Project summary
 

• Region: Cornwall
• Value: £180,000
• Contract terms: JCT 2005 Design & Build
• Procurement: Design + Build
• Completed: March 2011
• Project terms: 110 weeks
• Awards: Nominated for the Michelmores Building of the Year Award 2012 and the Devon and Cornwall Forum Building of the Year Award 2012
• Site features and challenges: The most noticeable renewable energy feature is the 100kW wind turbine, towering over the college. It is ideally situated on a windy Cornish hill, thus maximising its potential for generating electricity from this naturally renewable source. Its outstanding performance has enabled it to pay for itself in a surprisingly short period of time. A less visible but just as important element of this renewable energy initiative is how the electricity is used. The primary heat source for the new buildings on this campus is a ground source heat pump. Heat pumps typically deliver 2-3kW of heat for every 1kW of electricity used – so with the wind turbine having paid for itself, both the power and the space heating become free on windy days!
• Customer Satisfaction: 82%
• BREEAM: Excellent

This Midas project helped the client achieve exceptionally low running costs and excellent energy efficiency with  a combination of on site power generation and good use of ground source heat.