COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

South Dublin County Council Crest

MEETING OF ENVIRONMENT, PUBLIC REALM AND CLIMATE CHANGE SPC

Tuesday, September 06, 2016

 

 

Green Initiative - St Judes GAA

REPORT:

As initiated by Cllr Kearns, Chair of the SPC, and as included in the 2016 draft work programme for this SPC, it was agreed to peruse a local sports centre / club to explore the possibility of engaging in a "greening" initiative.

St Jude's GAA club was selected and as it was considered that the Eco-Merit programme might be suitable, an initial meeting was held with St Judes GAA to explore the possibility of the club engaging in this process.

By way of background, €coMerit assists small businesses, medium organisations and large organisations in saving money by looking closely at these costs and finding cost-efficient ways of reducing them, while the business becomes greener at the same time.

€coMerit has been designed to be as simple as possible for the organisation involved. The focus is on cost savings and improvements. There are a number of steps involved in the EcoMerit certification process as follows:

  1. Application - Complete the application form
  2. Contract - the contract agreement will be emailed to the organization. When the organization decides to proceed, a visit date is organized and to activate the agreement the Year 1 fee (http://www.ecocert.ie/ecomerit-for-smes/ecomeritt-pricing-structure). The only preparation required for the visit is recent energy, waste and water (if applicable) bills. Ideally going back one year, but if this is a problem, just pull together what is available .
  3. EcoMerit Visit -This is very informal (not an audit or inspection!) It should be hosted by someone in the organisation who is familiar with your arrangements for energy, waste and water and the day-to-day running of the site. The EcoMerit advisor will analyse your bills and then ‘walk and talk’ around the premises with you, looking for cost savings in energy, waste and water. Typically the whole visit takes around three hours.
  4. EcoMerit Data Pack -The €coMerit advisor then goes away, and does any research or investigation needed, and then emails the data pack back, which includes the improvements recommended for consideration. In each case, the expected savings are calculated and the implementation costs and pay-back times are estimated as applicable. The emphasis is on finding cost saving improvements which cost little to implement and which have fast pay-back times.
  5. Decision -The organisation decides which improvements will be implement, and return the completed Data Pack. Typically, the Data Pack will amount to five pages, four of which will have been provided in draft form by the EcoMerit advisor. The €coMerit advisor will also help as may be needed, either by phone, email or personal visit.
  6. Certification - Once the completed Data Pack is returned and approved by the €coMerit Certification Manager, your €coMerit will be issued to you with a validity of three years.
  7. Annual Surveillance - At the start of Years 2 and 3, you will be asked to pay an annual surveillance fee (http://www.ecocert.ie/ecomerit-for-smes/ecomeritt-pricing-structure) and to arrange a suitable time for your €coMerit advisor to call out. He will verify your certification, including your progress on your planned improvements, and also assist with finding further cost-saving improvements for the coming year.

As a result of the initial exploratory meeting the application form is with St Judes for completion and contact has been made with EcoMerits regarding a first site visit.

For additional information on EcoMerits scheme please visit: www.ecocert.ie