Still sustainable, still a pioneer development Ardudwy Health Centre

Our building for the Ardudwy Surgery in Harlech was opened to the public in 2014.

Even though sustainable technology has advanced a lot in that time, the medical centre is still a prime example of our commitment to providing net zero carbon buildings in our portfolio.

With over 20% of heat from buildings escaping through the windows, more emphasis is being placed on ways to save energy in all of our new buildings. Although Harlech uses thermally insulated double glazing units we are now looking at triple glazing to provide increased carbon reductions in our new builds.

Typically lighting accounts for 35% of the total annual energy bill for a practice, therefore there is a huge opportunity to reduce costs and LED lighting also lasts longer, keeping maintenance time and cost down

LED is currently one of the most efficient lighting technologies using 25% of the electricity of incandescent bulbs, and lasting up to 25 times longer.

The biomass boiler uses wood pellets sourced from a nearby timber factory to keep the building warm in the winter whilst still being environmentally friendly.

A key aspect of any net zero carbon building is insulation. The external walls at Harlech are highly insulated with both an internal insulation made of recycled newspaper and an external insulation made of recycled wood fibre. This creates a structure that keeps heat in and therefore uses less energy to keep costs down.

Even after providing a highly insulated building and reducing the energy consumption as far as we can through high efficiency plant and services there is still a small energy demand from the National Grid. To reduce this further we are installing renewable energy sources, like PV panels where we can.

Appreciate