Agenda item

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“Relevant background information

      Members will be aware that, under the revised Scheme of Delegation, approval must be sought from the relevant Committee prior to inviting tenders for the supply of goods or services.

      Members will also be aware that, in the course of providing maintenance services at all Council properties, the Property Maintenance unit makes regular use of a number of external contractors, both in order to provide specialist services and also to supplement the existing in-house workforce during times of peak demand.

      As part of the planned maintenance programme for 2012/13 it is proposed to replace the existing façade lighting to the North, East, and West elevations of Belfast City Hall with energy efficient solid state LED lighting. The proposed lighting is at least 60 percent more efficient than the existing lighting and has the potential to reduce electricity usage in the City Hall by approximately £13,000 per annum. The Property Maintenance unit therefore wishes to create a Select List for the supply and installation of the necessary LED lighting and associated infrastructure.

      It should be noted that, within the current 2012/13 planned maintenance programme, provision of approx. £90,000 had been set aside to replace part of the existing façade floodlights around the City Hall main dome and turrets. Participation in the ILLUMINATE project would allow us to replace all the existing floodlighting on the main dome and turrets, and in addition to completely replace all of the external façade lighting around the building using the latest low-power LED lighting for a relatively small increase in project cost.

      In addition to being cheaper to run, this lighting is much more flexible and programmable than the current system, and can allow the use of colour on specific parts of the building to complement events being staged in the grounds etc.

      It is notable that this maintenance project has secured matched funding from an EU programme – Innovative Lighting Systems - and will be carried out in conjunction with a number of other European cities promoting energy efficiency using solid state technology.

      The total projected cost of the project for the City Hall is £335,000 of which approximately £206,000 will be provided for from EU funds (this includes an allowance for project administration, design, internal staff costs, and travel). Belfast City Council would therefore contribute a net sum of approximately £129,000 to the project from the budget allocated from the 2012/13 planned maintenance (an increase of £39K over original budget).

      The Corporate Management Team approved the initial attempt to secure match-funding, however now that this has been successfully secured the Committee’s approval is necessary before any procurement can take place.

      Detailed specifications are to be prepared in order to permit the contract to be let, and subject to Committee approval advertisements will be placed in the local press inviting applications for inclusion on a Select List.

      It is intended that the installation of the upgraded lighting will be complete in all significant respects by December 2012.

Key Issues

      The installation of solid state lighting to the City Hall will offer a number of efficiencies and added value to the building as follows:

·       it has the potential to reduce electricity usage in the City Hall by approximately £13,000 per annum;

·       the existing floodlights have a life expectancy of approximately 3 years. The proposed Solid State Lighting has a life expectancy of between 10-15 years resulting in longer term efficiency savings in respect of lamp replacement;

·       over the lifetime of the new equipment there is therefore a potential saving of at least £90,000 meaning that the project is very largely self-financing, as well as offering a significant increase in functionality;

·       the solid state lighting scheme will have the capacity to be both dimmable and have variable controlled colour. This has the potential to enhance a wide range of planned events within the City Hall grounds such as the Christmas Lights Switch-on, Christmas Market etc; and

·       it will provide the opportunity for Belfast to participate with other major European cities in promoting energy efficiency using innovative technology.  

      Some initial testing of the technology was recently carried out on part of the City Hall and this has confirmed our view that the system is capable of very nuanced effects which will allow specific parts of the building to be coloured, highlighted, darkened or emphasized as required, and will in effect allow us to ‘paint’ the building in whatever combinations of colours are required in the specific circumstances.

      This will in turn allow us the flexibility to cater much more specifically for the requirements of events organisers within the grounds and also to mark special events and occasions of note within the council’s own calendar.

Resource Implications

      Financial

      Regularly testing the market via competitive tendering ensures that we obtain the best possible value for money and standards of service from our external suppliers, which in turn assists us in driving down costs and minimising the rate burden. The majority of funding for the new system would come from EU sources, with an increase of only £39K in terms of the council’s own planned expenditure being necessary to leverage the EU funding for an expended scheme. In addition, the system offers significantly lower operational and replacement costs which should result in the system being self-financing over the whole life of the project.

      Human Resources

      There are no direct HR implications in respect of this report.

      Asset and other implications

      Having a range of experienced and efficient contractors available is an important factor in delivering effective property maintenance to the Council, and acquiring the necessary specialist skills will be essential in the successful delivery of this project.

Recommendations & Decisions

      The Committee is recommended to approve the following:

(a)  to invite applications for inclusion on a Select List and the submission of Tenders in respect of the activities specified above.”

            The Committee adopted the recommendation.