THE Office of Public
Works (OPW) has defended its decision to install an
exclusively oil-fired heating system in
decentralised government offices currently under
construction in Buncrana.
A spokesperson said all the options were examined
for the decentralised Department of Social,
Community and Family Affairs offices but for
"practical reasons" oil-fired was deemed the best.
"All the options including wood pellet boilers would
have been looked at by the architects and the
engineers but it was decided that from a practical
point of view, oil was the best choice for the
decentralised offices in Buncrana," said the
spokesperson.
"It is a sustainable building when all its aspects
are taken as a whole. The heating of the building is
just one element. The building is entirely naturally
ventilated so there will be no energy required for
mechanical air conditioning while there is also an
atrium allowing for the best use of natural light
and ventilation. We try to make our buildings as
sustainable as possible."
However, the choice has been criticised locally by
Sinn Féin who were alerted to the OPW's fuel choice
by a Donegal wood chip fuel supplier currently
supplying wood chips to the new IKEA store in
Belfast and the new Letterkenny Regional Sports
Centre. Cllr. Padraig MacLochlainn last night
accused the government of double standards in its
environmental policy.
"It is absolutely astonishing that, at a time when
issues like global warming, peak oil and the Kyoto
principles dominate news across the world, our
government - that for the first time ever includes
the Green Party - continues to allow major
government buildings to be heated by oil-fired
systems," said Cllr. MacLochlainn. "It really is
time that the government practise what it preaches
on the environment." Meanwhile, the OPW said another
reason they chose oil was because Donegal has no
piped natural gas. |
