Client: RNLI Exmouth

Mechanical Engineer: BFEC Ltd. Plymouth 

Main Contractor: Dawnus Construction, Exeter

Enersys "helping the RNLI to save money"

Enersys is delighted to report that one of its most-recent clients is the RNLI.

The RNLI’s decision in 2006 to build a new lifeboat station and slipway in Exmouth gave it the opportunity to launch a new environmentally-friendly agenda for all their new buildings. Announcing the scheme, Simon Price, the RNLI Divisional Inspector said:

“It is intended that the design will incorporate alternative energy generators and greywater storage to promote sustainability and reduce running costs.”

The new lifeboat station, completed in March 2009, will be heated using ‘green’ technology. Located on the seafront, the lifeboat station and the crew will have to endure – and operate in – temperatures below freezing.

With this in mind, Enersys installed a ground source heat pump and underfloor heating. The ground source heat pump would enable the RNLI to extract heat via a borehole from beneath the earth’s surface. At a depth of two metres the ground has a constant temperature of about 18 degrees. Ground source heat pumps extract this trapped energy and push it through the underfloor heating enabling buildings to maintain a constant, steady temperature of between 15 and 16 degrees at little cost. When there’s an emergency and the crew are called to the building in colder conditions, the secondary gas boiler will kick in to fire up a series of panel radiators throughout the building to ensure that the desired temperature is reached as quickly as possible.

“The joy of this type of heating system,” says Ian Sawle, director of Enersys, “is that the Building Management System can be controlled from the RNLI headquarters eighty miles away in Poole. When they get news of an emergency they’ll be able to crank up the heating from their office to about 22 degrees. It’ll reach this temperature in about 15 mins after which the boiler will switch off, leaving the underfloor heating to maintain the heat keeping the lifeboat station nice and warm for the crew, coming back from sea.”

Needless to say, the RNLI was keen to see its new lifeboat station up and running as soon as possible which is where the skills and experience of Enersys have really helped the charity. As well as being able to install an efficient, renewable heating system, the company also used a unique 3-step, installation programme.

Traditionally, after the underfloor heating and the insulation have been installed it’s the screed that slows things down. Using Enersys’ ultra-fast-setting cement, Dawnus Construction was able to lay the lifeboat station floor just five days later. Site manager, Mike Edwards says he was impressed:

“Enersys are thorough and conscientious in their work. The installation process and their experience ensured that the screed was less-vulnerable than we’d expect and we were able to get back to work much more quickly. I’d say we saved ourselves at least a week but potentially this could have been more.”

Funded entirely by public donations and a small army of fundraisers across East Devon, the cost of the building work – almost two million pounds –  has been paid by local people. The installation of renewable energy systems using the unique Enersys installation programme has helped keep down the build costs of the new lifeboat station. Best of all, reducing costs, means there’s more money for saving lives.