Louth Co Co make energy savings of over €66,000 on one building since 2014

At 8.30 pm this Saturday March 30, Louth County Council will demonstrate its commitment to energy conservation and action on climate change by participating in Earth Hour across multiple locations in County Louth.

In the past decade, Earth Hour has inspired millions to support and participate in critical climate and conservation projects helping drive climate policy, awareness and action.

External flood lights at County Hall, Dundalk Town Hall and Millmount in Drogheda will be switched off, leaving these landmark Council buildings in darkness. Louth County Council are encouraging citizens of Louth to get involved at home by turning off any non essential devices or lights in their homes during Earth Hour.

People can save money while helping the planet by consciously thinking about energy use, and taking some small steps to reduce consumption.

Commenting, Head of the Council Energy Team, Pádraig O’Hora said:

“At close of business each day, Louth County Council employees check that up to 1,000 internal lights and 600 PC terminals are powered off.

"This not only reduces Council energy consumption, but is a conscious effort to save money through the efficient management of resources.

"Every Euro the Council can save on energy is a Euro that can be invested in housing or the provision of other much needed services funded by the limited Council budget”.

Louth County Council has recently achieved ISO 50001 accreditation for its Energy Management System. An example of the benefits of this system include the drive to upgrade public lights low energy LED’s and a 33% reduction in energy use in Dundalk Town Hall which has generated savings of over €66,000 since 2014.

On April 8 the OPW will present an award to Louth County Council to mark the achievement of Dundalk Town Hall meeting an energy efficiency target of 33% under the Optimising Power @ Work programme.

The core principle of Optimising Power @ Work is to intensively work with public sector organisations to encourage behavioural change with regard to energy usage, with the overall aim of identifying and eliminating energy wastage.

For more additional information & updates follow Louth County Council's Twitter feed @louthcoco.