Our buildings and fleet vehicles

The fuel used in our fleet and the energy used for lighting and heating our buildings are the main areas that contribute to the council’s direct impact on greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impacts.

Approximately 60-65% of our emissions are from our buildings and 25% from our fleet.

We produce annual emissions reports on the emissions produced from buildings, vehicles and other sources annually.

Our housing stock which is managed by an arms length management organisation called Colchester Borough Homes has its own target for reducing emissions.

Their target is for all homes to have a minimum Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of ‘C’ by 2030. EPCs provide an indication of the home’s energy efficiency, based on estimated energy costs for the property.

Homes are given a score between A-G (with A being the most energy efficient). They also have a target for the whole housing stock to be net zero by 2050.

We are taking action to reduce emissions from our buildings and fleet:

• Buying electric vehicles to replace existing diesel vehicles in our fleet. We have a range of electric cars and vans in our fleet and are working to a strategy to transition all the fleet to low emission alternatives by 2030.


• Installing energy efficiency measures at a variety of our buildings including Rowan House and Leisure World Colchester.
  
  At Leisure World, pool covers are being installed alongside a water filtration system to reduce water and energy use at the facility.


• Conducting audits of our estate to identify opportunities for saving energy and understanding in more detail how our buildings consume energy.


• Exploring opportunities to deliver projects that could help ‘offset’ the emissions that the council produces but cannot reduce, either for financial or technical viability reasons.
  
  An example offset project could be creating a solar farm, an area of land that is covered with solar panels. The clean energy from the solar panels contributes to emissions reduction by not needing to burn fossil fuels for energy.
  
  Another project could be in the natural environment, for example tree planting to wetland restoration. Both of these project types contribute to the storing of carbon and reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere.


• Improving the energy efficiency of our housing stock. This includes existing stock and new homes that are bought and upgraded. We are also carrying out projects to ensure the living conditions within people’s homes is suitable for living by using smart thermostats.

Case study: Rowan House – an office

In 2023 we opened a refurbished Rowan House which is our main office building. The refurbishment included upgrades to the energy efficiency of the building with the installation of an air source heat pump, roof insulation and LED lighting.

Electric vehicle charge points have also been installed to support charging of some of our fleet vehicles. The air source heat pump will use electricity rather than gas to heat the building, which will produce significant emission savings.

Find more details about the project.