The Customer
Our customer, The Scottish Courts & Tribunals Service (SCTS), is a public body whose purpose is to support the justice system in Scotland. Edinburgh High Court is situated in the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town, just off the Royal Mile.
The Challenge
We set out to commence this building’s zero-carbon journey by undertaking a low-carbon retrofit.
The building was constructed in 1936 and is now almost 100 years old. It comprises four stories and a floor area of 5232m2. It has relatively poor energy efficiency and a current EPC rating of D (58).
The building has B listed status and sits within Edinburgh Old Town Conservation Area and the UNESCO World Heritage Site resulting in some restrictions on modifications that can be undertaken and additional permission requirements.
Technologies and approaches needed to be identified that would deliver carbon and energy performance improvements in line with the listed status and without disrupting the daily operation of the court.
The Funding
OCS on behalf of the SCTS successfully applied to the Scottish Government for £2.1 million to fund the project. The project commenced in early 2024 and is expected to be completed by the end of the year.
LED Lighting
All corridor and stairwell lighting has been replaced with LEDs and controls enhanced with the addition of motion detection.
The new lighting consumes around 70% less electricity than the old light fittings.
Ventilation Control Enhancements
Additional sensors to enhance temperature and CO2 monitoring were added to Court rooms. These are used to improve ventilation control and reduce energy wastage.
Electricity Panel Metering
Metering was installed to monitor the 29 circuits on the low voltage switch panel. The metering has been added to the Meterology software platform to assist with driving building efficiency and identifying energy wastage from equipment running out of hours.
Grid Edge – Advance Building Analytics
Grid Edge has been implemented at the Court. This software solution provides continual analysis of all Building Management System control and monitoring points to identify opportunities to improve control of HVAC.
Opportunities are acted upon by improving the BMS controls strategy. Examples include improved air handling unit and chiller control.
The Outcome
The project’s outcomes were achieved with considerable reductions in energy consumption and CO2 emissions, fitting perfectly into our zero-carbon journey.
The project was predicted to reduce total energy consumption by 30% realising savings of over £70,000 per year.
By the end of July 2024 total energy consumption had reduced by 23%. At this point only 25% of the windows had been upgraded.
Additional benefits include improved comfort and reduce external noise for occupants.
