Wexford’s EcoMerit are helping businesses with their green transition

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EcoMerit client Dundrum Town Centre were delighted to be the Winner of the 2024 Climate Action Success Award (Less than 50 Employees). EcoMerit supports enterprises in optimising their resource usage, including energy, carbon, waste, and water. They do this through comprehensive technical support and robust environmental certification.

Dundrum Town Centre began their sustainability journey back in 2011, long before sustainability became fashionable. They began by targeting and achieving our EcoMerit Environmental Certification. A comprehensive review of environmental performance and practices was followed by the creation of their very first improvement plan. Since then, they have gone from strength to strength. Every year they review progress on their plan and set new improvement actions. Real, measurable environmental action has never been more important, and Dundrum Town Centre are determined to play their part in full.

Impactful Actions

Some of their most impactful actions include:

  • Upgrading lighting to energy-efficient LED units, and installing smart lighting controls.
  • Steadily upgrading ther air conditioning plant across the site.
  • Installing waterless urinals and dual-flush cisterns in the public toilets.
  • Installing solar PV arrays on the roof to generate their own electricity.
  • Extending the range of waste types they segregate for recycling.
  • Introducing beehives on the roofs to help promote biodiversity, as well as producing their own delicious honey.

They have also achieved ISO 14001 Environmental Certification, ISO 50001 Energy Management Certification, DGNB (Platinum level) and BREEAM In-Use for Dundrum Town Centre. As members of the Hammerson Group they are committed to be Net Zero for greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.

Bug Hotels

They have built 3 Bug Hotels in their perennial gardens, which is providing a safe habitat for beneficial insects and pollinators. These can be seen in front of the RSA building and on the Dundrum bypass. The Bug Hotels are made from 100% recycled material. They do not use pesticides in any of the gardens, which is giving these important creatures the best chance to thrive.

Don Nugent, Senior General Manager, said,

“At Dundrum Town Centre we always strive to be best-in-class at whatever we do. Our approach to sustainability is driven by this ethos. Our responsibility to society requires nothing less. We are proud that we can demonstrate achievement of the international Paris Accord’s 2030 target eight years early.

We now have our sights set on our 2030 target for net zero. We are proud to be a member of the EcoMerit Community. Our partnership with EcoMerit helps guide us on our sustainability journey and gives us independent verification of our achievements to date.”

 

Dundrum Town Centre Bug Hotels

The Journey Continues

While Dundrum Town Centre are proud of their achievements to date, they know there will always be more to do. It is all our responsibility to play our full part in averting the worst effects of the climate and bio-diversity crises. In the coming year they will:

  • Carry out further lighting improvement works in several locations.
  • Install further solar panels for on-site renewable electricity generation.
  • Install smart meters for all tenant premises to help improve electricity monitoring.
  • Plant ‘Pocket Forests’ on site to further support biodiversity.

And longer-term plans include:

  • Completely removing fossil-fuel gas from heating requirements, in favour of electric heat pumps.
  • A comprehensive upgrade of the air handling equipment to achieve best-in -class standards.