Västernorrland aims to be one of the best developed regions in the country of Sweden when it comes to sustainable, climate-adapted development in collaboration between the public and private sectors.
The County Council’s primary tasks are to improve public health and to promote development in the county. Environmental protection, energy efficiency and the effective use of energy and natural resources are fundamental in good public health and sustainable development. According to their energy and climate programme, the County Council is focused on reducing its emissions of environmentally harmful substances, reducing its energy consumption and the amount of waste and being a good role model and inspiring others.
In this program, the county council has targets for self-produced electricity. A major effort should therefore be made primarily on solar cells on real estate in the next few years. In that way, the proportion of renewable electricity produced in-house will be at least 2% of the total amount of purchased electrical energy.
Energy efficiency in public buildings
Within the County Council, energy is primarily used for heating and cooling premises, ventilation, lighting, technical medical and IT equipment, as well as in the field of transport. It is extremely important to use the energy as efficiently as possible and to introduce renewable energy solutions in order to limit cost increases and reduce the County Council’s impact on the environment and the climate.
The County Council is employing a long-term and systematic approach in its energy rationalisation work in respect of electricity, heating and cooling in its own properties. The County Council’s properties are largely heated by means of district heating. In areas where district heating is not available, the Council also uses its own biofuel facilities. As regards the cooling of properties, the strategy is to use ‘free cooling’ such as cooling from snow, river and sea water, as well as cold outside air. Moreover, in order to actively promote the transition towards more renewable electricity production, the County Council is investing in producing its own solar electricity during the measurement period.
Goals for 2019
Västernorrland County will continuously work to achieve constant improvements within renewable energy permanent changes. Furthermore, leading-edge technology will help Västernorrland being a part of a sustainable society that is both energy efficient and adapted to the eco-cycle. To achieve this objective, here are some of the goals identified by 2019:
- Total purchased energy consumption in its own properties will be cut by 10 per cent compared to 2013, corresponding to 4.5 GWh, giving a consumption of max. 80 kWh/m2 usable floor area.
- Total purchased heat consumption in its own properties will be cut by 15 per cent compared to 2013, corresponding to 8.5 GWh, giving a consumption of max. 93 kWh/m2 usable floor area.
- The proportion of renewable electricity produced in-house will be at least 2 per cent of the total amount of purchased electrical energy.
Read the whole programme to learn more about energy, transport, waste management, internal climate compensation, sustainable purchases and environmental management, among others: kfvn.se/Filer/Clean/environmental-and-energy-programme-2015-2019_final%20(002).pdf
