The University of Portsmouth's Ravelin Sports Centre has been graded A, the most efficient rating for energy use in buildings, in a recent Display Energy Certificate (DEC) assessment.
This is an important milestone in our target for all new buildings to be rated A and brings us one step closer to our ambition of becoming climate positive by 2030.
A DEC shows the energy usage of a public building by measuring its overall energy consumption and efficiency. Buildings are then graded on an A-G scale, with A being the most efficient.
After a year of operation, an assessment was carried out in September to evaluate the facility's energy performance. The building scored 20 (DEC A), with typical scores for public buildings being 100 (DEC D).
The sports centre has already received a top rating of 'Outstanding' from BREEAM UK, the world's leading sustainability assessment for buildings, as well as winning the Public Sector Project: Design Stage Award at the BREEAM Awards 2020. This is a prestigious award which recognises projects demonstrating the highest level of innovation in terms of sustainability over the previous 12 months.
The Ravelin Sports Centre is one of the UK's most sustainable sports facilities. Its features include, creating renewable energy from roof solar panels and internal heat recovery systems, re-using the pool water for toilet flushing, managing waste water drainage by creating an urban orchard and having a biodiverse grassed roof with beehives.
The DEC grade will be valid for 1 year until September 2024.
