Our Sustainability Projects

Willow

There are 30 hectares of willow planted to provide fuel for the College heating system. This is part of the Renewable Energy programme being implemented at Gurteen. To minimise the risk of losses due to disease, different varieties of willow were planted in adjacent plots. 

To encourage the production of more shoots, the crop was cut the following Spring. As harvesting in the first year is not economical, the cut shoots are left to recycle their nutrients into the soil. Spray was applied in March 2011 to control weeds.

A new 270 metre sq. drying floor has been installed within the farm building complex in readiness for the future harvested chipped willow, which will be reduced from 55% moisture to 25% in the process; the plant also has been of great use drying corn and hay already last year. The willow is harvested on a three year cycle and currently provides 80% of the biomass needed to fuel the boilers on site. 

Wood Chip Boilers

The College has installed a totally new heating system, based on two high efficiency wood chip boilers.

Solar Photo-Voltaic Panels

Gurteen College has installed 168 panels, totalling 50Kw of nominal power in Autumn 2017. Over the course of a year production of daytime electricity is approximately 45000 Kw of, giving the college a saving of over €8,000 per year on purchased electricity.

LED lighting

All of the artificial light in the college, including the farm, is produced using LED lights and smart sensing technology. Over 1200 light bulbs and fittings were changed. This has given savings of between 25% and 75% (depending on the type of fitting replaced) and will lead to a saving on the electricity bill of over €12,000

Insulation

The College campus has a wide range of buildings, working with Tipperary Energy Agency a project to retrofit insulation was completed. The solution varied within each building, including roof cavity insulation (blown and rolls), wall cavities filled with bead insulation and in one building new internal wall linings and a false ceiling was installed.

Rainwater harvesting and water use

The new milking parlour has innovative systems for water conservation and use. Rainwater from the roof is collected and used to wash down the parlour and surrounding yards, thus saving the cost of extracting this water from the college well.

The initial cooling of the milk is done through a heat exchanger with water. This warmed water is then piped through the nearby classroom to provide background heat. Once the heat has been dissipated, the water is then stored in an underground tank for supplying dairy cow field drinkers.

Milking parlour and new farm buildings

As a new milking parlour, cubicle house and sheep shed was commissioned and built in 2018/19 the opportunity was taken to avail of several energy efficiency and sustainability measures. These include:

• · LED lighting in all locations,
• · Variable speed motor technology for vacuum and milk pumps,
• · Plate coolers to reduce milk temperature before it enters the bulk tank.
• · Heat recovery units on bulk tank compressors that are heating 30 litres of water to 50 degrees centigrade for every 100 litres of milk cooled.
• · Rainwater is harvested from the roof and stored in underground tanks – and then used for wash down of parlour floors.