Woking Borough Council has long been committed to protecting the environment and tackling climate change. This has been widely recognised by the Government through its Beacon award scheme which promotes excellence in delivery of local authorities' services to their communities. The Council has been awarded Beacons for Sustainable Energy (2005 - 2006), Promoting Sustainable Communities through the Planning Process (2007 - 2008) and Tackling Climate Change (2008 - 2009).
This journey however has been long term and the Council embarked on the path to thinking globally and acting locally in the early 1990s when it adopted a new approach to energy efficiency for its own buildings. This led to impressive savings in both energy and finance and the incorporation of small scale Combined Heat and Power units in corporate buildings in the mid to late 1990s. Energy efficiency and alternatives to conventional energy production were progressed and embedded in the Council's approach to asset and property management. To date the authority's portfolio of some 20 plus energy projects has come to include a range of low and zero carbon technologies, including solar photovoltaics, combined heat and power and a demonstration fuel cell.
Click here to find out more about Woking's Climate Change Strategy and related projects.