1 week Ago
A new centre for adults with learning disabilities will be Flintshire's first ever net-zero building. Coed y Ddraig in Mold is due to open in mid-May. Operated by adult learning disability support charity HFT it will offer adults of working age with learning disabilities the chance to engage in training and gain employment and life skills.
It will also host support services provided by the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. Crucially however, the facility will also be Flintshire's first building that operates at net-zero, with all carbon emissions generated by the use of the building offset by a series of innovative carbon-reducing measures - part of a broader effort by the authority's social services team to achieve net-zero by 2030. It is the first of two net-zero construction projects in Flintshire, with Ty Croes Atti care home also meeting the standard.
But it is Coed y Ddraig that will be the first completed within the county. "We have a lot of carbon efficient building in Flintshire but Coed y Ddraig will be Flintshire's first net-zero building," said Jane Davies, senior manager for safeguarding and commissioning social services. "We've been working very closely with ourt contractors to ensure both Coed y Ddraig in Mold and Ty Croes Atti in Flint will be net-zero.
"They both have ground-source heat pumps, Coed y Ddraig also has a rainwater harvesting system to support the horticultural activities that will be taking place on that site. "Polytunnels and greenhouses on site will be irrigated using the water collection systems. "They also have solar panels and all the things you would expect to see, together with an absolutely state-of-the-art insulation system and underfloor heating.
"The building is also clad in larch cladding, which has great insulation properties and is sourced from Maeshafn a few miles up the road. We've sourced as much of the building material locally as possible." The revelation that Coed y Ddraig would be Flintshire's first net-zero building came as Ms Davies presented a report on how Flintshire was decarbonising all aspects of social services, from support workers doing case work in the community to procurement, through investment and efficiencies.
"We are thinking creatively all the time and making any changes we can, even little ones, to reduce our overall carbon impact," she said. "Our commitment to local care provision delivered by local people to local people has a benefit because we don't have so many people commuting from other areas into the county to deliver services. "Our care providers, particularly our domiciliary care providers have been very engaged in this process too and will be working with the council's dedicated climate change team to think differently about carbon reduction.
" Ms Davies also highlighted the use of a Welsh Government grant to purchase a fleet of electric Renault Zoe cars for social services staff to use on care calls. Routes are planned and monitored in real-time using a dedicated digital mapping tool called Spectrum to further improve efficiency of those calls. "We want people receiving care and staff delivering that as their primary role, not driving around from here to there.
" Cllr David Healey commended Ms Davies and the social services team for their commitment to the net-zero project. "I believe this is very important and an exemplary piece of work," he said. "It deals with all aspects of our climate change strategy.
"It deals with buildings, it deals with transport and even the thorny challenge of procurement. Underpinning it is a positive attitude to make a difference and affect behavioural change. "This ticks all the boxes.
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