Evaluating Alternative Renewables
With over 150 years of heritage, St Austell Brewery is an iconic part of the South West economy. It is a major employer in the region and takes seriously its responsibility to employees and the environment. The development of the 36 bedroom County Arms Hotel in Truro needed to be in line with the brewery’s green plan.
The brief was to investigate the feasibility of installing any or all of solar PV, solar thermal, wind, heat pumps, biomass and rain water harvesting.
Each technology was investigated taking into account the natural resources available, space limitations, costs and aesthetics. The project financials for each technology were modelled using RETScreen to provide a standard set of values to compare.
Due to the constraints imposed by the approved planning application and the project financials the brewery decided to install a solar PV and a solar thermal system.
The renewable energy systems have been contributing to the hotels energy supply for more than 2 years.
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