Thie Slieau Whallian (TSW), which achieved a BREEAM Excellent rating, is also proving its worth by costing much less to heat than other offices.

The new DEFA Headquarters building in St John’s has now been open for two years.

Annual heating use is less than 50% of typical offices, which combined with the use of a woodchip boiler, means these offices cost one quarter as much to heat as a typical office.

TSW was the first building constructed by the Isle of Man Government to achieve a rating of Excellent by BREEAM – Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method –and is noticeably more energy efficient.

The results show designing a building to be efficient from the start reaps dividends for a long time, Department of Environment Food and Agriculture Minister Phil Gawne MHK revealed.

Its innovative construction method, which incorporated high levels of insulation and a woodchip boiler using woodchip from the sustainably managed conifer plantations in the Island, has ensured a saving of more than 75% on ‘ordinary’ fuel bills.

Peter Longworth, Energy Initiatives Officer, explained: ‘The Department of Environment Food and Agriculture during the refurbishment of the Sawmill, also invested in machinery to produce Woodfuel grade woodchip.  This can now be supplied to other buildings such as Schools and Sheltered Housing schemes which have high heating demands.  In time, it is hoped further buildings will benefit from a locally sourced, price stable fuel that is very good value, as we have seen at St John’s.’ 

Minister Gawne, said, “Heating our buildings is the biggest energy demand we have in the Isle of Man, a bigger figure than electricity or road fuels, so the more we can make use of a fuel we can produce for ourselves from our plantations, the more money stays on the island”.