Docklands21: Smart & Sustainable Energy Community

How does Ireland move to a place where energy efficiency in our economy can be improved by as much as a fifth? The answer is, it does it by providing guidance and assistance to businesses, giving them the tools they need to improve energy consumption and optimise their energy-related operations in a smart, cost-effective, and sustainable manner.

 

Docklands21, recognised as a Smart and Sustainable Energy Community, is an initiative that is aiming to do all of this. Centred in the strategically vital IFSC and Silicon Docks area of Dublin city’s docklands area, Docklands21 will work with all sectors of the community, starting with the business sector.
Building on success 

 

While this project initially involved eight IFSC companies with a combined energy bill of over €5 million and 7,620 employees, all coming together in a pilot project to explore ways of reducing their energy consumption, Docklands 21 now involves over 40 companies who, together, form Ireland’s largest Sustainable Energy Community (SEC).

 

The 40 firms involved represent 51 premises, employ a total of 31,000 employees, and have a combined energy bill (2014) of close to €20 million. Also, over the past four years, they have undertaken 193 different conservation projects in a range of energy and conservation areas, including insulation, lighting controls, office equipment, behavioural and awareness campaigns. The Docklands21 project is currently developing a plan to save an additional >6GWh of their energy consumption as well as rolling out support services to the 40 firms already involved.

 

Some other exciting developments have also been initiated around Dublin’s Docklands. Dublin City Council’s Strategic Development Zone (SDZ) plan, for example, has identified a further 40-hectares of land to be developed around the Docklands area; this includes an estimated €2 billion investment in office space and 2,600 residential units, all built to the highest resource efficiency standards, underpinning Docklands21 ambition.

 

Being Exemplar

 

By inspiring companies, SMEs, communities, institutions, and professional services to improve their consumption profile, Docklands21 is playing a leading role in a much broader national and international context.

 

As he launched Docklands21 earlier this year, Alex White, Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, emphasised that initiatives such as this one help to bring about a sustained long-term increase in incomes, employment opportunities, economic activity, and overall economic competitiveness.

 

“Flagship projects like Docklands 2021 will play an important role … convincing more firms and communities across Ireland to work together and develop similar collaborative projects that can demonstrate the wider benefits of energy efficiency.”

 

The results

 

By doing business in a responsible, smart and sustainable way, the ambition for ‘Docklands 21’ is to have Dublin’s docklands recognised as one of the most resource-efficient areas in Europe, by 2021.

 

In achieving this ambition, as well as providing a positive economic benefit, Docklands21’s activities are helping to save money, shape new business models and drive long-term business competitiveness; that means more investment, more jobs and more opportunities to help power the economy, aid growth and improve prosperity.

 

Docklands21 is led by the International Sustainability & Investment Centre (ISI Centre) and supported by both the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) and Dublin City Council (DCC).

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