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 tender process and agree a variance if it came to more than the estimated cost of £30k.