The UK's largest dog-care charity has chosen leading renewable heating company Organic Energy to provide a green energy system at its £5 million centre in Shropshire.

A wood pellet boiler has been installed at the Dogs Trust Shrewsbury site by the renewable heating specialist to provide the canine eco-home with its heating and hot water.

The charity has completed an innovative eco-building programme at the centre, in Roden, which includes super wall insulation, triple glazing, rainwater harvesting and recycling and solar PV panels on the roof of the home.

Organic Energy has supplied an Energy Box for the site - a complete heating system delivered ready for installation which can be connected to the heating system within a matter of hours.

The Energy Box, which is lowered onto a concrete base, is a complete plant room designed and pre-fabricated by Austria-based ÖkoFEN which represents the very latest in renewable, sustainable heating technology.

The timber box houses a 56 kw ÖkoFEN Pellematic wood pellet boiler as well as a fabric fuel store, flue and ash compression system.

Andy Boroughs, managing director of Organic Energy, said the installation could also provide an income stream for the charity, with the Government's Renewable Heat Incentive offering a payment for green energy installations.

He said: “We have carried out many large installations, in hotels, schools, on farms and for charities, but this is the first for a dogs' home. The ÖkoFEN Energy Box complements the numerous sustainable building techniques and renewable energy solutions which are included as part of the build.”

The charity was spending about £500,000 a year on heating and lighting bills for its 18 centres across the UK. Specifically, the Roden centre has been consuming energy comparable with a luxury office development. Following the project's completion, the target is to cut energy consumption to less than 150 kWh per square metre – 62 per cent less than a conventional building.

Mr Boroughs added: “The Dogs Trust has taken a strategic decision to include the use of renewable energy, realising it pays to be green because there is no doubt that a wood pellet boiler will save on their energy bills.

“Along with the solar PV installation on the roof of the dogs home, the charity will also be able to access payments from the Government's RHI, which offers an incentive for renewable energy installations and also from the Feed-in-Tariff launched this year. “

Dogs Trust Project Surveyor Paul Wass said the ÖkoFEN Pellematic wood pellet boiler system fitted well with the scheme's sustainability agenda.

"Throughout this project, we have looked for effective, cost-efficient solutions for our energy needs which are considerable at the Dogs Trust Shrewsbury centre. The centre previously was using energy at a rate of around 400 kWh per square metre and we are aiming to cut energy consumption to less than 150 kWh per square metre following completion.

"The Energy Box provided by Organic Energy was the perfect answer, being able to house an ultra-efficient and low carbon 56kW ÖkoFEN boiler and a large enough wood pellet store to ensure we will only need perhaps two or three deliveries of pellets a year.

"Although sustainability was the main driver for the choice of a wood pellet boiler from Organic Energy, there will be an added benefit in the form of reduced heating and hot water costs as well as being able to take advantage of the Government's Feed-in-Tariffs."

For more information visit www.organicenergy.co.uk/wood_pellet_boiler_systems.html

Or click here to view our video.

Top Solar PV range joins Organic energy line-up 

Leading sustainable heating company Organic Energy has boosted its range after being elected as a distributor for one of the leading global solar PV manufacturers.

The company, which is the sole UK distributor of the sought-after ÖkoFEN wood pellet boilers, has now secured an agreement to supply SCHOTT Solar PV products.

The extremely high quality of the SCHOTT Solar range, including up to 30-year efficiency guarantees, maintains Organic Energy's focus on providing nothing but class-leading installations.

The SCHOTT Solar range also provides a tremendous opportunity in the agricultural sector as the firm's power modules are among only a handful that have been independently tested and approved to withstand exposure to the ammonia produced in livestock farming environments for at least 25 years.

Organic Energy managing director and renewables expert, Andy Boroughs, said: “The Organic Energy ethos for quality in both products and service fits perfectly with the reputation of SCHOTT Solar products and we are extremely pleased to have been selected as one of a limited number UK suppliers of its solar PV range.

“The expansion of renewable energy generation is going to rely, in large part, on customers being convinced of the efficiency and longevity of their installations. Poor quality products, inappropriately installed, will damage the reputation of the whole sector, which is why at Organic Energy we are committed to only working with the best products available – products upon which we are happy to stake our hard-won reputation. The SCHOTT Solar range meets this need entirely and sits very well alongside the enviable reputation for quality and efficiency that our range of ÖkoFEN wood pellet boilers enjoys.”

Organic Energy is expecting to see a sharp rise in the sales of solar PV systems thanks to the Government's Feed-in-Tariff which offers a payment for all electricity produced, as well as additional bonus payments for electricity exported into the grid. 

Mr Bob Mills, UK sales director at SCHOTT Solar, said: "We are delighted to be working alongside Organic Energy, a company which has a passion of renewables and fits well with our ethos at SCHOTT Solar. We have no doubt that this new business relationship will be successful, given Organic Energy's already established reputation within the industry."  

Organic Energy was the first company to introduce fully automatic wood pellet boilers to the UK, in the form of the multi award-winning ÖkoFEN range. It has now installed the boilers in an array of projects around the country, from large commercial projects to family homes. 

Adding the SCHOTT Solar products to Organic Energy's range will allow the company to provide its clients with a one-stop solution to their renewable energy requirements. Organic Energy is also a supplier of Pellesol and Gasokol solar thermal hot water systems.

Organic Energy has seen record sales of its wood pellet boilers in 2011 and Mr Boroughs says with the average annual gas and electricity bill estimated to reach £1,300 this year, consumers are looking to biomass boilers and solar thermal systems to heat their homes.

“Wood pellet boilers and solar thermal heating are both eligible for the RHI scheme, and we are seeing a growing national trend of rising sales in domestic green heating systems.

“Home-owners are watching their fuel bills rise, and then looking at the RHI and the Government's Feed-In-Tariff and realising that it pays to be green. It makes sense to use renewable energy, which is low cost and good for the environment, but also puts money back in the bank.”

For more information visit www.organicenergy.co.uk/photovoltaic_home.html

Or click here to view our video.