost complete.

·         The car park was currently showing a 59% reduction on last year’senergy consumption – the further shortfall was being investigated and if possible would be rectified.  It was noted that a possibility of an overlap on circuits could be to blame.

·         Windsor Library, Guildhall, the Coach Park and the Maidenhead Projects Centre were now all completed.

·         Although the scheme was currently two / three weeks behind schedule the contractors were still seeking to complete the project on time.

Collective Energy Switching

·         The Procurement and Communications teams had provided feedback on the scheme and had advised that the implementation of a scheme locally would be viable.

·         That further media advertising could be carried out via the staff bulletin, website, twitter, Facebook, Advantage Card and the Around the Royal Borough newsletter.

·         It had also been suggested that parish councils be asked to further publicise the scheme within their parish areas.

·         That further media advertising at a cost to the Council was not looking to be pursued other than possibility of sending out a flier with the Around the Royal Borough newsletter which was estimated could cost between £4.5k - £6k depending on the nature of the flyer.

·         That agreeing a partner for the scheme would be the next stage of the project. Once contracts have been singed then branding etc would be agreed with the Sustainability Panel.

Town Hall Solar Display

·         That a review of the solar panel public displays market had been carried out and there were two different display types currently available.

·         The Chairman stated that he did not like either of the display screen options in the report and requested further options be made available to the Panel. 

Street lighting LED project

·         That the Council was embarking on a LED replacement programme of the street lighting estate.  It was noted that the street lighting project had now gone out to tender with a view to completing the exercise by the end of the current financial year. 

·         That the project installation programme, scheduled to start  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

The dates of future meetings are as follows (7.30pm start):

·         Monday 16 May 2016.

It was noted that the dates of future meetings had been scheduled as follows (7.30pm in the Town Hall):

·         Monday 14 March 2016

·         Monday 16 May 2016

The Panel requested the following be brought to a future meeting:

v  That the results (take up) of the food waste campaign be brought to the next meeting.

v  That the London City Corporation who used solar panels in public bins to monitor how full bins be looked into.