[ Leading Cork to Take Its Place as a World Class City ]
Sustainable Development
section, particularly around weather events was evident in 2020. Staff were instrumental in helping to manage and minimise the impact to the City during those events. Changes in work practices for all Staff, both indoor & outdoor, to ensure staff remained safe and well were implemented. The flexibility and resilience shown by all, ensured that business carried on as usual with no reduction in services. Rural Water This is a new function for Cork City Council following the extension of the City boundary in 2019. Work is continuing to embed new functions such as Grants for Domestic Wells and Septic Tanks and supporting and grant aiding Group Water Supply Schemes. All staff showed great resilience and flexibility in adapting to the new way of working to ensure that all services, including Statutory services, were delivered during the pandemic.
Energy Efficiency Retrofit
During 2020, the City Council completed Energy Efficiency Retrofit works on 156 apartments. The total cost of the works was ¤7M. During the year funding was received to start works on an additional 54 units. To measure the benefits of the retrofitting works energy and environmental monitoring, a measuring and reporting system has been installed in eight apartments. The energy and environmental conditions of the properties will be monitored for one year prior to the installation of Deep Energy Efficiency measures. Monitoring measuring and reporting will continue for at least one year after the works are completed. The apartments deep energy efficiency retrofit program is funded jointly by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the Southern Assembly Regional Operational Program utilising ERDF funds aimed at the drive towards a low carbon economy. The Council is also participating in an Interreg North West Europe project called RED-WOLF that aims to reduce the carbon emissions from ten properties using electric storage heaters, Solar Voltaic panels, batteries, and an algorithm that targets the consumption of electricity to when the CO2 content of the grid is low. Through the Horizon 2020 project MiniSTor the council is assisting the International Energy Research Centre to demonstrate in one property how a Minimal sized Energy storage system can reduce the carbon necessary to provide energy in the home. The need to increase awareness of the need to reduce carbon emissions and useful steps to achieve the reductions will be developed into a Regional Action Plan by the council in 2021. The Intensify projects regional action plan will
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